Several boatswain's mates assigned to USS Abraham Lincoln's (CVN 72) Deck Department recently completed a two-week coxswain training course at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, to familiarize themselves with rigid-hull inflated boat (RHIB) operations.

The course was required for them to earn their small boat operations qualification.

The first week of the course was conducted in the classroom and students received training on the fundamentals of RHIB maneuvering and practiced driving in a simulator. During the second week, they got to take to the seas, to really experience RHIB driving.

"When Sailors go back to their commands, they will have the basic familiarization with a small craft," said Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Andrew Woods, coxswain instructor for Center for Surface Combat Systems Detachment East. "They learn the rules of the road, and we go over what conditions are normal for a boat. The course trains these guys so that when they go back out to their commands, they can help provide readiness for the fleet."

The Sailors spent as many as six hours out in the water learning to control the RHIB. The training helped them prepare to drive Lincoln's own RHIBs, which will be returning to the ship later this year after being removed at the beginning of the ship's Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH).

"It's a great experience [to] go through the course," said Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Tyrell Alexander. "It gives us some experience on the RHIBs, so that [when] we get ours back on board, we have Sailors who know how to drive them."

Sailors learned how to drive the RHIBs during normal operations and rescue missions, and even how to tow another craft with the RHIB. The training that local Hampton Roads area-Sailors get at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story mirrors the training of their counterparts in similar courses at other fleet concentration areas.

"I have a better feel of learning how to be a coxswain. I learned how to drive a boat and a lot of techniques I didn't know before I took this course. I learned a lot," said Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Seth Ellrich. "Even through we are in the shipyard, we have a lot of qualified coxswains now, so we won't have to rely on just one person. We have six people [within the department] that are now fully-qualified and know what actions to take in case we happen to be out at sea."

Lincoln is currently undergoing RCOH at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries in Newport News, Virginia.

Lincoln is the fifth Nimitz-class ship to undergo RCOH, a major life-cycle milestone. Once RCOH is complete, Lincoln will be one of the most modern and technologically advanced Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in the fleet and will continue to be a vital part of the nation's defense.

For more news from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), visit http://www.navy.mil/.