Photo By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Wyscaver
BREMERTON, Wash. – A San Jose, California, native and 2015 Foothill High School graduate is serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, a floating airport at sea.
Seaman Miranda Delgado is a personnel specialist serving aboard the carrier. A Navy personnel specialist is responsible for human resources on the ship.
“I work in the receipts section, where I check in newly reporting personnel,” said Delgado.
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.
Delgado combines the lessons learned from both the Navy and San Jose to take personal responsibility in performing assigned tasks and leading others.
“My hometown taught me to be independent," said Delgado. "Everything I've gotten on my own, and the Navy helped me do that.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Delgado 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.
“A big reason why I joined the Navy is for my family," Delgado said. "I'm proud to serve them and my country.”