An 11-year Navy veteran, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Laura Blanco checked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in late March of this year. Before coming to the ship, she served two years as leading petty

officer (LPO) with 2nd Dental Battalion at Camp Lejune, N.C.Here on Lincoln, Blanco now serves as assistant LPO and dental hygenist in

Health Services division. She said she enjoys the day-to-day job of helping Sailors keep their dental health in order.

“I love my job,” said the Los Angeles native. “I really enjoy making a difference in the patients’ health and encouraging them to maintain good oral hygiene.”

Blanco, a wife and mother of two boys, said that when she is not helping Sailors achieve a bright smile, she enjoys touring the Pacific Northwest and going sightseeing with her family.

“There’s a lot of beautiful scenery in Washington. I love exploring this area, and my family loves it, too.”

HM1 Laura BLancoHealtH ServiceS Dept., Dental

Know Your SHipMate

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Story and photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Wade Oberlin

Being a service member with a spouse and children can be difficult. Whether deployment time makes you excited or

uneasy, leaving your family behind might be the hardest thing you’ll have to do.

Luckily, the Navy community has developed many tools and programs to help ease the pain and inconvenience of being separated from your loved ones.

The Navy Family Ombudsman Program has been a great aid to Navy families since it was established in 1970. Volunteer representatives act as links between ships’ commanding officers and Navy spouses. Ombudsmen are trained to spread information up and down the chain of command, including official Department of the Navy and command information, command climate issues, and local quality of life improvement opportunities.

“We have a group of outstanding ombudsmen that keep our family readiness at a high level,” said Master Chief Culinary Specialist Jason Haka, an assistant ombudsman liaison aboard Lincoln. “They are very pre-emptive in what they do, and their work is a cornerstone in Lincoln’s deployments and separations.”

These ombudsmen are also helping to reduce the stress that comes with the biggest challenge facing many Lincoln Sailors these days: the ship’s upcoming change of homeport.

The ombudsmen in Navy Region Northwest will aid transitioning Sailors until the ship departs, but for those personnel who plan to move their families and household goods to the east coast, Haka suggests they get in touch

with Virginia-based ombudsmen and the Norfolk Fleet and Family Support Center prior to leaving Everett to help smooth the transition for their families.

In addition to the family services provided by Navy ombudsmen, Sailors with children also have programs at their disposal to ease deployment separation.

United Through Reading (www.unitedthoughreading.org/military) offers a way for Lincoln parents to connect with their little ones back home when the ship is away. On video, deployed parents read children’s books aloud for their young ones to view at home on DVD. This sentimental gesture can help both parents and their children feel more connected and can supplement whatever email or Facebook (when Lincoln Sailors have access, that is) contact they already share. During the 2010-2011 deployment, many of Lincoln’s deployed parents made United Through Reading a very popular shipboard program.

To supplement the contact between those on deployment and those back at home, Lincoln encourages family members to become fans of the ship’s official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/USSLincoln). The ship shares photos, stories and videos of life afloat to update those at home from afar.

You are not alone. Many of your shipmates are leaving behind wives and husbands, with many uncertainties about how to handle the upcoming deployment. If you or your spouse recognizes a challenge looming on the horizon, the answer to some of your difficult questions may be with one of the Sailors you see every day. In the end, we’re all going to the same place, and we’re all in this together.

preparing Your FaMiLY For DepLoYMent

Story and photo illustration by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Benjamin Liston

On the heels of the ship’s recent five-day underway

period, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) will head

out yet again for an extended period of time.

The shorter seaborne phases between deployments help keep a ship’s readiness fresh and her personnel trained in preparation for the next long deployment. While out to sea, Lincoln will be qualifying new pilots, maintaining shipboard and personnel qualifications and making a special appearance in Southern California for Los Angeles Navy Week.

Pilots from the various squadrons throughout Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 will update their flight qualifications throughout this period. Navy standards require pilots to fly at

least every 90 days to maintain these qualifications. Additionally, Lincoln will be maintaining shipboard flight deck qualifications. The ship needs to qualify every 120 days at a minimum. Maintaining these quals is vital for the ship’s readiness.

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Jerry Pitts, an aviation veteran of 18 years, said the pilots and flight deck personnel are probably expecting between six to eight days worth of flying.

“As long as we perform well and fly the aircraft, we’ll maintain our qualifications,” said Pitts.

Lincoln will make an appearance at L.A. Navy Week to visit the city and allow Sailors to help in community activities.

Lt. Cmdr. Steve Curry, Lincoln’s public affairs officer, said Lincoln

wHY are we going out to Sea?Sailors will have the opportunity to attend one or more of a host of events in L.A., including Disneyland, L.A. Dodgers games, Knott’s Berry Farm and several other MWR events.

“L.A. Navy Week allows us to visit L.A., showcase the ship, showcase our Sailors to the city and enjoy what L.A. has to offer,” Curry said.

Sailors will also have the opportunity to participate in various scheduled community relations projects during the ship’s time in Los Angeles. In partnership with Habitat for Humanity, Lincoln personnel will help build a house for one lucky Southern California resident.

For the upcoming underway period, Lincoln will not have to travel too far from home to cement her place at the forefront of fleet readiness and community relations.

U.S. Navy photo by MC3 Jimmy CelliniU.S. Navy photo by MC2 Luciano Marano

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4.5 out of 5 Pennies

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeremiah Mills and Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Zach Hunt

Mills: I didn’t exactly know what to expect going into this movie. I hadn’t heard very much, so I hardly knew anything

about it. I was so pleasantly surprised that I went and saw it again the next day.

Hunt: I had been disappointed by the second movie, so my hopes were somewhat diminished—until I saw the trailer. The action looked intense, and Shockwave and his little “pet” looked

incredible. I knew I was going to love this movie. Mills: How did you like the storyline

improvements?Hunt: The plot was well-woven and in-depth, albeit a

bit predictable. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (Megan Fox’s replacement as star Shia LeBeouf’s love interest/damsel in distress) held her own, although her insertion into the storyline seemed a little forced, which took me out of the movie momentarily. Because of her critical role in the plot, the awkward fit is a bit amplified. LeBeouf’s character finally gets his hands dirty in the fight against the Decepticons. It only took him two and a half movies, but the protagonist is finally in the heart of the action!

Mills: I felt the approach to this movie was much more mature than the previous films. The much-needed character development and back story were wholehearted. From the history of Cybertron—the Transformers’ home world—to the involvement of the Apollo 11 moon mission and the introduction of Sentinel Prime—the original leader of the Autobots—the background laid the foundation for a solid storytelling experience.

Hunt: What stood out the most for you in this film? Mills: It has to be the mind-melting action from start

to finish. The U.S. military/Autobot alliance makes for one incredibly ass-kicking collaboration. The conflict was solid and the pacing was relentless. It was a ballet of violence.

Hunt: You couldn’t be more right. The action is definitely what made this movie great. My biggest critique of the first and second movies was that the action was cluttered and difficult to keep up with. This is not at all the case with Dark of the Moon, which finally cleans up the action and allows you to enjoy the epic battles to their full potential. A few of the slow-motion sequences look overproduced and are a bit cheesy, but for the most part they helped add a deeper feeling of suspense to an already suspenseful film.

As the ship pulled in from our last underway period, MC3 Hunt and MC3 Mills had grown borderline obsessive about seeing the newest installment in the big-budget action series about shape-shifting alien robots,

TrAnsforMers 3: Dark of the Moon

Mills: And that suspense was driven by the development of the Transformers themselves--the reason we look forward to these movies in the first place. My personal favorite, Bumblebee, is one of the most compelling characters in the movie, human or robot, from his friendship with LeBeouf’s character to his epic jaw-shattering rumbles. Who’s your favorite Transformer?

Hunt: Obviously, Optimus Prime and Megatron are the juggernauts of the series, but Shockwave came in to this story with a vengeance. His giant pet snake not only looks cool, but it is definitely the most awesome weapon in the whole movie. Was there anything you didn’t like about Dark of the Moon?

Mills: I would’ve liked a better soundtrack to compliment the overall effect of the film, but everything else to me was pretty impressive. For the genre and subject matter, Transformers 3 is one of the best movies of the year.

Hunt: Aside from the soundtrack and those few cheesy slow-motion sequences—and there were only two or three at the most—I had no problems with this film. I quickly overlooked the few weak moments when the action got going again. Other than these minor gripes, this movie is a classic summer blockbuster. The storyline was solid, the action was clean and intense, and the Transformers are always cool to look at. This movie will probably hold up as the best action flick of this summer, if not the best movie of the year.

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