Hi-tech, at sea

Amid all the super scientific stuff aboard the USS Abe Lincoln, I found two impressive tools.

Look at that wonderful old-fashioned wrench!

And in the welding shop...an anvil! Somethings just don't go out of style, or need.

The welding shop "nerve center."

Hawsers ready to be shot ashore to moor The Abe at Everett.

But, high tech abounds. Here are views of the medical department:

Operating room and equipment

Examination and treatment room

X-Ray--which are then zapped to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland to be read.

"Sick bay"--not shown, the three bed ICU.

Officers and enlisted

Civilians don't think much about rank in our everyday world...official rank. Sure, we know some people have higher paying jobs, some have the power to hire and fire, but we don't have labels on our clothes designating our rank in a hierarchy  and we don't formally salute superiors or follow strict orders.

The second you step about a military base, or into a military organization, or aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, you notice the difference.

As we walked up the stairs and crossed the gangplank to the brow of the ship, our host, Lt. Cmdr. Steve Curry stopped just before boarding the ship, turned aft and saluted the flag. The enlisted people waiting for us, snapped salutes to him which he returned. We were among about 300 other "Tigers" on the ship for the four day cruise, and we soon were thankful our host was an officer. Most of the others were hosted by members of the enlisted crew.

Though they work as a team in close quarters, the line between officers and enlisted, is everywhere apparent--as you saw with the label on the door to the male officers head. Other labels in berthing areas clearly announce the area as officer country. You also saw the difference in eating areas, and officers don't have to bus their own plates.

Sleeping quarters are one example. We were bunked in a suite of six, two sinks, ample storage.

Where I slept, bottom bunk

Four of the bunks in our area--you can barely see mine behind the locker and chair on the right

Another view, of the sinks, and storage.

Enlisted quarters, three bunks in a stack s0 there's less overhead room, and there are many bunks to each area.

 I expect the only place rank doesn't matter is in sick bay and medical treatment...all are equal there.

Steve and I in San Diego. He's wearing the NWU.

You see the difference in uniforms too, obviously. On the NWU (camouflaged Naval Working Uniform), you have to hunt for rank, and if officers don't have their hats on where the rank is displayed, there aren't salutes from enlisted. But dress uniforms:

Steve Curry's dress uniform, ready for wear. Note the name tag, with the ship's logo--a Lincoln head penny.

An enlisted uniform

An officer conducting a tour on the bridge

The sailor of the year aboard the Abe, Quartermaster 2^nd class Sarah Y. Degraw. She's on the bridge checking the rudders prior to departure from San Diego. Oh, while you can steer the ship and those massive rudders by punching computer buttons, most people prefer the little steering wheel at her left. Yep, smaller than your car steering wheel, for that mammoth ship. And the top ranking enlisted person on board, a command Master Chief, is also a woman.

"Down the hatch," or up for that matter

Hatches between bulkheads and decks

Between the 20 decks and at various places along the decks of the 1,000 foot+ length  Abraham Lincoln, are more watertight hatches than I can count. The hatches between the decks can be sealed  when needed. The hatches along the decks are sealed behind you with a lever every time you go through it--"Dog that hatch," I heard one sailor say.

Climb up and down those ladders and through those doors every  day, and you get a workout.

Between decks

Steve Curry's cousin Jim Isbell on his way to dinner. I'm right behind.

Watertight

 

I don't know about these kind, and I didn't try to go down it either.

And definitely not this one.

But I went up this ladder and through that hatch every day.

This is the largest I saw, at the rear of the ship onto the fantail. Inside is where they repair and test jet engines for the aircraft. To test them, they open both doors and start the engines so the jet blast goes out to sea. Notice it can also be made watertight.

Tiger cruise, part one

Note: This is the first part of a story I wrote for Edmond Life and Leisure edmondlifeandleisure.com about my cruise aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Aberaham Lincoln. It will be continued next week, so you'll have to wait. I'll include photos of this trip of a lifetime. Moral--be a good teacher and take care of students, and they always manage to say thank you, in ways you never expect.

“We’ve got a really big gas tank,” said the Navy officer, a former UCO journalism student.

He was talking about one of 11 of the world’s largest and most powerful warships, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, CVN 72. Commissioned in 1989, it’s still running on the original uranium in its two nuclear reactors.

Lt. Cmdr. Steve Curry, UCO 1993, is the new public affairs officer aboard the ship, which just returned to its homeport in Everett, Wash., after a six-month deployment.

The size of the “gas tank” aboard the Nimitz-class carrier only hints at the enormity of the pride of the U.S. Navy, a virtual city—or castle--at sea.

Me and Lt. Cmdr. Steve Curry, aboard "The Abe" in San Diego.

Lt. Cmdr. Curry had invited me as his former professor, and a cousin from Fort Worth, aboard for a four-day “Tiger Cruise” from San Diego to Everett. We were among about 300 other “Tigers”—family members, relatives and friends--on what I refer to as my “Pirate-proof cruise,” the last days of its trip home across the Pacific.

You can’t adequately describe an experience, a warship like this that costs $1million a day to operate. But four words stand out to me: size, science, people, pride.

The stunning size of the ship is the first thing that hits you—20-foot-tall rudders, 4.5 acre flight deck, 20 stories tall, 1,092 feet long, 257 feed wide. The more you learn and see, you’re equally awed by the science and engineering that makes it work. But the crew is the real story, 5,500 counting the airwing and its 70 aircraft.

Since the airwing departed for on shore deployment between Hawaii and San Diego, I didn’t see any of the cool catapult launchings that can take a jet fighter from 0 to 180 mph in 2.4 seconds.  Or can stop one in less than that, from 180 to 0—in all ddkinds of weather, day or night.

But there were still about 3,500 men and women aboard (15 percent of the crew is female). Average age is about 20-22. And everywhere I went, I was impressed by the dedication and professionalism and pride of the sailors…they’re proud of their ship and the job they do, every day, 365 days a year.  The Lincoln just earned the coveted ‘Battle E’ award. The crew refers to “The Abe” as the best ship in the Navy.

“Good morning, Abe,” comes the announcement over the ship’s intercom. It’s either the XO or the Captain talking to the Tigers and crew about the coming day. But old salts would feel at home, because the Bosun’s whistle precedes it and all announcements. But if you’ve waited until this announcement to be stirring, you’ve missed breakfast.

Serving stops at 0700. So you’ve missed omelets and eggs cooked to order, fresh biscuits and gravy, and more. But you can still stop by the officer’s wardroom or the enlisted mess areas for fresh fruit, cereal, milk, juice, toast, energy bars, and of course coffee, any time of the day. You won’t go hungry.  The crew consumers 180 dozen eggs a day. The 15,000-20,000 meals cooked daily include 600 gallons of milk and 900 pounds of fresh fruit. And of course, 80 pounds of coffee. “Coffee keeps the Navy afloat.”