Even killing time in the ready room turns into evaluation and critique sessions as they watch their air wing buddies on the closed-circuit flight deck TV, called the Pilot Landing Aid Television or PLAT. The eyes of every pilot of every experience level are drawn to the PLAT whenever it is on. The pilots check the weather outside or how the aircraft are parked on the deck or “spotted,” but more often than not, they just want to watch the minute-by-minute drama of carrier aviation. At night, the PLAT is genuine entertainment in its own right, depending on the weather conditions, with the ready room “cowboys” able to monitor the side numbers and recognize the voices — and voice inflections — of their fellow air wing pilots and naval flight officers as they struggle to make their approaches. Like everything else, the landings always create an environment for stiff competition between squadrons and individuals. A missed trap bolter for “the girls next door” is almost always good; a bolter for a trusted squadronmate is the source of feelings of sympathy, or even of personal disappointment — however, for a rival squadronmate, not so much.
Despite the fact most of it is healthy, competition is ever present in a fighter squadron, and it is magnified by the hours spent going over every aspect of a flight in an effort to improve — to attain perfection. To this end, constructive criticism is a daily occurrence for a pilot of any rank, and every flaw — personal and professional — is identified. Most can handle the feedback, but those who can’t are easy targets of ready room mockery until they succumb to a certain amount of humility. And if they refuse, squadron life is brutal for these loners. With so many healthy, if not huge, egos in close quarters, the near constant competition acts as a control mechanism to keep the egos of certain ones in check. Therefore, since no one can be number one in everything with so many overachievers looking over one’s shoulder, the competitive atmosphere allows everyone to stake a claim someplace.
As the sun set the following evening the ship began to pick up some appreciable movement from the long Indian Ocean swell. Wilson noted this as unusual in the IO. These waters off the Arabian Peninsula were often calm and sunny throughout the year. If seas were heavy at any time, it was during the winter months, when squall lines with heavy thunderstorms and occasional sand storms were not uncommon.
