By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Theodore Quintana, Navy Office of Community Outreach
SASEBO, Japan – A Taylor Mill, Kentucky, native and 2012 Villa Madonna Academy High School graduate is serving
A Navy repair division officer is responsible for overseeing the maintenance, repair and administration of all portable and installed damage control equipment.
Bailey is proud to serve in the Pacific and fondly recalls memories of Taylor Mill.
“Family is really big in my hometown and looking out for one another,” said Bailey. “Here that comes through helping not just my division but everyone on the ship.”
Moments like that makes it worth serving around the world ready at all times to defend America’s interests. With more than 50 percent of the world's shipping tonnage and a third of the world's crude oil passing through the region, the United States has historic and enduring interests in this part of the world. The Navy's presence in Sasebo is part of that long-standing commitment, explained Navy officials.
Commissioned in 1986, Germantown is the second Navy ship named after the Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown. With a crew of more than 900 sailors and Marines, Germantown is 609 feet long and weighs approximately 16,000 tons. Designed specifically to operate landing craft air cushion small craft vessels, Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships have the largest capacity for these landing craft out of any U.S. Navy amphibious ship.
Commissioned in 1986, Germantown is the second Navy ship named after the Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown. With a crew of more than 900 sailors and Marines, Germantown is 609 feet long and weighs approximately 16,000 tons. Designed specifically to operate landing craft air cushion small craft vessels, Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships have the largest capacity for these landing craft out of any U.S. Navy amphibious ship.
“Being forward-deployed has challenging schedules," said Bailey. "There’s a lot that needs to be done every single day but that’s really when you have to lean on each other. It's really important that everyone is looking out for each other. Being in the Navy has made me a more thoughtful person.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Bailey and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy means serving the nation and serving each others, especially being forward-deployed, it means that we are serving something bigger than ourselves,” said Bailey.
Seventh Fleet, which is celebrating its 75th year in 2018, spans more than 124 million square kilometers, stretching from the International Date Line to the India/Pakistan border; and from the Kuril Islands in the North to the Antarctic in the South. Seventh Fleet's area of operation encompasses 36 maritime countries and 50 percent of the world’s population with between 50-70 U.S. ships and submarines, 140 aircraft, and approximately 20,000 sailors in the 7th Fleet.