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Seaman back in Ashland, briefly By Sean Wolfe Ashland Daily Tidings Appearances can be deceptive. Arrayed in his civilian clothes and seated on his parent's couch, Seaman Blane Newfield looks like a typical 21-year-old Ashlander. It's when he talks about his time spent in the Persian Gulf that his conversation reveals the hard-won experience that sets him apart from others his age. Newfield graduated from Ashland High School three years ago. Like some of his classmates, he chose to enter the military along with fellow AHS graduate Bryan Morris. Both were initially recruited by the Marines. But while Morris remained in the Marines, and is currently a lance corporal, Newfield was rejected on medical grounds, because of a minor defect with his eyelids that the Marines felt might affect his peripheral vision. That's when Newfield joined the Navy. For the past seven months Newfield has been at sea aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation. While stationed in the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Newfield was responsible for the defense of the $4.5 billion flat-top, and its complement of some 5,000 sailors and marines. Newfield's responsibility came down to tracking everything with a radar signature within the ship's sphere of operations - hundreds of miles in any direction. That could mean as many as a hundred objects to keep an eye on, and up to 800 potential threats in a day. As a result of his tour in the Gulf, he has been air and surface warfare- qualified, holds a top secret clearance, and received a quarterly award for junior sailors, competing against 2,500 other sailors of like rank. He was also singled out for commendation by his captain for ensuring his ship remained unscathed. "Anything that has radar, we have to know who are they, who owns them, anything that could be a threat. You always have to know what's going on around you at all times," Newfield said. "At any time in the Arabian Gulf, you can have at least 100 radars at any one time. There's so much out there - commercialized traffic, other navies, boats, tugs, barges, you name it. You just have to analyze the parametrics, and evaluate what it is. And you have to be right every time, or it could cost the ship." While the nation was at war with Iraq, Newfield said he spent more time worrying about the naval activities of Iraq's neighbor, Iran. "There was a week, or a week and a half where the Iranian Navy brought their presence back. They were close - not real close, but they were within 35 to 50 miles," Newfield said. Because the Iranians had small boats bristling with a variety of missiles, the Iranian naval activity was cause for concern. Any missile launch would give ships in the USS Constellation's battlegroup a few seconds to respond and return fire, as well as employ the ship's defense systems. "They have the best ship-to-ship weapons money can buy, and they were breaking from their routine. That's what caused the concern," Newfield said. "Fortunately, nothing happened, which was good. It would have been a disaster if Iran had wanted a piece of us." The USS Constitution along with Carrier Air Wing Two ended up spending four months patrolling the Iraqi No Fly Zones. Ship aircraft flew 3,206 hours and employed 1,302 weapons, or 1,775,397 pounds of ammunitions throughout its time in the Persian Gulf, according to Navy releases. While the US-led war with Iraq made for Newfield's first taste of wartime service, it would be the last for Newfield's vessel. After 21 tours of duty, the 41-year old Kitty Hawk class carrier - known to the military as "Connie," or more formally, "America's Flagship" - will face decommissioning in August. Rumors abound over its ultimate fate, including suggestions the carrier may be turned into museum once it reaches Washington state. With the USS Constellation slated for replacement in August by a new Nimitz-class carrier dubbed the USS Ronald Reagan, Newfield has a decision before him - join another ship, or see if he can snare a special operations assignment. Currently Newfield is assigned to the USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer, where he would likely assume similar ship defense functions. "Because a carrier is the control ship, it's going to be a little less stressful. I would have to feed what I'm tracking to the carrier, but I wouldn't have to keep track of everything," Newfield said. But Newfield also said he is applying to work with the elite Navy Seals as part of a special boat unit. If successful in becoming a Special Warfare Combat Crewman, Newfield would have a role on one of the Seals' many support craft, generally high-speed, heavily armed boats used in small-unit, often clandestine missions. "During the war, I would have rather stayed in the Marines, and been on a beach with Bryan (Morris). I said that, and people on the (Constellation) thought I was nuts," Newfield said. "On the ship, you're miles away, and you don't actually get to see the action. I mean, we knew we were helping, and that were a vital part. But then you think, man, are we actually still part of this? Or are we just watching this on television?" Whether he gets his dream assignment with the Seals, or takes his next tour of duty aboard the USS Lassen, Newfield said the one thing he won't miss about the USS Constellation are the lines. "It's like a small city. There are lines for everything. Lines for chow, lines for the gym. Everything. And the routine is set. It's like (the movie) Groundhog Day. There were some days I would have given anything for a change of scenery," Newfield said. Ensconced in his parent's Ashland home, marked by trees festooned with yellow ribbons, Newfield will certainly be in for a change of scenery in the near future. On Monday, he returns to Southern California to join the Connie's crew for its trek to Washington, and its decommissioning. He said he hopes the ship becomes a museum. "It would be nice, take my kids, my grandkids there one day, and show them where I was when the war was on," Newfield said. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -