By Mass
Communication Specialist 2nd Class Theodore Quintana, Navy Office of Community
Outreach
YOKOSUKA, Japan- A Phoenix native and 2013
Willow Canyon High School graduate is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the
aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Christian Mercado is an aviation
ordnanceman aboard the aboard the aircraft carrier operating out of
Yokosuka, Japan.
A Navy aviation ordnanceman is
responsible for performing authorized maintenance on airborne weapons, aircraft
guns, and targets.
Mercado is proud to serve in the Pacific and fondly recalls
memories of Phoenix.
“Growing up I learned to always be yourself, be creative and
open to things and that has helped me in my Navy career,” said Mercado.
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.
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, Mercado and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last
beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy allows me to meet people from all over
the world and gives me an opportunity to make lifelong friends,” said Mercado.
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.