April 1, 2003
BOARD THE U.S.S. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, in the Persian Gulf, March 31 — With the ground war intensifying, the Navy increased its airstrike capacity today with the arrival aboard this carrier of four additional F/A-18 Super Hornet jets.
The jets, on loan from another carrier, the Nimitz, which has not yet reached the gulf, will enable the Abraham Lincoln's air wing to make 10 to 20 additional flights a day, according to squadron commanders, and provide more support to ground troops.
Since the beginning of the war the three carriers in the gulf, the Lincoln, the Kitty Hawk and the Constellation, have flown more than 2,000 missions.
The addition of the new strike teams brought more than just the promise of additional manpower. They also brought the expectation of relief. The Lincoln, the world's largest warship, is now in its ninth month of deployment.
Though there has been no official confirmation, commanders and crew members here hope that when the Nimitz arrives, sometime in the next week or so, the Lincoln will get its orders to head home.
This afternoon, in the Super Hornet squadron's ready room, the six pilots who arrived with their jets from the Nimitz were met with enthusiasm. "Welcome to the fight," a lieutenant called out as the pilots entered.
Most of the new arrivals were hardly unknowns, having trained with many of the Lincoln's fliers back in Lemoore, Calif. But there was little immediate opportunity to renew friendships, as there were missions to fly.
"Long time no see," said the Lincoln squadron's commanding officer, Cmdr. Jeffrey Penfield, as he headed out the door to the flight deck. "We'll talk when I get back."
Now that the primary function of coalition air forces is to provide support for ground troops, a role that often requires extended flying over Iraq, the ability to refuel in flight is even more important. With two of the new jets capable of flying fueling missions, the Super Hornets, which are currently flying up to 40 missions a day, can add as many as 20 flights to their daily schedule.
The pilots expect to spend the next week or so with Commander Penfield's squadron, learning about the dynamics of the war and flying missions. They will then fly back to their own carrier and teach the other pilots on the Nimitz what they have learned.
While much of the energy today surrounding the arrival of the new jets was tied to the prospect of the Abraham Lincoln's possibly starting the monthlong journey back to its home port in Everett, Wash., Commander Penfield discouraged his pilots from thinking too far ahead.
The transition, if it happens, is still at least a week away. There are too many missions to concentrate on, he said, between now and then.
And the crew of the Lincoln has had their hopes dashed before. The carrier was headed home in January when it was called back to the region to await the war.
"I'll believe it when we're heading out of the gulf and the planes are all chained down," Commander Penfield said.