Naval Station Mayport, Fla. - A 1993 Wichita Heights High School graduate and Wichita, Kansas, native is serving aboard the future USS Wichita, a littoral combat ship homeported in Mayport, Florida.
Chief Petty Officer Isaac Davis is an operations specialist. Duties of an operations specialist vary depending on the needs and equipment of the ship, filling several jobs, including combat air controller, navigation and plotting specialist and warfare operator.“I like the diversity of the command and the closeness of the crew,” said Chief Davis. "You get to meet new people that you wouldn't get to meet or experience in my hometown."
Wichita is a Freedom variant littoral combat ship that is a resilient flexible warship, designed from the keel up to affordably take on new capabilities – from the most advanced sensors, to the latest missiles, to cutting-edge cyber systems. Its speed, strength and versatility make it a critical tool to help our sailors achieve the mission.
Littoral combat ships are a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, while capable of open-ocean tasking, and win against 21st-century coastal threats such as submarines, mines, and swarming small craft.
Chief Davis has carried lessons learned from his hometown into his military service.
“Living in my hometown taught me the importance of respect,” Davis said. "You work with a lot of sailors from different ranks and backgrounds, so it’s important to be a team player in order to complete the mission."
The Surface Force is focused on providing lethal, ready, well-trained, and logistically supported surface forces to fight today and in the future. The highly professional men and women serving aboard USS Wichita are some of our nation’s best and brightest, and are typical of the talented Sailors on duty in our Navy around the world today. They are prepared to go into harm’s way, properly trained, and ready to carry out orders in defense of our nation’s freedom.
“It is truly a pleasure to have a sailor like Chief Davis aboard. He embodies the spirit of the city from which he is from and our ship is named for,” said Cmdr. Nathan Rowan, Wichita’s commanding officer. “Chief Davis is multitalented and handles not only a lot of duties while we are pierside, but an extreme amount of duties while we are at sea. He is a hard working individual and I believe he gets it honestly due to his background. I have an appreciation for the hard working people of Kansas that advance commerce and technology for our country. OSC Davis has brought a piece of that ethic with him onboard, and we are fortunate to have him as part of this team.”
Chief Davis has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“I have had two grandpa’s serve, one in the Army and one in the Navy," said Davis. "My great uncle served a tour in the Navy, two uncles retired from the Navy and two older brothers who also served in the Navy. I had come to a point while in college that I felt I needed to go a different direction. After talking with my brother and uncles about their experience, I decided that I would do a tour to see if this was the direction I needed to go and as it turns out, I am still serving after 22 years in the Navy."
Chief Davis’s proudest accomplishment was attaining the rank of chief petty officer.
“It’s an exclusive rank and title to achieve in the Navy and no other branch of service has the responsibility of a chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy," he said.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s high-tech and lethal surface combatant ships, Chief Davis and other Wichita sailors are proud to be part of a warfighting team.
“Serving in the military has meant a great deal to me along with all the wonderful blessings that God has given to me. I have would not have met my beautiful wife or had my three beautiful children who have supported me during my career,” Davis said. “I am contributing to something greater than myself and serving my country is a great honor.”
USS Wichita is the fourteenth littoral combat ship to enter the fleet and the seventh of the Freedom variant. It is the third Navy combat ship named after Wichita, the largest city in Kansas. The first USS Wichita (CA 45), a heavy cruiser, was commissioned in 1939 and served in World War II. The second, Wichita-class Replenishment Oiler (AOR-1) was commissioned in 1968 and served in the Vietnam War.
The warship will be officially placed into active service at a Jan. 12, 2019 commissioning ceremony at Naval Station Mayport, Florida – the ship’s assigned homeport. The ceremony includes “bringing the ship to life” and other orders rooted in centuries old naval tradition.
For information about the commissioning ceremony, visit https://usswichita.org/.