By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Robert Zahn, Navy Office of Community Outreach
SASEBO, Japan – A Staten Island, New York, native and 2014 Curtis High School graduate is serving in Japan in the U.S. Navy aboard USS Germantown.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Kurt Mitchell is a logistics specialist aboard the ship operating out of Sasebo, Japan.
A Navy logistics specialist is responsible for ordering, receiving, inspecting, stowing, preserving, packaging, shipping, and issuing materials and cargo. They perform postal counterwork, including sale of stamps and money orders and process incoming and outgoing mail. They process claims and inquiries, account for government materials, and prepare and maintain required forms, records, correspondence, reports, and files.
Mitchell is proud to serve in the Pacific and fondly recalls memories of Staten Island.
“Do your best in whatever you do. I learned this from my mom,” said Mitchell. “Anything, whatever it is, no matter what you do, do it to the best of your ability.”
Mitchell thus far has received the Blue Jacket of the Quarter as well as Blue Jacket of the Year awards. He was awarded those by his superiors who believed he exemplified how a sailor should work and carry themselves.
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.
“You have to make sacrifices to serve here," said Mitchell. “The good thing is that you experience what the Navy really is all about. You learn and grow as sailor and an individual. My leadership skills have improved since from before I joined the Navy. My work ethic is stronger.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Mitchell 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 about serving in the Navy is that I’m able to travel and see other countries and take advantage of education provided to me,” said Mitchell.
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.