Photo By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Wyscaver
BREMERTON, Wash. – A Las Vegas native and 2006 Spring Valley High School graduate is serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, a floating airport at sea.
Petty Officer 1st Class Gilbert Dela-Cruz is a culinary specialist serving aboard the carrier. A Navy culinary specialist is responsible for providing food service and hospitality for the ship.
“I supervise my division's maintenance shop, and we fix the equipment that allows our food service division to run,” said Dela-Cruz.
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.
Dela-Cruz combines the lessons learned from both the Navy and Las Vegas to take personal responsibility in performing assigned tasks and leading others.
“I learned the value of punctuality and respect for others,” said Dela-Cruz. "I also learned the value of self-improvement, which has helped me in the Navy."
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Dela-Cruz 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.
“Serving in the Navy is an honor and a privilege, because I get to serve my country,” said Dela-Cruz.