ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN – Can by can, case by case, sailors on America’s biggest warship are getting ready for a picnic today.
A half dozen sailors from departments throughout the ship started working before 9 a.m., filling a huge metal storage container with cans of soda and bottles of water.
Chief Mark Schooley, the man in charge of the beverages for Monday’s
shindig, promised there would be "12 cases of everything."
His workers had dumped 96 cases of pop and 24 cases of water before taking a break to wait for 50 super-sized bags of ice.
Weighing from 75 to 100 pounds, the bags are "a lot bigger than you get at the 7-11," Schooley joked.
The cans of pop don’t look like they came from the corner store, either.
Since most are from Bahrain, the labels aren’t written in English. And the 2,880 cans have pull-tabs, something not seen in the states since the 1970s.
More sodas and bottles of water will be put in the cooler later.
"That’s just to get started," Schooley said, looking over the partially
filled aluminum bin. "This will last for just the first hour or so."
The party, called a "steel beach picnic" because such events are usually held on the carrier’s spacious flight deck, will be held indoors today. With a crosswind of roughly 40 knots, it’s too windy for a barbecue on the 4.5-acre deck that’s more often home to the eight squadrons of the Lincoln’s air wing.
The day’s events also include a basketball contest, running events and other activities.
For the picnic, the Lincoln crew will feast on steaks, chicken, burgers, hot dogs and more.
"Think of your typical Fourth of July picnic, and that’s what we have,"
Schooley said.
The food includes 5,400 New York strip steaks from Harris Ranch Steak House near Bakersfield, Calif., a donation valued at roughly $48,600.
Just before 9:30 a.m., a parade of perishables began from the enlisted mess decks. More than a dozen sailors each toted a plastic container almost the size of a waist-high filing cabinet, each one filled with hot dogs, sliced onions, chopped lettuce and other food items. Another sailor pushed a cart loaded with slices of cheese, while even more sailors carried tinfoil-covered trays filled with the steaks.
The Lincoln is currently a day and a half out of Hawaii in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The carrier is returning from Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Southern Watch (the enforcement of the "no fly" zone in Iraq) and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The warship, with a crew of roughly 5,500 aboard, is on its 282nd day of deployment. The deployment is the longest since 1973,when the USS Midway spent 327 days at sea.
The Abe is expected to return to its homeport in Everett at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 6.
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