This is a drill, this is a drill, liberty call, liberty call…… Well it wasn’t quite like that, but the Kitty Hawk held a “Steel Beach Picnic” today on the aft end of the flight deck. The pause gave the crew a break from steaming east and an inevitable date with Hawaiian waters and the semi-annual RIMPAC exercise.

It wasn’t your normal shore picnic hours, 0900 to 1300, but it was just as good, and the flight deck was outfitted with an inflatable pool, footballs and soccer balls. The folks from Morale, Welfare and Recreation provided a frozen t-shirt contest, and there was even a peanut butter eating contest.

Meanwhile, back on the ramp, the chief petty officers were firing up the ship’s charcoal grills and provided hot dogs and chicken. But by far, the most popular food was the pulled pork, which had run out long before noon. Officials were working feverishly to get some more prepared.

“It was the best, and it sure was popular,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Terrence Carr of the ship’s AIMD ordnance division said of the pulled pork. “It was so popular that I’ll bet they serve it again for dinner tonight.”

Then the rain came. Like any good picnic, it was nearly ruined by rain. It came down in sheets for some time, and sailors took refuge under the wings of aircraft. Then the rain began to let up and the lines for the food started to back up again, when all of a sudden the rain started again and came down even harder.

Some enjoyed the respite, such as Fireman Nicolas Ivey, who normally works way below decks in the auxiliary machinery room — and though on watch, was relieved for a few minutes so he could come up and get something to eat.

“I got up here just in time,” he said. “I was hot and sweaty and got up here, and there was a cool breeze and the rain — awesome.” The combination made Ivey smile as he was wolfing down his grilled chicken and corn underneath the wing of an F/A-18 Hornet.

Some didn’t like the added moisture.

“OOD, this is the Captain,” came a familiar voice on numerous “bricks” (Navy shipboard for walkie talkie). “I’m getting wet out here.”

The officer of the deck said he’d try to steer a better course, and the captain responded that he’d appreciate his efforts — or words to that effect.

Slowly, the massive 80,000-plus-ton carrier began to turn slightly.

With the ship’s course change, the rain went away and the sun came out for good. Sailors threw the football to each other, occasionally chasing an errant ball into aircraft or close to the ship’s catwalks, but I did not see anyone or even any balls go over the side.

One aircraft was being used as a promotion by the Navy Exchange to give away a $15,000 gift certificate so picnic-goers seeking to stay dry stood next to other sailors who had one of their hands above them touching an F/A-18 Hornet’s wings. The last one to put down their arms would get the prize. It took nearly two hours, but Aviation Maintenance Administrationman 2nd Class (AW) Loni Brannon of member of the Air Wing Five’s VAW-115 “Liberty Bells” took the prize.

Presenting the prize was Navy Exchange car salesman Don Houdek, known to everyone on Kitty Hawk simply as “Don the Car Guy.”

But as the time came close to 1300 and it was time to go back to work, many were heard to remark, “This will be the FOD walk down from hell,” speaking of the practice of searching the flight deck almost foot by foot to find anything that could get sucked into an aircraft engine and ruin it.

A few hours later, things were back to normal shipboard routine on Kitty Hawk as everyone went back to work.

See the slideshow