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INSIDE

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Command COMREL

Rudder Installation

CAG 7 Support

FC2 Taylor

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Growing up I always respected the craftsmanship of artist Gilbert Young. Without question, he possesses a unique talent of capturing abstract concepts with a mere brush, paint, and an old fashion canvas. To illustrate, in the classic portrait, “He Ain’t Heavy,” Young grasps the very essence of mentorship on various levels. If one were to intently examine this painting, four elements would possibly standout - someone who overcame (a mentor), someone in need of support (mentee), a structure (policies of an organization) and a bright sky (unlimited possibilities). Over the course of the next few months, I would like to drill down on each aspect of these mentoring platforms for the purpose of challenging, equipping and making recommendations to help take our team to the next level. But for now, let’s explore the heart of a mentor.

For starters, allow me to suggest that just because a person overcomes tragedy, achieves success or obtains a certain level of rank does not necessarily qualify them to be a mentor. On the contrary, it is very possible to have the external trappings of success and be internally incapable of lifting others to higher heights. So the question becomes, “What exactly is a mentor and what should be the heart of person that would dare to pour into the lives of others even when it is not popular?”

A mentor is a person who refuses to lose sight of the fact that some parent, coach, teacher or some old salty Sailor unconditionally invested into their life. A mentor understands that they stand on the shoulders of giants and that they are now duty bound to pay it forward. True mentors aren’t caught up in the politics of building personal kingdoms unto themselves but rather are more concerned with building up broken lives and careers. At the end of the day, the heart of a mentor beats solely to serve others and not to be served.

If you want to be a great mentor, consider emulating the sentiments of Dr. King when he said, “Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” Do you have the heart of a mentor? Do you remember how others invested in your life? Are you ready to serve others and not be served? If so, join the likes of Chief Warrant Officer 4 Gregory Collins, Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Lisa Crocker and Chief Cryptologic Technician (Collection) Jeremy Crandall and demonstrate to our shipmates that indeed S/He Ain’t Heavy!

The Heart Of A Mentor by Cmdr. Maurice A. Buford, Lincoln Command Chaplain

Photo By MC2 Dainian Douglas 3

Sailors join the Navy for a variety of reasons. For one Sailor it was as simple as following in a parent’s footsteps. Fire Controlman 2nd Class Bryan Taylor, an Ozark, Ala., native, joined the Navy in 2008 to see the world.

“Like my father did,” Taylor said.Taylor arrived onboard the Nimitz-class aircraft

carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in November 2009 after completing his initial training at Advanced Combat Direction System School. Taylor deployed with Lincoln twice (September 2010 to March 2011 and December 2011 to August 2012) including a world tour; visiting countries such as Thailand, Dubai and Turkey.

During Taylor’s first deployment, he was promoted to Second Class Petty Officer, earned his Surface Warfare pin and was awarded a Flag Letter of Commendation by Rear Adm. Troy Shoemaker.

“I attribute my success to my hard work and dedication,” Taylor said. “Deployments are no joke. I was working 12 to 14 hour days six days a week.”

Success didn’t stop after deployment. He moved on to work for the Gold Disk Program, a Navy-wide initiative designed to save money.

When Lincoln pulled into Newport News Shipbuilding to begin her refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) in March 2013, Taylor was sent to Naval Undersea Warfare Center in the St. Julian’s Annex in Portsmouth, Va., to begin working for the Gold Disk Program where he would eventually save the Navy $160,000.

“I am currently a 2M (miniature/micro)/ MTR (Module Test and Repair) technician repairing circuit cards and creating test routines (gold disks) for the Navy to save money throughout the fleet,” Taylor said.

The Navy developed the Gold Disk Program to save money and time by reducing costs and turnaround time for repairs. Within this program, Taylor created a process to narrow down the technical issue from an entire circuit board to a single component, which reduces the replacement cost from $10,000 to 20 cents.

In addition to component costs, Taylor’s efforts in

this project have also saved the Navy hundreds of man-hours that would have been required to remove and replace the circuit boards.

For his accomplishments, he recently received the Chief of Naval Operations Gold Disk Award for May 2014 which included a Letter of Commendation and a $1,000 cash award.

“I’m glad to have the time I’ve contributed at work equate to hundreds of thousands of dollars saved by the Navy; it’s a great feeling,” Taylor said.

Sailor Saves The Navy Over $160,000Story and Photo by MCSN Matthew Young

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Sailors assigned to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln’s (CVN 72) Weapons department helped Carrier Air Group 7 (CAG 7) inspect and troubleshoot weapon systems at Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City, Fla., July 10-18.

“Our job was to inspect the weapons brought out there,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Gerardo Rios, G-3 division leading petty officer (LPO). “We made sure that there were no discrepancies so that they were ready for issue to three F/A-18 squadrons.”

After receiving two months of training about the inspection and on Air Force protocol, the Sailors were well equipped for the task at hand.

“Everyone going on the trip had three weeks of mock training as well as a refresher every Friday preceding the actual inspection,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Phillipe Donaldson, PM-11’s berthing team production LPO.

“The process started by having to coordinate with the Air Force to be there,” Rios said. “Once we arrived, we conducted a safety brief before the preflight check inspections, involving missiles and 20mm ammunition. We did the inspections by the book and took it step by step to ensure every weapon we looked at was good for transport to the flight line. We didn’t have to do any electronic testing. In fact, all of the inspections were basic visual pre-launch inspections.”

After Lincoln’s Sailors inspected the many weapon systems there, the Air Force provided quality assurance and ran their operational tests on the flight line.

“Once a weapon system was on the flight line, that’s when the Air Force would do all of their electrical tests to make sure the weapons were operational in flight,”

Rios said.Rios said the

CAG 7 inspection was an opportunity to help Lincoln aviation ordnancemen (AO’s) get experience within their rate. Many of the Sailors aboard

Lincoln arrived during the refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) and haven’t been able to work on the ship at an operational level.

“We’ve been in RCOH for almost two years,” Rios said. “A lot of AO’s don’t get to handle ordnance on a daily basis. The inspection gave them the chance to work in their rate and experience what it’s like to do their job.”

“The inspection was simple, but it kept my skills fluent, so doing this inspection was more of a refresher course on being an AO than anything else,” Donaldson said.

CAGs accompany aircraft carriers like Lincoln to conduct air operations while embarked for deployments. Lincoln offloaded CAG 7 in Mayport, Fla., in August, 2012 before making Norfolk her homeport for RCOH

‘We’ve been in RCOH for almost two years. A lot of AO’s don’t get to handle ordnance on a regualr basis. The inspection gave them the chance to work in their rate and experience what it’s like to do their job.’

Lincoln Helps CAG 7 Complete Weapons Inspection

Story by MCSN Christopher Huot

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Nearly 1,700 Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) volunteered at more than 25 locations over a 70-mile area in the Hampton Roads region during an all-day community relations (COMREL) event, Aug. 15.

This marks the third COMREL Lincoln has coor-dinated throughout the Hampton Roads region since the ship arrived to Newport News Shipbuilding in February 2013. Lincoln Sailors volunteered more than 4,000 hours during this event.

Capt. Ronald Ravelo, Lincoln’s commanding offi-cer, visited some of the COMREL locations alongside Command Master Chief Gregg Webber to thank the crew for their volunteerism.

“The ability for us to be out here and help beau-tify the community and to contribute in such a positive manner to the region is obviously a big deal,” Ravelo said. “I thank all the Sailors who took the time to come out.”

The all-day event included volunteers from 18 departments divided throughout the region.

One of the assistant coordinators for weapons department’s COMREL at Lafayette Park in Norfolk, was Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Courtney Dors-ey.

“It was awesome to be a part of this experience,” Dorsey said. “I am grateful I had the opportunity to come out and volunteer alongside my shipmates dur-ing this event.”

More than 120 Sailors assigned to Lincoln’s avia-tion intermediate maintenance department (AIMD) volunteered at Mount Trashmore, a world-renowned park encompassing 165 acres, comprised of two man-made mountains, two lakes, two playgrounds, a skate park, a vert ramp, and multi-use paths.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be in such a place where children have a secure environment to play and learn things in life,” said Master Chief Avionics Maintenance Technician Jean Previllon, AIMD lead-ing chief petty officer. “It is also an opportunity for Sailors to learn and realize what the enlistment oath really means. To learn that freedom is not free.”

Lincoln Volunteers Across Hampton Roads

Story by MC1 Leeanna ShippsPhotos Courtesy of USS Abraham Lincoln

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Engineering department’s Damage Controlman 3rd Class Sarah Sepulveda volunteered at the Norfolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a private no-kill humane society dedicated to fostering the human-animal bond to ensure that every adoptable companion animal finds a home.

“I love helping animals. It’s just one way I can give back to the community,” Sepulveda said.

Quarter Master Seaman Apprentice Quincee Miller, currently assigned to training department, volunteered at the Mariners’ Museum. She helped clear scrap metal, or-ganize debris, and fill three and a half construction dump-sters with recyclable material.

“COMRELs are great because the community can depend on us to be there if they need help,” Miller said.

Air department came out in force with over 190 Sailors covering three different locations including Mount Trashmore, Newport News Park, and the Virginia Penin-sula Foodbank.

Jamison Ditto, Newport News Park superintendent, expressed his gratitude for having such a large group of volunteers.

“It’s a lot of money saved because we don’t have the staff we need for these projects,” Ditto said.

Reactor Department cleaned up a mile of beach at Fort Monroe under the supervision of Ranger Aaron Firth of the National Park Service.

“We cannot keep parks like this clean and maintained without the time Lincoln Sailors are volunteering today,” Firth said.

At the end of the day, Lincoln Sailors were happy to help in any way they could.

“It was impressive coming up here seeing all the Sailors happy to be here,” Webber said. “They are actu-ally having a good time. They are forming stronger bonds, which translates into the workforce. This is a great way to give back to the community and environment.”

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Thirteen divisions of Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) successfully re-installed the port and starboard rudder aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abra-ham Lincoln (CVN 72), June 24.

The overhaul and installation of the rudders is considered a huge success for Lincoln’s refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) because the job was not initially planned.

“Conducting an inspection early in the dry dock period revealed problems that needed to be corrected,” said Cmdr. Vincent Janowiak, Lincoln’s chief engi-neer. “The work was very intrusive to the ship and getting this kind of work done prior to undocking the ship on its original schedule was a huge undertaking for the shipyard.”

The removal process of the rudders started in Au-gust 2013. Once the rudders were removed they were sent to the NNS machine shop for checks and then to X10 division for structural repairs.

The installation of the rudders took five days and was made possible by the use of cranes and the out-standing teamwork of shipyard workers from M53, O38, 043, X10, X11, X18, X31, X32, X33, X36, X42, X43 and X70 divisions.

“We used 50 ton chain falls in the dry dock to rig the rudder into place while a crane lowered the rud-der stock from the flight deck through the ship to the fourth deck,” said Mike Bridges, X70 lead. “We then lined the rudder stock up with the rudder and began the install process.”

According to Bridges, the rudder installation was one of the biggest growth work jobs during the un-docking period.

“It was truly a group effort from a lot of different trades to pull together to be committed to make this job go as well as it did,” Bridges said. “When you are a part of a team that works hard like they did, it makes your job easy.”

RCOH Milestone: Rudder InstallationStory by MCSN Matthew Young

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Photo By MC3 Benjamin Liston