On 22 Nov 1975 Belknap collided with USS John F Kennedy (CV-67) in the Ionian Sea. Belknap suffered the loss of 7 crewmen and Kennedy lost 1 crewman. The overhang of the JFK cut into Belknap's superstructure causing several fires which virtually burned the entire superstructure down to the hull line. Belknap's superstructure was made of aluminum and her hull was steel. This is common in order to reduce the topside weight of the ship and keep the center of gravity lower.
At the time this was aired, USS Belknap (CG-26) was a guided missile cruiser. When first commissioned in 1964, she was a guided missile frigate (DLG-26). She was re-designated CG 30 June 1975. This shows how the Navy classification system changed over the years. She was decommissioned 15 Feb 1995 and sunk as a target ship 24 Sep 1998.
Warrant Officers are highly skilled technical specialists, they are superior in rank to enlisted personnel but subordinate to commissioned officers, there are five grades of rank: Warrant Officer One (WO1), Chief Warrant Officer Two (CWO2), Chief Warrant Officer Three (CWO3), Chief Warrant Officer Four (CWO4) and Chief Warrant Officer Five (CWO5). Achieving the rank of CWO5 is a very high honor, as those officers are considered the top military experts in their particular occupational rating. Warrant Officers in the Navy and Marine Corps are selected from the senior non-commissioned officer ranks of paygrade E-7 through E-9; that would be Chief Petty Officer through Command Master Chief Petty Officer in the Navy and Gunnery Sergeant through Sergeant Major in the Marine Corps. Warrant Officer One candidates are submitted by line officers who recognize certain senior enlisted personnel that have great technical skill, the Secretary of the Navy then chooses from the list of candidates to promote. Promotion to the ranks of Chief Warrant Officer 2-5 is selected directly by the President, who goes off senior line officers recommendations on which personnel have both great technical skill and the potential to be a good leader, as CWO's supervise not only enlisted personnel but also other Warrant Officers below them in grade.
Chief Warrant Officer (3) Dillard is addressed as "gunner", that and his collar rating insignia indicate that he is a Aviation Ordnance Technician. Aviation ordnanceman in the Navy are responsible for the maintenance of guns, bombs, torpedoes, rockets, and missiles for Navy aircraft. They are supervised by a Chief Warrant Officer (3,4 or 5) that is a Aviation Ordnance Technician, they are technical specialists in the field of aviation ordnance. They are responsible for supervising enlisted aviation ordnanceman personnel to ensure the proper handling, transporting, arming/de-arming of aircraft and in the repair and maintenance of aviation weapons systems. They also serve as technical advisors to commissioned officers concerning the uses, capabilities, limitations, and reliability of aviation ordnance.
CWO Dillard is called "gunner", which is a nickname and term of respect for Chief Warrant Officers in the Marine Corps and Navy of a certain occupation. Specifically for CWO's in the Marine Corps that serve as a Infantry Weapons Officer, who are weapons specialists and are knowledgeable in the tactical employment of all the infantry weapons in the Marine Corps arsenal, they are called either "Gunner" or "Marine Gunner". The nickname is also given to Navy CWO's that serve in one of the occupational ratings that deal with weaponry like: Aviation ordnanceman, Gunner's mate or Missile technician.