SAN DIEGO – Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kathryn Wesson, a native of Rogue River, Oregon, was inspired to join the Navy for travel and education opportunities.
 |
| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
Now, 17 years later, Wesson 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.
“It's great," Wesson said. "There are a lot of requirements and it's very demanding, but overall the spirit here is solid.”
Wesson, a 2002 graduate of Rogue River High School, is a chief warrant officer 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.
“My designation is aviation ordnanceman," Wesson said. "I'm the weapons officer in the squadron so I'm in charge of explosives, safety, weapons and ensuring we're in compliance, safe and efficient. It’s also making sure assets get to the ships and working out all the logistics. And I'm in charge of a lot of people as a division officer.”
Wesson credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Rogue River.
“I played sports for Rogue River High School and knowing how to lose and come back is one of the most important things I learned," Wesson said. "It continued my drive in the Navy starting as an airman apprentice and now sitting in a squadron as a commissioned officer.”
“It's great," Wesson said. "There are a lot of requirements and it's very demanding, but overall the spirit here is solid.”
Wesson, a 2002 graduate of Rogue River High School, is a chief warrant officer 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.
“My designation is aviation ordnanceman," Wesson said. "I'm the weapons officer in the squadron so I'm in charge of explosives, safety, weapons and ensuring we're in compliance, safe and efficient. It’s also making sure assets get to the ships and working out all the logistics. And I'm in charge of a lot of people as a division officer.”
Wesson credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Rogue River.
“I played sports for Rogue River High School and knowing how to lose and come back is one of the most important things I learned," Wesson said. "It continued my drive in the Navy starting as an airman apprentice and now sitting in a squadron as a commissioned officer.”
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 unique for the capability that it has and its mission as anti-submarine warfare," Wesson said. "You look at it and see a helicoptor, but it's so much more than that. It really does enhance our warfighting capabilities in the U.S. Navy.”
Serving in the Navy means Wesson 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, Wesson is most proud of meeting her husband in the Navy (they both were promoted to chief together in the same year) and being selected and commissioned as a chief warrant officer.
“To be selected as a chief petty officer is one of the highest honors," Wesson said. "Continuing now wearing bars as a chief warrant officer and still a Navy aviation orndanceman and leading sailors, and letting my kids see that, is an honor.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Wesson and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes contributing to the Navy the nation needs.
“You come to work and you work with your family," Wesson said. "Because you spend so much time at work they become an extension of your family. I always test my leadership ability and keep it going. As long as I do it with my husband and we do it as a team, I think it will be the best.”
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 unique for the capability that it has and its mission as anti-submarine warfare," Wesson said. "You look at it and see a helicoptor, but it's so much more than that. It really does enhance our warfighting capabilities in the U.S. Navy.”
Serving in the Navy means Wesson 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, Wesson is most proud of meeting her husband in the Navy (they both were promoted to chief together in the same year) and being selected and commissioned as a chief warrant officer.
“To be selected as a chief petty officer is one of the highest honors," Wesson said. "Continuing now wearing bars as a chief warrant officer and still a Navy aviation orndanceman and leading sailors, and letting my kids see that, is an honor.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Wesson and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes contributing to the Navy the nation needs.
“You come to work and you work with your family," Wesson said. "Because you spend so much time at work they become an extension of your family. I always test my leadership ability and keep it going. As long as I do it with my husband and we do it as a team, I think it will be the best.”