By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Robert Zahn, Navy
Office of Community Outreach
YOKOSUKA, Japan- A Stockbridge, Georgia, native and 2015 Tuscaloosa County High School graduate
is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Seaman Joshua Johnson is a culinary specialist aboard the aircraft carrier
operating out of Yokosuka, Japan.
A Navy culinary
specialist is responsible for operating kitchen and dining facilities,
budgeting for food service management, and ensuring morale aboard the ship.
Johnson is proud to
serve in the Pacific and fondly recalls memories of Stockbridge.
“I learned from my mother to respect people,” said Johnson.
“I realized that if I treat people the way I want to be treated it will help me
in the Navy.”
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 is tough because there’s long
hours but it pays off in the end,” said Johnson. “I feel like everything I do
here is for family back home and that’s my motivation.”
Johnson is also proud of joining his repair locker on board
the ship. Learning the skills and techniques of how to save the ship and save
other sailors is a great motivator as well as great learning experience.
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, Johnson and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last
beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
"My favorite part of being with the command is that it
helps me have a better work ethic,” said Johnson. “It’s taught me how work with
others and respect everyone, building strong bonds which helps me through every
day work life.”
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.