Published: Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Families bid farewell as Lincoln sails into uncertainty
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Dan Bates / The Herald
The USS Abraham Lincoln leaves Everett on Tuesday morning. The carrier may not return before its scheduled refueling in Virginia.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Paula Beckner of Marysville waves goodbye to her husband, David Beckner, who left aboard the Lincoln on Tuesday.
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Dan Bates / The Herald A tug and security boat move away from the side of the USS Abraham Lincoln Tuesday morning as it departs from Naval Station Everett. Photo taken: 090710
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EVRETT -- Julie and Jimmie Phillips lingered at the pier at Naval Station Everett on Tuesday morning as the USS Abraham Lincoln carried away their son, Sean Phillips.
The couple drove from Tacoma to see him off for his second deployment on the aircraft carrier. A dozen or so sailors stood watch on the ship's 4.5-acre flight deck. The Phillipses waved. A dark silhouette not much bigger than a toy soldier waved back. It was Sean, Julie Phillips said.
"You can tell him by his shoulders and by the way he walks," she said.
Sean Phillips, 26, and his sister both inherited broad shoulders. As for the special walk, he developed it speed skating.
The Phillipses were among several families at the pier Tuesday morning. The Lincoln, the USS Momsen and the USS Shoup left for a routine six-month deployment, said Kristin Ching, a Navy spokeswoman. The deployment may be one of the Lincoln's last from its homeport at Naval Station Everett. The warship is scheduled to leave in 2011 for refueling in Norfolk, Va. The Navy hasn't decided whether the Lincoln will return to Everett after that.
Sean Phillips joined the Navy four years ago. Joining the military runs in the family, his mother said. Jimmie Phillips, 61, retired from the Air Force. He now works for Boeing. Julie Phillips, 58, is a nurse at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma. They both have family members with military careers.
Aboard the ship, Sean Phillips works with the aircraft on the flight deck, Julie Phillips said. During his last deployment, Julie and Jimmie Phillips mailed him packages by the dozen, not as much for Sean as for other young sailors didn't get mail. Candy, toiletries, fruit-scented soap for women, stacks of car and fashion magazines. Julie and Jimmie Phillips didn't think of it as a chore at all.
"It's great. We've gotten e-mails from people we never met. They are so grateful," Julie Phillips said.
Most families said goodbye at home, so the pier wasn't crowded Tuesday morning. Less than two hours remained before the Lincoln, which eventually will have more than 5,000 on board, would gently pull away from its berth.
The ship roared. A half dozen radars, big ones for weapon systems and small ones for navigation, spun in different directions. In the 2.5-acre hangar area, some sailors were busy with final preparations and others were making that last call home.
Wade Oberlin, 22, has been living on the ship for the past 10 days. He was previously stationed at the Naval Submarine Base Bangor in Silverdale, where he worked in public affairs. His job on the Lincoln is writing and taking photos for the ship's weekly newspaper, the Penny Press.
"Living on the ship means having your life compressed, with all essentials just a hallway away," he said.
Oberlin shares his sleeping quarters with 26 other people from the media department. The 1,100-foot ship is like a city, with its own zip code, restaurants, gyms and barbershops.
Oberlin grew up in Xenia, Ohio. He wanted to leave the Midwest and see the world, so he joined the Navy. With most of his personal belongings locked away in a storage unit, he was excited to start his first deployment.
"It's amazing that I can just leave everything behind and pick up when I come back."
Between now and then, he said he will be getting CDs with new music mixes, candy and other fun packages to keep him going.
The Lincoln will be back sometime in spring, said William Marks, a public affairs officer.
Today's technological innovations really help families communicate when the sailors are away, he said. A video conference is set up about once a month between the ship and the Navy base, where the families can talk to and see their loved ones aboard the ship.
Marks has been in the Navy for 14 years. After his stint on the Lincoln, he plans to transfer to San Diego or Washington, D.C.
"It's going to sound corny, but I truly believe in what we do," he said.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com
The couple drove from Tacoma to see him off for his second deployment on the aircraft carrier. A dozen or so sailors stood watch on the ship's 4.5-acre flight deck. The Phillipses waved. A dark silhouette not much bigger than a toy soldier waved back. It was Sean, Julie Phillips said.
"You can tell him by his shoulders and by the way he walks," she said.
Sean Phillips, 26, and his sister both inherited broad shoulders. As for the special walk, he developed it speed skating.
The Phillipses were among several families at the pier Tuesday morning. The Lincoln, the USS Momsen and the USS Shoup left for a routine six-month deployment, said Kristin Ching, a Navy spokeswoman. The deployment may be one of the Lincoln's last from its homeport at Naval Station Everett. The warship is scheduled to leave in 2011 for refueling in Norfolk, Va. The Navy hasn't decided whether the Lincoln will return to Everett after that.
Sean Phillips joined the Navy four years ago. Joining the military runs in the family, his mother said. Jimmie Phillips, 61, retired from the Air Force. He now works for Boeing. Julie Phillips, 58, is a nurse at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma. They both have family members with military careers.
Aboard the ship, Sean Phillips works with the aircraft on the flight deck, Julie Phillips said. During his last deployment, Julie and Jimmie Phillips mailed him packages by the dozen, not as much for Sean as for other young sailors didn't get mail. Candy, toiletries, fruit-scented soap for women, stacks of car and fashion magazines. Julie and Jimmie Phillips didn't think of it as a chore at all.
"It's great. We've gotten e-mails from people we never met. They are so grateful," Julie Phillips said.
Most families said goodbye at home, so the pier wasn't crowded Tuesday morning. Less than two hours remained before the Lincoln, which eventually will have more than 5,000 on board, would gently pull away from its berth.
The ship roared. A half dozen radars, big ones for weapon systems and small ones for navigation, spun in different directions. In the 2.5-acre hangar area, some sailors were busy with final preparations and others were making that last call home.
Wade Oberlin, 22, has been living on the ship for the past 10 days. He was previously stationed at the Naval Submarine Base Bangor in Silverdale, where he worked in public affairs. His job on the Lincoln is writing and taking photos for the ship's weekly newspaper, the Penny Press.
"Living on the ship means having your life compressed, with all essentials just a hallway away," he said.
Oberlin shares his sleeping quarters with 26 other people from the media department. The 1,100-foot ship is like a city, with its own zip code, restaurants, gyms and barbershops.
Oberlin grew up in Xenia, Ohio. He wanted to leave the Midwest and see the world, so he joined the Navy. With most of his personal belongings locked away in a storage unit, he was excited to start his first deployment.
"It's amazing that I can just leave everything behind and pick up when I come back."
Between now and then, he said he will be getting CDs with new music mixes, candy and other fun packages to keep him going.
The Lincoln will be back sometime in spring, said William Marks, a public affairs officer.
Today's technological innovations really help families communicate when the sailors are away, he said. A video conference is set up about once a month between the ship and the Navy base, where the families can talk to and see their loved ones aboard the ship.
Marks has been in the Navy for 14 years. After his stint on the Lincoln, he plans to transfer to San Diego or Washington, D.C.
"It's going to sound corny, but I truly believe in what we do," he said.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com
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