Interview with Lcdr Scott Starkey

Lieutenant Commander Scott Starkey served as the assistant navigator onboard USS Enterprise in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and as pilot and squadron operations officer in Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 3 (HS 3) onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While onboard Enterprise, in conjunction with the Vinson, Starkey helped conduct 24-hour operations off the coast of Pakistan. As assistant navigator, he was responsible for writing the officers' watch bills, writing the watch bills for the ship's quartermasters, standing watch as officer of the deck, and training all officers becoming watchstanders on the bridge. Upon joining HS 3, he took part in a nine-month predeployment workup with the Roosevelt before deploying to the Middle East. He notes that deploying from the United States to an overseas station is difficult for the helicopter pilots because, in order to maintain a certain level of qualification, they have to spend a minimum of two hours flying over land with night vision goggles every 45 days, and this is not always possible while transiting an ocean. Because they had already departed the area, his squadron could not conduct a turnover with the previous squadron but they were able to do a video teleconference which garnered them several lessons learned. Common flight missions on station included flying "starboard D" a position low and behind the carrier which allowed them to carry out search and rescue if needed, and a rotation of flights out of Basra supporting Britain's Joint Helicopter Force-Iraq. In addition, they would conduct logistical support flights to the smaller surface combatants and carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions along the Shatt al Arab, the Khor Abd Allah, and the Al Faw peninsula. Starkey mentions that, "There were pipeline concerns. There was criminal activity along the two rivers" in addition to the threat of small arms fire and man-portable air defense systems. He states that his squadron's high level of aircraft availability and flexibility was no accident, stating, "The key to that was that we had a very good maintenance department who had it all planned out." Although saying that he and the rest of the squadron were very busy providing all manner of helicopter support, when asked if he was ready to leave, Starkey responded with, "I actually wasn't. I left three months into the deployment to come to CGSC."