YOKOSUKA, Japan – Fireman Apprentice Blake Dowling, a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California, mostly, grew up looking at the military as something cool. He said he saw people in uniform when he was little and aspired to be one of them.
 |
| Photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Gary Ward |
“Antietam is easy to navigate because it's a smaller ship,” Dowling said. “I feel like an aircraft carrier would be tougher. I see almost every space every day, and I pretty much know almost everybody on board.”
Dowling, a 2016 graduate of Andrada Polytechnic High School, is a working to become a damage controlman aboard the Yokosuka, Japan-based ship, one of three cruisers forward-deployed to the region, where he maintains the livesaving tools and said “we pretty much control all the breathing equipment.”
Dowling credits success in the Navy to lessons learned in Rancho Cucamonga.
“The way I grew up, my family taught me how to be a good worker,” he said. “When I went through high school, I did an internship at a locksmithing company, that pretty much taught me everything I know now about how to deal with people.”
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.
“The work environment here is a lot more rough,” he said. “I hear that back in the states, it's more relaxed. I think it's a lot more complicated out here, there’s harder inspections.”
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 Dowling 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. Dowling is most proud of earning his enlisted surface warfare qualification.
“It was rough, but I just stuck it out and ended up getting it,” he said. “It's a really complicated pin to get, not a lot of people have it. To be an E2 who doesn't really know a lot, and get my pin before I even have a rate, I feel like that's a major accomplishment.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Dowling 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 a good life experience to have,” he said. “There's times it gets rough and you get stressed out, but on the bright side, you get to travel, see different places. If you're not a hard worker, it kind of forces you to be and matures you as a person.”