U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Rusty Pang
PEARL HARBOR – There’s a U.S. Navy ship unlike most floating in the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. It's a Navy warship that honors the name of a female who has set the standard of excellence for those who have followed.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Malachi Shafer has served in the Navy for three years and works as a Navy gas turbine systems technician (mechanical), serving aboard the Pearl Harbor-based guided-missile destroyer.
Shafer credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Fremont.
“I definitely learned leadership growing up,” said Shafer. “When I was about 14 years old, I went to a group home with about five kids. I wasn’t the oldest, but I became the leader of the kids by helping them get ready and making sure they had eaten. Growing up there helped me apply the skills of being a leader in the Navy.”
The sailors’ jobs aboard USS Hopper are highly specialized, requiring dedication and skill. The jobs range from maintaining engines to handling weaponry along with a multitude of other assignments keeping the ship mission-ready at all times.
As a Navy gas turbine systems technician (mechanical), Shafer is responsible for the maintenence of two gas turbine engines and two gas turbine generators.
More than 300 sailors serve aboard the ship named for the pioneering computer scientist who served in the Navy for 43 years.
Though Rear Adm. Hopper joined the Naval Reserves in 1943 after being an associate professor of mathematics at Vassar College, she retired from the Naval Reserve with the rank of commander at the end of 1966. She was recalled to active duty in August 1967 for a six-month period that turned into an indefinite assignment. From 1967 to 1977, Hopper served as the director of the Navy Programming Languages Group in the Navy's Office of Information Systems Planning and was promoted to the rank of captain in 1973. Hopper was promoted to commodore by special Presidential appointment in 1983. In 1985, the rank of commodore was renamed rear admiral lower half. She retired from the Navy on August 14, 1986. Owing to the breadth of her accomplishments and her naval rank, she is sometimes referred to as "Amazing Grace."
“We have a great chain of command and great camaraderie in my department,” said Shafer. “I thought I would end up hating working so close for so long with my coworkers, but we’ve created a great bond which has made the work environment so much easier."
Navy guided-missile destroyers are multi-mission ships, equipped with tomahawk missiles, torpedoes, guns and a phalanx close-in weapons systems, that can operate independently or as part of a larger group of ships at sea.
Being stationed in Pearl Harbor, often referred to as the gateway to the Pacific in defense circles, means Shafer is serving in a part of the world that is taking on new importance in America’s focus on rebuilding military readiness, strengthening alliances, and reforming business practices in support of the National Defense Strategy.
“Our priorities center on people, capabilities and processes, and will be achieved by our focus on speed, value, results and partnerships,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “Readiness, lethality and modernization are the requirements driving these priorities.”
The Pacific is home to more than 50 percent of the world's population, many of the world's largest and smallest economies, several of the world's largest militaries, and many U.S. allies. The Navy has been pivotal in helping maintain peace and stability in the Pacific region for decades.
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community, and career, Shafer is most proud of earning being promoted to the rank of petty officer second class within three years of joining in the Navy.
“It was with a lot of help from my mentor that I have had so much success here,” said Shafer. “He took me under his wing and always tested me and made me want to learn more and accomplish greater tasks.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Shafer 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, I really feel like I owe my country back something as well as to the people who have helped me in my life," added Shafer. "I joined so I could pay those people back.”