SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 2nd Class Caroline Widick, a native of Bettendorf, Iowa, joined the Navy because she wanted to go to school and travel.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
Now, four years later, Widick serves with the Scorpions of Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 49, working with one of the Navy’s most advanced helicopters at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego.
“My job is pretty hectic, but it's cool to see your work flying,” said Widick.
Widick, a 2015 graduate of Bettendorf High School, is an aviation electronics technician with a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“I fix the computers on the aircraft," said Widick. "It involves lots of troubleshooting and on the spot repair.”
“My job is pretty hectic, but it's cool to see your work flying,” said Widick.
Widick, a 2015 graduate of Bettendorf High School, is an aviation electronics technician with a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“I fix the computers on the aircraft," said Widick. "It involves lots of troubleshooting and on the spot repair.”
HSM 49's primary mission is to conduct sea control operations in open-ocean and coastal environments as an expeditionary unit. This includes hunting for submarines, searching for surface targets over the horizon and conducting search and rescue operations.
According to Navy officials, the MH-60R is the Navy's new primary maritime dominance helicopter. Greatly enhanced over its predecessors, the MH-60R helicopter features a glass cockpit and significant mission system improvements, which give it unmatched capability as an airborne multi-mission naval platform.
As the U.S. Navy's next generation submarine hunter and anti-surface warfare helicopter, the MH-60R "Romeo" is the cornerstone of the Navy's Helicopter Concept of Operations. Anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare are the MH-60R's primary missions. Secondary missions include search and rescue, medical evacuation, vertical replenishment, naval surface fire support, communications relay, command, control, communications, command and control warfare and non-combat operations.
“It's pretty cool that they can hunt and find submarines using anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare and helping out when disaster strikes around the world,” said Widick.
Serving in the Navy means Widick is part of a community 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.
America is a maritime nation, and 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.”
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community, and career, Widick is most proud of being promoted to second class within her first enlistment.
“It's not very common," said Widick. "Most people don't make it past third class in their first term.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Widick 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 makes me proud to be part of this country,” said Widick. “It makes me feel like I accomplished something. I have stories to tell when I have kids and grandkids about the places I've been and the people I've met.”