By Azaraimy HH
His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, accompanied by Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng, US Embassy Charge D'Affaires, Jeffrey Hawkins, and several senior government officials flew onboard USS Abraham Lincoln, America's fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, yesterday for a brief visit.
Commander Abraham Lincoln Strike Group, Rear Admiral John W. Goodwin, and Commanding Officer Captain C. Andrew McCawley welcomed HRH Prince Mohamed and rest of the delegation upon their arrival.
On board, HRH Prince Mohamed and guests enjoyed a brief reception and met other crewmembers. HRH was also invited to inspect the rainbow sideboy's - guard of honour.
While onboard, Prince Mohamed and the delegation toured the flight deck for a view of air operations and hangar bay to view a static display of helicopters. The event concluded with a presentation of photographs, ball caps and coins to HRH Prince Mohamed.
The ship was named in honour of America's 16th president and is the second ship in the US Navy to bear his name.
Most recently, the Lincoln responded to the Dec 26, 2004 tsunami disaster in the coast of Aceh, Indonesia, one of the areas hardest hit by the catastrophe. The carrier and embarked Carrier Air Wing provided relief in the form of supply drops, water and medevac flights. Other deployments include Operation Desert Sheild/Desert Storm, Operation Fiery Vigil, assistance in UN Humanitarian operations, and several others in Arabian Gulf.
The ship boasts all amenities found in any America city with comparable population. These include a post office (with own zip code), TV and radio stations, newspaper, fire department, library, hospital, general store, barbershops, and more.
- Borneo Bulletin
(10th May 2006)
