'USS Abraham Lincoln' enjoys Aceh humanitarian mission
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, On board the 'USS Abraham Lincoln' off Banda Aceh Coast (January 07, 2005) The ship's alarm sounded at 5:40 a.m., prompting Lt. Eric Danielsen, a helicopter pilot, to quickly rise from his bed in his small cabin in the aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln. He took a shower and rushed to the morning briefing, which was attended by other crew members and pilots of helicopters deployed for humanitarian purposes to Aceh. After the briefing, Danielsen and his colleagues had breakfast in the ship's public dining room. At about 8.30 a.m, the young lieutenant and about 10 other pilots left for Banda Aceh, flying Seahawk choppers. Upon their arrival at the Iskandar Muda Air Force Base in Banda Aceh, they were briefed by Indonesian Military officers as to where they should drop food and medicine supplies and pick up injured survivors of the Dec. 26 massive quake and ensuing tsunamis. Each chopper makes three to four short trips a day, as far as the worst-hit Meulaboh area, West Aceh, which takes an hour from the air base. They return to the USS Abraham Lincoln in the evening. Danielsen and other crew members and pilots have kept up this busy routine since Saturday, the first day the ship commenced its Aceh mission. "We work from early in the morning until the sun sets," Danielsen said on Monday night. The work is exhausting, but he said he was glad to join the mission. "Aceh has been devastated and the Acehnese people deserve help," he said. The Abraham Lincoln -- named after the U.S.'s 16th president -- is part of the U.S. Asia Pacific Command deployed to Aceh for the humanitarian mission. Besides the aircraft carrier, three other U.S. ships are stationed off the Aceh coast to provide support for domestic and international relief operations in the wake of the tsunami catastrophe, which killed over 94,000 people in this country, mostly in Aceh. The USS Abraham Lincoln, the U.S.'s fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, contributes about 9 to 11 helicopters a day. "Basically, the main duties of the U.S. choppers are to conduct surveys of locate tsunami survivors and refugees, drop food and medicine supplies, and, after off-loading the goods, take sick people from devastated areas to medical facilities in Banda Aceh for treatment," said Capt. Kendall L. Card, the ship's commanding officer. "The Indonesian government has control over our operations. We receive the plan and execute the day-to-day functions," he explained. According to Kendall, the aircraft carrier will stay off the coast of Aceh "until our services are no longer needed." The presence of the helicopters means that food and medicinal aid can be dropped everywhere, particularly in remote areas where land transportation has been impossible after roads and bridges were destroyed by the tsunami. This is not the first humanitarian mission for the nuclear-powered mother ship. In October 1983, the Abraham Lincoln was ordered to the coast of Somalia to assist U.N. humanitarian operations. The carrier spent four weeks flying patrols over the city of Mogadishu and surrounding areas, backing American ground troops during Operation Restore Hope. Earlier, the ship supported evacuation operations following the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991. In the operation named Fiery Vigil, the mother ship led a 23-ship armada that sea-lifted 20,000 evacuees. The armada relocated approximately 45,000 people from Subic Bay Naval Station, making it the largest peacetime evacuation of active duty military personnel and family members in history. Other crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln said, while they had participated in other such missions, they had been stunned by the destruction in Aceh. "In my 17 years in service, I never saw devastation of this magnitude," said Sr. Chief. Jesse Cash, who joined the humanitarian mission against famine in Liberia back in 1990. "This was an act of God. We are here and happy to help," said helicopter ground crew member Kevin Ferguson. Table ================== Brief data about the ship General Characteristics Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Co, Va. Commissioned: Nov. 11, 1989 Power Plant: Two nuclear reactors, four shafts Length, overall: 332.85 meters Flight Deck Width: 76.8 meters Beam: 40.84 meters Displacement: Approx. 97,000 tons full load Speed: 30+ knots Aircraft: 85 Cost: about $4.5 billion Crew: Ship's Company: 3,200 Air Wing: 2,480 Service Life: 50 years Interesting Figures Dirty laundry washed each day: 5,550 pounds (about 2,523 kg) Loaves of bread baked each day: 800 Milk consumed each day: 660 gallons Number of eggs consumed each day: 180 dozen Fresh vegetables consumed each day: 800 pounds (about 364 kg) Some soldiers say it takes at least two or three months in order to never get lost again inside the huge ship Accidents An F-18 Hornet jet fighter crashed into the sea in the Persian Gulf on August 24, 1999 after it catapulted off the deck. The pilot was ejected and rescued afterward. Lt. Kera S. Hultgreen, the first woman to fully qualify as an F-14 Tomcat jet fighter pilot, was killed in a training accident while attempting to land on board of the USS Abraham Lincoln on Oct. 25, 1994 in the Pacific Ocean. Source: Release by Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs Office and www.navysite.de/cvn/cvn72.html ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/O.5XsA/8WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. 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