If your berthing is near the fantail and you have been woken up in the middle of the night by what sounds like a jet engine above your berthing, you were right. That was a jet engine, and for aircraft intermediate maintenance department (AIMD), those were the sounds of progress.

For the first time in more than five years, the Nimitz-Class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) installed and successfully ran a Jet Engine Test Instrument (JETI) at full afterburner, Oct. 22.

"It's our job, and to see that engine going max afterburner, it was pretty awesome," said Aviation Machinist's Mate 3rd Class Mark Salinas about being able to work on a jet engine after coming out of the yards. "It really got us going when we were out there. My heart was racing and it was a great rush."

To have the JETI system running is the reward of months of coordinating, planning and installing. For Aviation Machinist's Mate 1st Class Kevin Mathis, the first successful test was of particular significance as he was part of the team that did the final JETI test run before Abraham Lincoln entered her half-life Refueling and Complex Overhaul maintenance period in 2012.

"We essentially built the system from the ground up after coming out of the yards," said Mathis, the JETI test cell supervisor. "It's a great opportunity for our guys, AIMD, and the ship to be able to re-establish capability."

The successful JETI test is another step forward in re-instituting AIMD to full-functioning status. It allows the ability to test jet engines after making necessary repairs while underway.

"This is a major milestone for AIMD," said Chief Aviation Machinist's Mate Chris Chatterton. "With us now having this capability, it means that we can verify repairs and ready the engine to be put back into an aircraft."

The fully-functioning JETI is also a milestone in the preparation of making Abraham Lincoln deployment-ready. The sound of the jet engine may be alarming to some, but Sailors can let the noise lull them to sleep knowing it is the sound of CVN 72 roaring back to life.

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