mmmm....steel beach picnic. Hotdogs, Sliders, worth thier weight in gold for morale. Watching chiefs get into an all out brawl over the best way to light the grill...priceless. Spraying CO with fire hose as he makes pep talk speech....even more priceless.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 11, 2003
Weary Sailors Are Long Way and Long Time From Home
By LYNETTE CLEMETSON
BOARD U.S.S. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, in the Persian Gulf, March 10 ? As the standoff over Iraq intensifies and worldwide protests against a United States-led strike to disarm Saddam Hussein grow, American sailors aboard one of the country's premier aircraft carriers, at sea for longer than any carrier since the Persian Gulf war, are struggling to maintain morale.
The Abraham Lincoln left its home port in Everett, Wash., in July for a six-month deployment to patrol the no-flight zone over Iraq. Now in its eighth month away from home ? its 233rd day, many weary sailors note off the top of their heads ? this 97,000-ton nuclear-powered carrier is weathering the longest deployment in more than a decade.
The ship's top officers estimate that by the time the Abraham Lincoln gets home, it will have logged one of the longest deployments since the Vietnam War.
With military action drawing ever closer, the officers have begun to worry about the stamina of the more than 5,200 sailors and aviators aboard. "As tensions escalate and de-escalate, it's tough for the crew to be at the peak of combat readiness," said Capt. Kendall L. Card, the ship's commander. "After so many days, you sense that they need to get their edge back."
In recent days, that feeling has been palpable in everything from short-tempered grumbles in the ship's narrow passageways, to a slight "crunch" ? when two carrier planes touch one another during transit ? Sunday night on the flight deck. "They barely touched paint," Captain Card said.
Still, he acknowledged, it was the first time that had happened in recent memory.
Since the January extension of deployment, there has been a 10 to 15 percent increase in emergency leaves from the ship, according to the captain.
Matthew Perry, 25, an enlisted network administrator from Memphis who was supposed to marry his high school sweetheart on Feb. 7, was one of several crew members forced to postpone a wedding. "Everybody is making sacrifices," he said.
Realizing the need to rejuvenate his resources, the ship's commander ordered the crew to scale back from their regular 12-to-15-hour days and take some downtime.
It was not a tough sell. Many crew members took advantage of the recreation day to sleep in today. Others spent extended time on e-mail. A group of fighter pilots watched a Seinfeld marathon and played backgammon.
As a light, cool rain fell in the afternoon haze, some wound-up crew members gathered on the far end of the 4.5-acre flight deck to drive golf balls into the gulf. On the opposite end of the deck, Robert Smith, an aviation specialist who helps clean, inspect and launch fighter jets, tossed a football with several of his work mates.
"Tensions are high, and it feels good to laugh and blow off some steam," the 21-year-old from Nacogdoches, Tex., said as his buddies tossed a $10 football between rows of F-14 and F-18 jets worth up to $50 million each.
"Besides, I think this is going to be one of our last times to chill out for a while," he said. "They don't tell us much, but I think things are going to kick off pretty soon."
During the brief respite, nearly losing the football over the side of the ship produced more anxious groans than occasionally pinging it off the wings of the fighter jets.
Captain Card, while encouraging the break, was sensitive to the thousands of ground troops deployed in the desert. "On a daily basis, there's a much more down-and-dirty job than ours," he said.
But relaxation is crucial, he insisted, to maximize performance in the coming days. A "steel beach picnic" ? a barbecue and party on the flight deck ? is planned for Tuesday.
The Abraham Lincoln could partly stand down, said Captain Card, 47, because there are two other American carriers in the region, the Kitty Hawk which arrived last month, and the Constellation, which arrived in December, originally to relieve the Abraham Lincoln.
The carrier had just finished a scheduled break for Christmas in Perth, Australia, and had gotten as far as Guam on its trip back home when, on New Year's Day, it was ordered to redeploy to the Persian Gulf.
The Nimitz, which left the United States on March 1, is technically the Abraham Lincoln's replacement. But with war now appearing increasingly likely, most doubt that the ship will be able to leave the combat zone.
So life has become a daily waiting game for war. Some sailors mark the time with daily hash marks on calendars. Others keep count by the number of pizza nights in the mess hall, a once weekly treat. Lt. Christopher Towery, a ship security manager from Idaho, and a group of friends decided to grow mustaches and keep them until they set foot on land.
But this week, accepting the fact that a homecoming is still probably weeks away, Lieutenant Towery relented and shaved.
Keeping the carrier in a holding pattern requires more than just sustaining morale. Lt. Cmdr. Kristen Fabry, who is responsible for the ship's food and supplies, budgeted tightly for six months. When the tour was suddenly extended, stopping back in Australia for supplies, she had to scramble to restock the ship for an indefinite period.
"We probably bought every Snickers bar in Australia," said Commander Fabry, a Naval Academy graduate and Harvard M.B.A. whose father was also a Navy supplier.
For all the fatigue and frustration, most crew members insist that the mission keeps them motivated. "At the end of the day, everyone knows we're here standing up for freedom," said Cmdr. Dale Horan, executive officer for one of the ship's squadrons of Super Hornets, a new F-18 fighter attack jet making its debut on the Abraham Lincoln.
"If the president says go in the next 7 to 10 days, we won't have any morale problems," Captain Card said while watching his crew members jog, laugh and relax from his seat in the ship's bridge. "People are here for a purpose, and that is peace through deterrence and executing the will of the president, and when the time comes, the morale will be sky high."
Still, all the diplomatic wrangling in Washington wears thin after so long.
"If we're going to do it, I want to get it done," said Michelle Lykins, 20, an enlisted sailor who cleans the officers' mess.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 11, 2003
Weary Sailors Are Long Way and Long Time From Home
By LYNETTE CLEMETSON
BOARD U.S.S. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, in the Persian Gulf, March 10 ? As the standoff over Iraq intensifies and worldwide protests against a United States-led strike to disarm Saddam Hussein grow, American sailors aboard one of the country's premier aircraft carriers, at sea for longer than any carrier since the Persian Gulf war, are struggling to maintain morale.
The Abraham Lincoln left its home port in Everett, Wash., in July for a six-month deployment to patrol the no-flight zone over Iraq. Now in its eighth month away from home ? its 233rd day, many weary sailors note off the top of their heads ? this 97,000-ton nuclear-powered carrier is weathering the longest deployment in more than a decade.
The ship's top officers estimate that by the time the Abraham Lincoln gets home, it will have logged one of the longest deployments since the Vietnam War.
With military action drawing ever closer, the officers have begun to worry about the stamina of the more than 5,200 sailors and aviators aboard. "As tensions escalate and de-escalate, it's tough for the crew to be at the peak of combat readiness," said Capt. Kendall L. Card, the ship's commander. "After so many days, you sense that they need to get their edge back."
In recent days, that feeling has been palpable in everything from short-tempered grumbles in the ship's narrow passageways, to a slight "crunch" ? when two carrier planes touch one another during transit ? Sunday night on the flight deck. "They barely touched paint," Captain Card said.
Still, he acknowledged, it was the first time that had happened in recent memory.
Since the January extension of deployment, there has been a 10 to 15 percent increase in emergency leaves from the ship, according to the captain.
Matthew Perry, 25, an enlisted network administrator from Memphis who was supposed to marry his high school sweetheart on Feb. 7, was one of several crew members forced to postpone a wedding. "Everybody is making sacrifices," he said.
Realizing the need to rejuvenate his resources, the ship's commander ordered the crew to scale back from their regular 12-to-15-hour days and take some downtime.
It was not a tough sell. Many crew members took advantage of the recreation day to sleep in today. Others spent extended time on e-mail. A group of fighter pilots watched a Seinfeld marathon and played backgammon.
As a light, cool rain fell in the afternoon haze, some wound-up crew members gathered on the far end of the 4.5-acre flight deck to drive golf balls into the gulf. On the opposite end of the deck, Robert Smith, an aviation specialist who helps clean, inspect and launch fighter jets, tossed a football with several of his work mates.
"Tensions are high, and it feels good to laugh and blow off some steam," the 21-year-old from Nacogdoches, Tex., said as his buddies tossed a $10 football between rows of F-14 and F-18 jets worth up to $50 million each.
"Besides, I think this is going to be one of our last times to chill out for a while," he said. "They don't tell us much, but I think things are going to kick off pretty soon."
During the brief respite, nearly losing the football over the side of the ship produced more anxious groans than occasionally pinging it off the wings of the fighter jets.
Captain Card, while encouraging the break, was sensitive to the thousands of ground troops deployed in the desert. "On a daily basis, there's a much more down-and-dirty job than ours," he said.
But relaxation is crucial, he insisted, to maximize performance in the coming days. A "steel beach picnic" ? a barbecue and party on the flight deck ? is planned for Tuesday.
The Abraham Lincoln could partly stand down, said Captain Card, 47, because there are two other American carriers in the region, the Kitty Hawk which arrived last month, and the Constellation, which arrived in December, originally to relieve the Abraham Lincoln.
The carrier had just finished a scheduled break for Christmas in Perth, Australia, and had gotten as far as Guam on its trip back home when, on New Year's Day, it was ordered to redeploy to the Persian Gulf.
The Nimitz, which left the United States on March 1, is technically the Abraham Lincoln's replacement. But with war now appearing increasingly likely, most doubt that the ship will be able to leave the combat zone.
So life has become a daily waiting game for war. Some sailors mark the time with daily hash marks on calendars. Others keep count by the number of pizza nights in the mess hall, a once weekly treat. Lt. Christopher Towery, a ship security manager from Idaho, and a group of friends decided to grow mustaches and keep them until they set foot on land.
But this week, accepting the fact that a homecoming is still probably weeks away, Lieutenant Towery relented and shaved.
Keeping the carrier in a holding pattern requires more than just sustaining morale. Lt. Cmdr. Kristen Fabry, who is responsible for the ship's food and supplies, budgeted tightly for six months. When the tour was suddenly extended, stopping back in Australia for supplies, she had to scramble to restock the ship for an indefinite period.
"We probably bought every Snickers bar in Australia," said Commander Fabry, a Naval Academy graduate and Harvard M.B.A. whose father was also a Navy supplier.
For all the fatigue and frustration, most crew members insist that the mission keeps them motivated. "At the end of the day, everyone knows we're here standing up for freedom," said Cmdr. Dale Horan, executive officer for one of the ship's squadrons of Super Hornets, a new F-18 fighter attack jet making its debut on the Abraham Lincoln.
"If the president says go in the next 7 to 10 days, we won't have any morale problems," Captain Card said while watching his crew members jog, laugh and relax from his seat in the ship's bridge. "People are here for a purpose, and that is peace through deterrence and executing the will of the president, and when the time comes, the morale will be sky high."
Still, all the diplomatic wrangling in Washington wears thin after so long.
"If we're going to do it, I want to get it done," said Michelle Lykins, 20, an enlisted sailor who cleans the officers' mess.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy
