You have to turn a corner down the hall to get to Parker's own picture.

After 43 years and assignments in just about every conflict from Vietnam to Iraq, the Navy's oldest active-duty warship is what a charitable sailor would call "mature." But even though the carrier fleet went nuclear long ago, officials aren't quite ready to let the diesel-powered USS Kitty Hawk sail off into the sunset.

"The ship is in superb mechanical condition," Parker, the aircraft carrier's commanding officer, said in an interview. "The ship could continue for however long it's necessary for us to be here."

Although its sister ship, the USS Constellation, was retired last summer, officials say they plan to squeeze at least another four years out of the Kitty Hawk - a decision reflecting the Navy's need for battle-ready ships in an increasingly unpredictable world.

Underscoring that concern, the Kitty Hawk left port this week to join the "Summer Pulse 2004" exercises, in which seven U.S. carriers and their battle groups will be deployed worldwide to demonstrate the Navy's ability to respond to numerous, simultaneous crises.

Rear Adm. James Kelly, commander of the Kitty Hawk battle group, said that while the ship could be retained for longer, it is set to be retired largely because of the cost of keeping it going. It costs about $1.2 million a day to run the Kitty Hawk at sea.

"We use about 1,000 barrels of fuel a day," Kelly said. "Our fuel costs are pretty heavy."

Kelly said the fuel costs of newer ships are lower because they are nuclear powered, but didn't give specifics.

The Kitty Hawk and the Constellation went into service at the New York Naval Yard in 1961. The San Diego-based Constellation, which launched 1,500 missions from its decks during the Iraq war, was decommissioned Aug. 7 last year and replaced by the USS Ronald Reagan.

That was a switch; the Reagan was initially supposed to replace the older Kitty Hawk. But now the Kitty Hawk will stay in service until at least 2008, when the next new carrier, the George H.W. Bush, is to replace it.

The carrier and eight other Seventh Fleet vessels operate out of Yokosuka - the only ships in the Navy whose home ports are outside the United States, although for political reasons officials prefer to say they are "permanently forward-deployed."

The Seventh Fleet of carrier, fleet command ship, three cruisers, three destroyers and two frigates is at sea about half the year and has about 14,000 sailors deployed to Japan, along with nearly 10,000 family members. Submarines frequently transit through.

Unlike the crowded island of Okinawa - where most of the U.S. troops in Japan are based and friction is endemic - there is relatively little tension in Yokosuka.

Part of the reason is that Yokosuka has long been a military port. It served as a major Japanese naval base before and during World War II, and still harbors Japanese warships and submarines.

"We have a different perspective than Okinawa. We understand that it is important for Japan to have the U.S. military here," said Nagatoshi Esashi, a city official specializing in base relations. "We didn't ask for them to be here. If possible, it would be desirable for the land used by the troops to be returned. But we aren't pushing for that."

Officials are concerned, however, about what will happen once the Kitty Hawk is gone.

The Kitty Hawk and the USS John F. Kennedy, commissioned in 1964, are the only diesel-fueled carriers left in service, meaning the Kitty Hawk is likely to be replaced by a nuclear-powered vessel. Yokosuka residents fear radioactivity leaks, while some Japanese anti-war groups object to what they see as a broadening of the U.S. forces strike capabilities.

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