Abraham Lincoln Strike Group WESTPAC 08 Deployment
CVN-72 Abraham Lincoln
"Abe" / "Shall Not Perish"
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) entered Dry Dock #6 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), Bremerton, Wash., 08 September 2006 to begin a scheduled Docked Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA) period, which is expected to last through March 2007. Under sunny skies and warm weather, a small fleet of tugboats moved Lincoln from her mooring at Naval Base Kitsap and turned the 98,000-ton warship on its axis in Sinclair Inlet before lining the ship up with the flooded dry dock. Major projects planned included refurbishment of tanks, work on three of the four catapults, modernization of navigation systems, and updates to the ship's Local Area Network (LAN). Lincoln is also slated to receive installation of the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) system, which will improve the ship's close range defensive capabilities. Some of the contractors involved in the project include Todd Shipyard, Space and Naval Warfare, Voyage Repair Team, and Carrier Air Force Support, among others.
As of September 2006 Lincoln was expected to leave dry dock in mid-December 2006, but the availability was scheduled to last through the middle of March 2007, when Lincoln would complete a short sea trial before returning to her homeport of Everett, Wash.
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) wrapped up two weeks of training and certification with a scheduled port visit to Naval Air Station North Island 22-24 July 2007. Lincoln's crew enjoyed two full days of liberty in the San Diego area while the ship took on personnel and equipment from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 in preparation for the next phase of operations. Prior to the visit, Lincoln spent her first two weeks underway since completing sea trials and a nine-month Dry-dock Planned Incremental Availability at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash.
During the time underway, Lincoln completed carrier qualifications for the ship's flight deck, including certification of its Precision Approach Landing System and Carrier Air Traffic Control, and performed carrier qualifications for four west coast Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS). Lincoln spent the first two weeks out to sea getting basic qualifications so that they could move on to the next phase of training. The Wing met all objectives and got good reviews from COMNAVAIR (Commander, Naval Air Forces) and AIRPAC (Air Forces Pacific). In all, they did 275 arrested landings for flight deck certification and another 652 for FRS carrier qualification.
Lincoln also hosted a ship's Materials Maintenance Management assessment assist team from Air Forces Pacific, performed two fueling at sea evolutions with USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187), and conducted a number of shipwide training evolutions including man overboard drills and live-fire exercises.
Lincoln departed NAS North Island 24 July 2007 to begin a Tailored Ship's Training Availability (TSTA). TSTA is designed to prepare the ship and crew for full integration into Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9. The primary objective of TSTA is to ensure that Lincoln can perform all self-sustained combat missions within the ship. It is also the first chance to integrate with the air wing. Once TSTA completed, Lincoln "graduated" and joined the strike group. For Lincoln's crew, TSTA meant a busy few weeks as the ship's operational tempo ramped up to ensure that they are ready for the challenges of the next deployment. There were flight operations pretty much every day, a lot of general quarters drills to ensure that the crew was ready and able to fight the ship in any situation, and a few underway replenishments. The other major component was the air defense qualifications, including Close-In Weapons System shoots and a NATO Sea Sparrow shoot. The three-phase TSTA led up to a Final Evaluation Problem, in which the entire ship's performance over a two-day event was graded by Afloat Training Group and Air Forces Pacific before the ship was certified by CSG 9.
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) returned to its homeport of Everett, Wash., 12 October 2008 after a successful seven-month deployment supporting Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and maritime security and coalition operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR). While supporting OEF and OIF from the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea, Lincoln and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 flew approximately 7,100 sorties -- including 2,307 combat sorties, providing more than 22,000 flight hours -- and dropped 255,963 pounds of ordnance. The USS Abraham Lincoln traveled over 60,000 miles, 2.3 times around the world, flew over 7,000 sorties -- 26,000 hours total -- and supported Sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines on the ground in both Afghanistan and Iraq."
Lincoln also re-enlisted more than 180 Sailors, collectively equaling more than 700 years of new service to the Navy. Other individual achievements include 749 Sailors completing 20 different college classes. Along with five months of combat operations, Lincoln hosted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and dignitaries and military officials from Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, France, Bahrain and Pakistan. Lincoln's embarked distinguished visitors totaled more than 230 from 20 different countries. During deployment, Lincoln conducted two burials at sea for 40 veterans and family members.
After successfully completing operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet AOR where Sailors enjoyed port visits in the Persian Gulf region, Lincoln sailed to the U.S. 7th Fleet AOR and participated in 16 community relations projects with 400 volunteers, contributing more than 2,000 hours to communities in Singapore and Thailand.
The total distance steamed during deployment was 58,370 miles, or approximately 2.3 times around the world. Electrical power generated during deployment totaled 52,000 megawatt hours, enough to power the entire downtown Seattle network for roughly two weeks. Fresh water produced totaled 58,240 gallons, enough to support more than 1 million showers for crew personnel.
With the deployment completed, Lincoln and its crew enjoyed some time off before heading out to sea again for an upcoming sustainment period.
Chronology
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08 Sep 2006 - Entered drydock
29 Aug 2006 - Begins 6 month PIA
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