SAN DIEGO – A 2011 Freedom High School graduate and Lutz, Florida, native is serving aboard the WWII namesake warship, USS Spruance.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler See is a logistics specialist aboard the San Diego based ship, a guided missile destroyer. As a logistics specialist, See is responsible for providing customer service to boost the morale of the crew and managing supplies to keep the ship mission ready at all times.
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.
See has carried lessons learned from his hometown into his military service.
“My family instilled a good work ethic, morals and values and in high school I went into Junior RTOC where I learned leadership skills,” he said. “These traits and experiences definitely helped my decision to join the military.”
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.”
See has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“Both of my grandfathers served in the military,” he said. "My mother's father served in the Airforce as an airman and my father's father served in the Air Corps and retired from the Army as a Major. It’s nice because a lot of people say that I have a lot of similarities as my grandfathers and I feel honored to carry on the family name serving my country.”
See’s proudest accomplishment was receiving the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and a plaque for his end of tour award.
“I really felt like a family with all of the marines, sailors and civilians that served there and just the fact that they recognized as me as part of the family was special,” he added.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, See 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 continue carrying the torch and it’s an honor to contribute to something bigger than myself,” said See.