USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft
carrier tied up at Laem Chabang Port.
Vittaya Yoondorn
Nearly 6,000 U.S. sailors invaded Pattaya when the USS
Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group pulled into Laem Chabang for a
five-day holiday.
Captain John D. Alexander
(left), Commanding Officer USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), and Troy M.
Shoemaker (right), Commander of Aircraft Carrier 9, give an interview to the
media.
“There isn’t a place better that the sailors love to come
than Pattaya,” carrier Capt. John Alexander told the media Jan. 6. “They get
good value for their money, there’s a lot to do, and they can stay at hotels
without breaking the bank.”
The visit is the fourth by the Lincoln and the second for
accompanying Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Cape St. George. The carrier
boasts a complement of 5,500 navy and marine personnel and the cruiser about
390.
The U.S. embassy gave local media a tour of the giant
ship, hosting a reception in a hanger for jet planes and petrol tanks.
Public Affairs Officer Lt. Marissa Myatt gave reporters a history of
America’s fifth Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier commissioned in 1989.
The Lincoln is in the last stages of a worldwide tour
taking it from its former home port in Washington to Newport News, Virginia
where it will undergo a $3 billion refueling and complex overhaul that will
take the ship out of service for up to four years beginning in 2013.
Its next stop will be an exercise in Southern Asia where
it will lend its expertise to Thai and other regional naval forces.
Keeping an eye on things at
the entrances and exits from the ships.
A naval officer goes about
his business in the USS Abraham Lincoln control room.
Aircraft lined up on the USS
Abraham Lincoln flight deck.
Souvenirs such as glasses,
shirts, pants, USS Abraham Lincoln brooches and Marine jackets are on sale
inside the ship.
Our tour guides are a friendly
bunch of officers.
