After the USS Ronald Reagan, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, anchored off Phuket Deep Sea Port last Sunday, life on board was briefly revealed when The Phuket News had a quick chat with Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle Carlstrom, 24, who joined the US Navy six years ago.
"It’s not like living on land," PO Carlstorm said. "The way I like to describe it, it’s like a Hummer. The Hummer is not built for luxury, it’s very long, it’s built for real power and we are kind of the same way. We are all power. We are like the Hummer of the navy." That said, the crew of the Ronald Reagan are not without their creature comforts. The huge ship has plenty of facilities to make the sailors feel as much at home as possible while crossing the world’s oceans. A lot of events are organised on board, including karaoke nights, comedy nights and sometimes even live bands. There are also stores that sell the things from back home that the crew members miss, such as candy bars and soda. "There are a lot of sea stories. [In the old days] you would have to write a letter to your family about them. But it’s different now, we have internet and telephone on board as well," PO Carlstrom said. In exchange for all these goodies, the crew must hone highly technical skills in order to carry out a variety of missions. The last mission before the ship anchored off Phuket was to help people in the tsunami-stricken area of Japan. The carrier refuelled Japanese helicopters, and some of the ship’s own choppers even helped to tackle the radiation problem at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant. Though the USS Ronald Reagan is like a floating city that contains whatever it needs to be called home, it can’t replace the picture of real home in the sailors’ minds. "Everybody here always misses home, their friends and their family," PO Carlstrom said. "But we’re out here and we have decided to sacrifice ourselves to try our best to make a difference." The ship, which stayed in Phuket with three others from the carrier strike group, remained anchored off the island for five days. Crew members took turns to go to shore, with the majority heading straight for Patong, which provides certain services not found on board.