Photo By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Wyscaver
BREMERTON, Wash. – A Union City, California, native and 1994 James Logan High School graduate is serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, a floating airport at sea.
Senior Chief Nelson Albores is a culinary specialist serving aboard the carrier. A Navy culinary specialist is responsible for feeding the crew with well-balanced, nutritious meals.
“I'm the galley production chief, in charge of all galley operations,” said Albores.
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.
Albores combines the lessons learned from both the Navy and Union City to take personal responsibility in performing assigned tasks and leading others.
“I'm originally from the Philippines, where you have to work hard to survive,” Albores said. “If you're used to that environment you can make it anywhere.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Albores 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 your country, even if it wasn't my original country, it's done a lot for me,” Albores said. “I've been able to live my American dream though the U.S. Navy.”