 In February, 1997, I received a letter from the Public Affairs office at COMNAVAIRPAC, informing me that my application to the Distinguished Visitor program had been accepted, and I was to embark on March 21, to spend the night aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. I had applied to the program in the hopes of being able to do some research for a painting I was planning called “Intense Rivalry”. I was thrilled to be going aboard the Lincoln, the ship I had walked under a few months before, and for the opportunity to see my friend again, CDR. Bruce Clingan. I arrived at NAS North Island, and along with five other gentlemen, boarded aircraft 21, a C-2 COD, which stands for ‘Carrier Onboard Delivery’ aircraft. The flight was uneventful until we made a sharp left turn to enter the pattern to come aboard the ship. Trapping aboard an aircraft carrier is a loud, violent experience that is difficult to describe in words. After we de-planed and went inside the ship, we met the ships Public Affairs Officer, who took us to meet with the X-O. After going to our rooms to freshen up, we were given flight deck gear, and headed off to watch flight operations. I figured we were going up to vulture’s row to watch flight ops, but to my surprise, we went on the flight deck and stood between the bow catapults to watch planes take off. I was thrilled and nervous at the same time. As one F-18 would be catapulted down the deck, we would turn around only to find another F-18 was getting in to position to be launched, while in the background, planes were trapping aboard on the angle deck. We later headed to the back of the ship and the LSO pad to watch planes trapping aboard the carrier. |
 We had dinner with the officers of the ship, which was rather elegant considering we were on a war ship, and we were looking forward to watching night carrier flight operations. We soon learned that flight ops for the night were cancelled due to heavy fog, so the X-O took me up in the island to meet the Captain of the ship. We had a very pleasant conversation, and he then suggested the X-O take me up to the bridge. After touring the bridge, the officer in charge of the bridge asked if I would like to take the helm and steer the ship. I took the wheel, which is surprisingly small considering it controls such a huge ship, and was told to turn to course 290. Being surrounded by very capable sailors who were watching my every move, I was quietly told that saying “OK” to an order wasn’t quite correct, and was told to repeat the order back followed by a hearty “aye, aye, sir”. After about five minutes, it suddenly hit me that I was steering a billion dollar weapons platform in the fog off the California coast, and my heart started racing. It was quite a thrill. We then headed down to the X-O’s office and quarters, where I was pleasantly surprised to see my painting “Command Performance” hanging on his wall! After a good night sleep (no planes landing on your head at 2 am because of the fog), we had breakfast, toured more of the ship, and waited for the fog to clear so our C-2 COD could land and take us back to NAS North Island. The fog finally cleared, our C-2 came aboard, and we boarded the plane and prepared for take-off. We sat backwards in the C-2, so the force of the catapult launch smashed my face into the seat in front of me. A catapult launch is loud, the plane shakes before take-off, and the actual catapult launch is very violent and fast. What a rush! On the return flight home, I had time to reflect on the fact I had seen the USS Abraham Lincoln from both below and above, and now had two carrier traps to my credit. Thank you to the officers and crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln and the United States Navy, and to my friend Admiral Bruce Clingan. |
In July, 1996, I received a call from CDR. Bruce Clingan, who was the Executive Officer of the Abraham Lincoln. CDR. Clingan said, “John, is there any chance you can fly up here to Bremerton?” I asked him why, and he responded, “The Lincoln is in drydock, and I was wondering if you would like to walk ‘under’ the ship?” My answer was a resounding “Yes!” Airline tickets were purchased, and my eldest daughter and I flew to Seattle. The next day we drove over to the drydock to have our “close encounter” with the Lincoln. On the way, we passed many Navy ships that were in mothball, including the battleship USS New Jersey, and the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-61), the carrier in my painting “Shock Waves”. We arrived at the drydock and began our tour with the XO and his family. We walked aboard the carrier and proceeded down to the hanger deck. From there, we made our way to one of the flight deck elevators, and took some stairs down to the bottom of the drydock. All this time I couldn’t help but notice the beehive of activity, both on board the ship and around the drydock. When we reached the back of the drydock and looked forward towards the front of the ship, I realized how unique this event was for me. There before me were the ship’s four 21-foot diameter propellers, each weighting 11 tons, and the two ship’s rudders, which weigh 45 tons each. I could see many interesting paintings right before my eyes. We then started walking right down the middle of the ship, which is 1,092 feet long. We looked at one of the cement blocks that had a wood cap, which the Lincoln was resting on. It was one of many that were placed in specific locations so certain areas of the ship’s hull could be painted. The weight of the ship compresses the wood 12 inches on each one of these cement blocks. We reached the front of the ship, where he held our daughters up to take a photo of them “holding up the ship”. It was a remarkable day.