NEW VINEYARD – Brian Ellis was in Australia when he and fellow shipmates learned their ship was heading back to the Middle East.

Though morale dipped when the announcement was made New Year’s Day, the sailors had a job to do.

“We had to follow orders of the president,” Ellis said.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, a 310-yard long, 22-story aircraft carrier that holds 5,500 people and 78 aircraft, had been on its way home to its port in Washington. The ship had just spent the last three months off the shore of Afghanistan on guard duty in Operation Enduring Freedom.

They knew there was a possibility they would be involved in war and they were: Operation Iraqi Freedom.

After the flight deck was refurbished, the Lincoln forged ahead to stand duty off the shore of Kuwait in the Arabian Gulf. The crew members adapted to 12-hour shifts, seven days a week.

By Jan. 30, they were 100 miles from land, patrolling the southern waters of the Arabian Gulf with sister ships USS Constellation and USS Kitty Hawk. The aircraft carriers are protected by a fleet of destroyers, frigates and submarines.

The crew would be away from their home port of Everett, Wash., for 290 days.

“We spent 90 straight days out to sea without touching land,” Ellis said. “The days become so routine, you stop thinking about the days.”

The Lincoln was chosen to return to the Middle East, he said, because its crew had the training and experience of Iraq.

“We were prepared mentally and physically,” he said.

Ellis who cut down the yellow ribbon last week that his mother had posted on a sign on Route 27 when he went to war, said he was excited to be part of history.

“We were heroes of the military,” he said.

He works in the hangar bay and his job along with other crew members is to direct aircraft to the elevators to take them up on deck.

The Lincoln provided the help of the “Shock and Awe” in the war.

“The purpose was to attack Iraq with every single aircraft,” he said. “We launched 38 aircraft in 38 minutes.”

The planes flew over Iraq and dropped bombs.

“During the whole time, we lost no planes, we lost no personnel, we had no injuries and no accidents,” Ellis said. “We hit every target we were designed to hit and we were accurate. We were voted the best in the Navy fleet.”

“The way we moved to take over Iraq, to me, was amazing,” Ellis said. “Just because of how easily we did it.”

It wasn’t the war that bothered the crew, Ellis said. They were glad to help free Iraqi people. It was not knowing when they would go home. But they didn’t have to wonder much longer. They were moving toward home in late April, early May.

President George Bush, via a S-3 Viking Jet, landed aboard the Lincoln.

“We got to shake his hand,” the 1999 Mount Blue High School graduate said. “It was quite an honor. It’s an honor to have the highest ranking person I will ever meet come aboard my carrier.”

Ellis, whose dress uniform is adorned in medals and ribbons including those for meritorious acts and good conduct, said the experience was something he wouldn’t forget.

“It was a long 10 months but looking back, having that experience is something I’ll never forget,” he said. “I’m glad we went and did what we did. We were able to free people who were under rule, when they didn’t have the ability to be free. The U.S. had the ability to free them. I’m very proud, it was definitely an experience.”

dperry@sunjournal.com