Photo By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Wyscaver
BREMERTON, Wash. – A Milwaukee native and 2013 Ronald Reagan College Prep graduate is serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, a floating airport at sea.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Davante Carter is an air traffic controller serving aboard the carrier. A Navy air traffic controller is responsible for handling the safe and expeditious flow of air traffic, through radar control on the ship.
“We help our aviators navigate to and from the ship, especially during bad weather or night time, when they can’t see,” said Carter.
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.
Carter combines the lessons learned from both the Navy and Milwaukee to take personal responsibility in performing assigned tasks and leading others.
“My hometown has a very friendly atmosphere and has helped me be more sociable and approachable,” said Carter.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Carter 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 is a great honor,” said Carter. “All of my uncles have served in various branches and I'm the first one to serve in the Navy. I'm proud to carry on my family's tradition of military service.”