By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Robert Zahn, Navy Office of Community Outreach
SASEBO, Japan – An Arnold, Missouri, native and 2017 Fox High School graduate is serving in Japan in the U.S. Navy aboard USS Germantown.
Seaman Kaleb Spurgeon is a quartermaster aboard the ship operating out of Sasebo, Japan.
A Navy quartermaster is responsible for operating electronic navigation equipment to conduct weather observations, determine compass and gyro error, compute tide and tidal current data, keep navigational and oceanographic publications, and keep logs and records. They send and receive visual messages and serve as petty officers in charge of small craft. They serve as assistants to officers of the deck and the navigator and as helmsman and perform ship control. They render “honors and ceremonies” in accordance with national observance and foreign custom.
Spurgeon is proud to serve in the Pacific and fondly recalls memories of Spurgeon.
“My mom always told me to be kind to others,” said Spurgeon. “It makes life a lot easier in the Navy if you treat people with respect.”
Spurgeon thus far has volunteered at his last command helping the homeless. It was a program with his local church. He feels a sense of pride helping others. He stated that one of the reasons why he joined the Navy was to help people.
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 Sasebo is part of that long-standing commitment, explained Navy officials.
Commissioned in 1986, Germantown is the second Navy ship named after the Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown. With a crew of more than 900 sailors and Marines, Germantown is 609 feet long and weighs approximately 16,000 tons. Designed specifically to operate landing craft air cushion small craft vessels, Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships have the largest capacity for these landing craft out of any U.S. Navy amphibious ship.
“It’s tough being out here because you don’t get to talk to your family much. It’s hard to communicate because of our long working hours and time difference, you don’t get to talk to your family back home much,” said Spurgeon. “It’s a good experience though. I'm learning a lot being deployed here. I’ve learned how to deal under pressure. I’ve become more confident in what I’m doing.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Spurgeon and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving my country, for me, means being brave,” said Spurgeon. “I also wanted to be a part of something bigger.”
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.