By Rick Burke, Navy Office of Community Outreach
SAN DIEGO – A 2003 Lecanto High School graduate and Inverness, Florida, native is serving aboard the WWII namesake warship, USS Spruance.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Curtis Mead is a sonar technician (surface) aboard the San Diego based ship, a guided missile destroyer.
As a sonar technician (surface), Mead is responsible for finding enemy submarines and taking care of all sonar equipment aboard Spruance.
More than 300 Sailors serve aboard the ship, and their jobs are highly specialized, requiring both dedication and skill. The jobs range from maintaining engines to handling weaponry along with a multitude of other assignments that keep the ship mission ready at all times, according to Navy officials.
Mead has carried lessons learned from his hometown into his military service.
“The military is not for everybody except those that are most determined and in my personal experience, I realized that I was stronger than ever before,” he said.
Destroyers are warships that provide multi-mission offensive and defensive capabilities. They are about 510 feet long and can be armed with tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, variants of the SM missile family, advanced gun systems and close-in gun systems. Destroyers are deployed globally and can operate independently, as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, or amphibious readiness groups.
Spruance is armed with long range missiles intended for air defense to counter threats to friendly forces posed by manned aircraft, anti-ship, cruise and ballistic missiles.
It was commissioned in 2011 and named after Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. He was a key naval commander during WWII, leading U.S. naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific Theatre: Battle of Midway and Battle of the Philippine Sea. He later served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines.
At Midway, Spruance scored the first major victory for the United States over Japan; generally considered to be the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
“USS Spruance is responsible for 22 mission areas, with 350 people onboard each Sailor actively supports multiple missions, said Cmdr. Joshua Menzel, commanding officer of Spruance. “As a member of the Pacific Fleet, the crew of USS SPRUANCE patrol the same waters and trains to perform the same missions as the Sailors Admiral Spruance commanded during WWII.”
Mead has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“Both of my grandparents served in WWII,” he said. “One served on a destroyer as a sonar technician and the other served in the Air Force. My father served in the Airforce in Michigan as both an enginner and mechanic. Originally, I was not going to go into the field as a sonar technician but I am happy that I did so I could carry on my grandfather's legacy.”
Mead’s proudest accomplishment was writing historical stories about the Navy for online newspapers.
“Seeing that my work in telling the Navy story was published by a civilian affiliate station, gave me a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment,” he added.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Mead and other Spruance sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes.
“Serving in the Navy gives me the opportunity to provide stability for my wife and have a better life in the future and it’s taught me that I can do more if I set my mind to it,” said Mead.
SAN DIEGO – A 2003 Lecanto High School graduate and Inverness, Florida, native is serving aboard the WWII namesake warship, USS Spruance.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Curtis Mead is a sonar technician (surface) aboard the San Diego based ship, a guided missile destroyer.
As a sonar technician (surface), Mead is responsible for finding enemy submarines and taking care of all sonar equipment aboard Spruance.
More than 300 Sailors serve aboard the ship, and their jobs are highly specialized, requiring both dedication and skill. The jobs range from maintaining engines to handling weaponry along with a multitude of other assignments that keep the ship mission ready at all times, according to Navy officials.
Mead has carried lessons learned from his hometown into his military service.
“The military is not for everybody except those that are most determined and in my personal experience, I realized that I was stronger than ever before,” he said.
Destroyers are warships that provide multi-mission offensive and defensive capabilities. They are about 510 feet long and can be armed with tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, variants of the SM missile family, advanced gun systems and close-in gun systems. Destroyers are deployed globally and can operate independently, as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, or amphibious readiness groups.
Spruance is armed with long range missiles intended for air defense to counter threats to friendly forces posed by manned aircraft, anti-ship, cruise and ballistic missiles.
It was commissioned in 2011 and named after Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. He was a key naval commander during WWII, leading U.S. naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific Theatre: Battle of Midway and Battle of the Philippine Sea. He later served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines.
At Midway, Spruance scored the first major victory for the United States over Japan; generally considered to be the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
“USS Spruance is responsible for 22 mission areas, with 350 people onboard each Sailor actively supports multiple missions, said Cmdr. Joshua Menzel, commanding officer of Spruance. “As a member of the Pacific Fleet, the crew of USS SPRUANCE patrol the same waters and trains to perform the same missions as the Sailors Admiral Spruance commanded during WWII.”
Mead has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“Both of my grandparents served in WWII,” he said. “One served on a destroyer as a sonar technician and the other served in the Air Force. My father served in the Airforce in Michigan as both an enginner and mechanic. Originally, I was not going to go into the field as a sonar technician but I am happy that I did so I could carry on my grandfather's legacy.”
Mead’s proudest accomplishment was writing historical stories about the Navy for online newspapers.
“Seeing that my work in telling the Navy story was published by a civilian affiliate station, gave me a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment,” he added.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Mead and other Spruance sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes.
“Serving in the Navy gives me the opportunity to provide stability for my wife and have a better life in the future and it’s taught me that I can do more if I set my mind to it,” said Mead.