YOKOSUKA, Japan – Seaman Dezmond Holt, a native of Muskogee, Oklahoma, has a grandfather who served as an explosive ordnance disposal specialist in the U.S. Navy for almost 30 years.
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| Photo By Senior Chief Petty Officer Gary Ward |
Now, just a year later and half a world away, Holt serves aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville, patrolling one of the world’s busiest maritime regions as part of the leading-edge of U.S. 7th Fleet.
“It's a little bit of a struggle,” Holt said. “You have to learn how to work together. You always have to be able to sacrifice to gain. You need to strive to help out your shipmate and help out yourself.”
Holt, a 2017 graduate of Hilldale High School, is an operations specialist aboard the Yokosuka, Japan-based ship, one of three cruisers forward-deployed to the region. Like others, he has to pay his dues assisting with food service for three months before fully diving into this job on the ship.
“I've served more than 50,000 meals in the galley so far and I'm studying up on my rate – surface radar – one of the most important parts of combat … pretty much guides navigation for the ship,” said Holt.
Holt credits success in the Navy to lessons learned from his grandfather.
“My grandfather had some cheesy yet notable rules,” he said. “Things like ‘opportunity isn't something you wait for, it's something you create,’ or ‘you can either let the moment make you or break you.’ I like to imagine him as my superman - has done everything that I aspire to and thought was cool growing up.”
U.S. 7th Fleet 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. U.S. 7th Fleet's area of operations 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.
“First to defend and first to fight,” Holt said. “We are close to danger all the time, and we are ready. Ready to defend our nation, ourselves and our colleagues. We can get there in a day, less if need be.”
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 Yokosuka is part of that long-standing commitment.
"The Navy is forward-deployed to provide security and strengthen relationships in a free and open Indo-Pacific. It's not just the ships and aircraft that have shown up to prevent conflict and promote peace," said Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet. "It is, and will continue to be our people who define the role our Navy plays around the world. People who've made a choice, and have the will and strength of character to make a difference."
A Navy cruiser is a multi-mission ship that can operate independently or as part of a larger group of ships at sea. The ship is equipped with a vertical launching system, tomahawk missiles, torpedoes, guns, and a phalanx close-in weapons system.
Approximately 300 men and women serve aboard the ship. Their jobs are highly specialized and keep each part of the cruiser running smoothly, according to Navy officials. They do everything from maintaining gas turbine engines and operating the highly sophisticated Aegis weapons system to driving the ship and operating small boats.
Serving in the Navy means Holt is part of a 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.
A key element of the Navy the nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, and that the nation’s prosperity is tied to the ability to operate freely on the world’s oceans. More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; 80 percent of the world’s population lives close to a coast; and 90 percent of all global trade by volume travels by sea.
“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.”
There are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community, and career. Holt is most proud he’s able to tell his family and friends back home that “I'm doing something that makes me proud of being a part of the bigger picture.”
“It’s just an honor to be able to say I've served and am serving,” he said. “I was thanking people at home for serving, and now I'm adapting to being told the same, and I'm like, ‘wow, I am here, doing it.’”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Holt and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes, contributing to the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy is amazing,” he said. “How many people can say they have something they are proud of and get paid to do it? Not very many. I travel, I meet new people all the time, the culture is amazing, the people you meet on the ship day-to-day and week-to-week, honestly it's amazing. And you learn something here that you can take home and use for the rest of your life.”