(MAYPORT, Fla.) – A 2013 Sweetwater High School graduate and San Diego, California, native is serving with a U.S. Navy helicopter squadron that flies the Navy’s newest and most technologically-advanced helicopter.
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| Photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gary Ward |
Seaman Courtney Lewis credits much of their success from lessons they learned growing up in San Diego.
“No one in my family was military and I hadn't even considered it until right before I joined,” said Lewis. “But growing up in a Navy town I had been exposed to the Navy lifestyle.”
Lewis is a logistics specialist with the “Airwolves” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 40, a Mayport, Florida based squadron that operates the Navy’s next generation submarine hunter and Anti-Surface Warfare helicopter, the MH-60R Seahawk. Each helicopter is nearly 65 feet long, may weigh up to 23,500 lbs. (max gross) and can travel over 120 miles per hour for nearly 320 miles on a tank of gas.
As a logistics specialist, Lewis is responsible for ordering and managing supplies and logistic missions of the command.
According to Navy officials, the MH-60R is the most capable multi-mission helicopter available in the world today. It is used for a variety of missions, including hunting and tracking enemy submarines, attacking enemy ships, search and rescue, drug interdiction, delivering supplies and supporting the Navy’s special operations forces.
It is replacing the Navy’s older helicopters because of its greater versatility and more advanced weapon systems.
Lewis is now a part of a long-standing tradition of serving in the Navy our nation needs.
“I am proud to be representing the Navy for the first time in my family,” said Lewis.
Lewis said they are proud to be part of a warfighting team that readily defends America at all times.
“I got top of my class in my initial training school,” said Lewis. “I am very proud of that.”
Sailors’ jobs are highly varied within the squadron. Approximately 297 Navy men and women are assigned and keep all parts of the squadron running smoothly. This includes everything from maintaining helicopter airframes and engines, to processing paperwork, handling weapons and flying the aircraft.
Lewis is playing an important part 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.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon capital assets, Lewis and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes.
Serving in the Navy, Lewis is learning about being a more respectable leader, Sailor and person through handling numerous responsibilities.
“I am proud of serving my country and being able to support my wife,” said Lewis. "It’s sacrificing I make that I can feel good about."
“No one in my family was military and I hadn't even considered it until right before I joined,” said Lewis. “But growing up in a Navy town I had been exposed to the Navy lifestyle.”
Lewis is a logistics specialist with the “Airwolves” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 40, a Mayport, Florida based squadron that operates the Navy’s next generation submarine hunter and Anti-Surface Warfare helicopter, the MH-60R Seahawk. Each helicopter is nearly 65 feet long, may weigh up to 23,500 lbs. (max gross) and can travel over 120 miles per hour for nearly 320 miles on a tank of gas.
As a logistics specialist, Lewis is responsible for ordering and managing supplies and logistic missions of the command.
According to Navy officials, the MH-60R is the most capable multi-mission helicopter available in the world today. It is used for a variety of missions, including hunting and tracking enemy submarines, attacking enemy ships, search and rescue, drug interdiction, delivering supplies and supporting the Navy’s special operations forces.
It is replacing the Navy’s older helicopters because of its greater versatility and more advanced weapon systems.
Lewis is now a part of a long-standing tradition of serving in the Navy our nation needs.
“I am proud to be representing the Navy for the first time in my family,” said Lewis.
Lewis said they are proud to be part of a warfighting team that readily defends America at all times.
“I got top of my class in my initial training school,” said Lewis. “I am very proud of that.”
Sailors’ jobs are highly varied within the squadron. Approximately 297 Navy men and women are assigned and keep all parts of the squadron running smoothly. This includes everything from maintaining helicopter airframes and engines, to processing paperwork, handling weapons and flying the aircraft.
Lewis is playing an important part 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.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon capital assets, Lewis and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes.
Serving in the Navy, Lewis is learning about being a more respectable leader, Sailor and person through handling numerous responsibilities.
“I am proud of serving my country and being able to support my wife,” said Lewis. "It’s sacrificing I make that I can feel good about."