By Mass
Communication Specialist 1st Class Robert Zahn, Navy Office of Community
Outreach
YOKOSUKA, Japan- A Nyack, New York, native and 2015 Nyack High School graduate is serving
in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Tribuzio is a personnel specialist
aboard the aircraft carrier operating out of Yokosuka, Japan.
A Navy personnel specialist
is responsible for providing enlisted personnel with information and counseling
related to Navy occupations, opportunities for general education and job
training, and requirements for promotion.
They also maintain and audit pay and personnel records of service
members.
Tribuzio is proud to
serve in the Pacific and fondly recalls memories of Nyack.
“One thing that I learned from growing up in a small town is
that you build positive connections with people,” said Tribuzio. “Interacting
with so many different kinds of people in the Navy is easier because of how I
was raised.”
Moments like that makes it worth serving around the world
ready at all times to defend America’s interests. With more than 50 percent of
the world's shipping tonnage and a third of the world's crude oil passing
through the region, the United States has historic and enduring interests in
this part of the world. The Navy's
presence in Yokosuka is part of that long-standing commitment, explained Navy
officials.
Named in honor of former President Ronald
Reagan, the carrier is longer than three football fields, measuring nearly
1,100 feet. The ship, a true floating
city, weighs more than 100,000 tons and has a flight deck that is 252 feet wide. Two nuclear reactors can push the ship
through the water at more than 35 mph.
Powerful catapults slingshot the aircraft off the bow of the
ship. The planes land aboard the carrier by snagging a steel cable with an
arresting hook that protrudes from the rear of the aircraft.
“Being forward deployed here there’s a sense of pride
knowing that you are at the front lines of defense,” said Tribuzio. “With those
responsibilities comes a lot of demand.”
Sailors’ jobs are highly
varied aboard the carrier. Approximately 3,200 men and women make up the ship's
crew, which keeps all parts of the aircraft carrier running smoothly -- this
includes everything from washing dishes and preparing meals to handling weaponry
and maintaining the nuclear reactors. Another 2,500 men and women form the air
wing responsible for flying and maintaining more than 70 aircraft aboard the
ship.
Ronald Reagan, like each of the Navy’s aircraft
carriers, is designed for a 50-year service life. When the air wing is
embarked, the ship carries more than 70 attack jets, helicopters and other
aircraft, all of which take off from and land aboard the carrier at sea.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon
assets, Tribuzio and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will
last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
"Being stationed here on the ship has taught me a level
of responsibility and forced me to mature as an adult,” said Tribuzio. “It’s also
given me the opportunity to visit foreign ports and be exposed to other
cultures and people.”
Seventh Fleet, which is celebrating its 75th year in 2018,
spans more than 124 million square kilometers, stretching from the
International Date Line to the India/Pakistan border; and from the Kuril
Islands in the North to the Antarctic in the South. Seventh Fleet's area of
operation encompasses 36 maritime countries and 50 percent of the world’s
population with between 50-70 U.S. ships and submarines, 140 aircraft, and
approximately 20,000 Sailors in the 7th Fleet.