This is the first in a series of posts by EOT co-founder Scott Gulbransen about his recent trip aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) underway off the coast of Southern California. Gulbransen spent time with the ship as it prepares to deploy to the Persian Gulf later this year.

The USS Abraham Lincoln CVN 72 - 79,000 tons of diplomacy

Being the father of four kids, the time leading up to my much anticipated journey out to the USS Abraham Lincoln was filled with mixed emotions.

On one hand, I was about to experience something not many Americans will ever get the opportunity to do in their lifetime. On the other hand, anytime I leave my kids I get a little sad knowing I won’t see them for the next few days. I love being a Dad and anytime apart from my kids is tough.

My mission on the Lincoln was to learn what I could in three main areas:

  1. Talk to folks on the ship with kids. How do they deal with the deployments and extended time away from their families?
  2. Learn how the Navy, and their media personnel on the ship, use communications, PR and social media effectively.
  3. Just soak in the experience and get a new appreciation for the hard work, dedication and sacrifice our sailors make to keep us safe.

I will save the social media, PR and general giddiness I experienced on my trip for Shamable.com and ScottGulbransen.com blogs; my mission here will be to tell you what I’ve learned about these amazing men and women in our Navy and how they handle being away from their husbands, wives and kids.

I’d be crazy if I didn’t first talk about our flight out to the Lincoln.

We all met (all includes several well-known business, social media folks) at the North Island Naval Air Station early Sunday morning to get our briefing and a brief tour before getting ready for our flight out to the ship.

THe VRC-30 Providers were tasked with flying us out to the ship.

After a safety briefing from a very young, but amazingly smart and courteous Naval aviator from the Fleet Logistical Support VRC-30 “Providers” (pictured left), we were shuffled into a make-shift ready room where we were instructed on how to get ready for our flight out to the USS Lincoln.

We slipped on three items: what the Navy calls a cranial – sort of a half helmet meets half ear protector, goggles, and a water vest. Once you start slipping into this gear, the boy in you that wanted to be a fighter pilot starts to creep toward the surface. After I squashed the little boy back into this man’s body, we were all ready and heard the plane pull up right on the tarmac outside the briefing room.

The plane we’d take out to the Lincoln? Not a jet but an incredibly durable workhorse known as the C2 Greyhound. Also known as a COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) craft, the turboprop can seat up to about 18 people or be configured to carry just cargo. The COD is what the Navy primarily uses to bring on personnel or supplies when at sea. It’s a bull and you can see the video below as we boarded this craft for our flight and our first “Trap 1″ on the deck of the Lincoln.

The ship had moved offshore pretty far so our flight out was going to be a little longer than expected and last over an hour and 10 minutes from San Diego. The liftoff from the base was uneventful, but the anticipation of our first carrier deck landing was building up in all of us.

We were given a five minute warning as we approached the ship and would be given a wave by the on-board crew members once we were 15 seconds from our landing on the USS Lincoln.

I can tell you without hesitation, those last 15 seconds seemed like an eternity. Not many human beings on the face of the earth get to experience landing via arrested cable on an aircraft carrier and we all kept waiting for the hard, violent and exhilirating jolt as we touched down.

Here is actually video from flight deck cameras of how we landed on the deck on Sunday:

Here’s also a picture of me (lower right) as we landed. Yeah, my heart was pumping like never before. No words can describe what it feels like to go from 100mph to 0 in a few seconds. Amazing feat of engineering and piloting skill.

Shaky photo of the landing on the USS Lincoln

Being able to land like that is something I will tell my grandchildren about. It was everything it was built up to be and the first thing that came to my mind was how safe I felt. Credit the Navy, and it’s men and women, for the years dedicated to making Naval aviation safe enough to fly geeks like us out to a moving aircraft carrier.

As we waited to deplane, the rear hatch of the C2 opened up revealing a strange and highly surreal environment. The smell of jet fuel filled my nostrils. I was on another planet of sorts and I loved it.

Next post…you’ll meet some of the Dads aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Follow Scott on Twitter @sdgully or email him at scott@everyotherthursday.com. His personal blog, where he writes about public relations and social media, is www.scottgulbransen.com. Scott also contributes the the Shamable Blog and is known as the Gluten Free Father and reviews GF food.

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