Photo By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Wyscaver
BREMERTON, Wash. – A Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, native and 2005 New Mexico Military Institute graduate is serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, a floating airport at sea.
Chief Petty Officer Thomas Buckner is an electronics technician (nuclear) serving aboard the carrier. A Navy electronics technician (nuclear) is responsible for maintaining the electronic equipment for the nuclear propulsion systems.
“I'm in charge of the confidential IT network and in charge of maintaining radios and computers," Buckner said. "I also maintain the technical publications library for the reactor.”
Approximately 3,200 men and women make up the crew of John C. Stennis, with an additional 2,000 sailors assigned to the ship’s embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing 9.
Named in honor of former Senator John C. Stennis from Mississippi, 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.
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.
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.
Buckner combines the lessons learned from both the Navy and Jeddah to take personal responsibility in performing assigned tasks and leading others.
“My high school taught me personal accountability," Buckner said. "Before I went there I did not have that.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Buckner and other John C. Stennis sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“I'm very proud to be in the Navy," Buckner said. "It gives me a lot of stability; it's a good job that I like to do."