By Mass
Communication Specialist 1st Class Robert Zahn, Navy Office of Community
Outreach
YOKOSUKA, Japan- An Orlando, Florida, native and 2016 Apopka High School graduate is serving
in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Seaman Jeneicia Henderson is a ship's serviceman aboard the aircraft carrier
operating out of Yokosuka, Japan.
A Navy
ship’s serviceman is responsible for managing and operating all shipboard
retail and service activities such as the ship's store, vending machines,
barber shops, laundry, and tailor shops.
Henderson is proud to
serve in the Pacific and fondly recalls memories of Orlando.
“I learned from my grandmother that the world doesn’t owe
you anything," said Henderson. “She told me you need to earn everything on your
own. It helps me strive to always do better and to help others.”
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.
“It’s a constant learning experience since we visit many
other countries,” said Henderson. “Also, being on the ship, there’s such a
diverse group of people which makes it a unique work environment.”
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, Henderson and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will
last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
"Being deployed on the ship makes me feel like it’s
given me a purpose,” said Henderson. “I’m standing for something and making a
difference. I also like meeting all of the people I’ve met and it feels like I
have a family here since I’m not with family back home.”
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.