SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 1st Class Ashley Arns, a native of Falcon, Colorado, was inspired to join the Navy by her family.
 |
| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
“I've been a military brat my entire life, except my entire family was Air Force and I just wanted to be different,” Arns said.
Now, six years later, Arns 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.
Now, six years later, Arns 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.
“The squadron life and people you work with end up being your second family," said Arns. "Here people treat you with respect and everyone is in it together.”
Arns, a 2013 graduate of Falcon High School, is an aviation machinist's mate with HSM 49, a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“I work in quality assurance,” Arns said. “My job is to identify trends whether they're good or bad and implement changes based on those trends that we find.”
Arns credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Falcon.
“My hometown is pretty small,” Arns said. “When you work in a small environment like that you learn to work with people.”
Helicopter Maritime Squadron (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.
“I think these aircraft are way cooler,” Arns said. “When I was in A School everyone wanted to work on jets, but I like working on helicopters. They almost defy the laws of gravity.”
Serving in the Navy means Arns 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.”
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community, and career, Arns is most proud of earning a promotion to first class petty officer.
“It made me feel proud to be able to say that I did it through my hard work,” Arns said. “Everything I put into it paid off.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Arns 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 means doing something different,” Arns said. “I get to go see the world and really do things that a lot of people don't get to say they've done. I get to make my family proud to carry on that military tradition.”
Arns, a 2013 graduate of Falcon High School, is an aviation machinist's mate with HSM 49, a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“I work in quality assurance,” Arns said. “My job is to identify trends whether they're good or bad and implement changes based on those trends that we find.”
Arns credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Falcon.
“My hometown is pretty small,” Arns said. “When you work in a small environment like that you learn to work with people.”
Helicopter Maritime Squadron (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.
“I think these aircraft are way cooler,” Arns said. “When I was in A School everyone wanted to work on jets, but I like working on helicopters. They almost defy the laws of gravity.”
Serving in the Navy means Arns 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.”
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community, and career, Arns is most proud of earning a promotion to first class petty officer.
“It made me feel proud to be able to say that I did it through my hard work,” Arns said. “Everything I put into it paid off.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Arns 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 means doing something different,” Arns said. “I get to go see the world and really do things that a lot of people don't get to say they've done. I get to make my family proud to carry on that military tradition.”