SAN DIEGO – Chief Petty Officer Select Sherwin Eric G. Abdon, a native of San Diego, was inspired to join the Navy by his grandfather.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
“My grandfather worked in Subic Bay Naval Base for a long time,” Abdon said. “When I got here he said to join the Navy. I was the first one in my family to join the Navy.”
Now, 19 years later, Abdon 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.
“This command is very nice,” Abdon said. “It's a lot better than being on a boat. We get to spend more time with our family in squadron life rather than being on a ship.”
Abdon, a 1997 graduate of Saint Columban College in the Philippines, is an aviation structural mechanic 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,” Abdon said. “Right now my job responsibilities are maintaining the structural integrity of aircraft.”
Abdon credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in San Diego.
“I learned the importance of being friendly with others,” Abdon said. “You have to network.”
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.
Now, 19 years later, Abdon 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.
“This command is very nice,” Abdon said. “It's a lot better than being on a boat. We get to spend more time with our family in squadron life rather than being on a ship.”
Abdon, a 1997 graduate of Saint Columban College in the Philippines, is an aviation structural mechanic 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,” Abdon said. “Right now my job responsibilities are maintaining the structural integrity of aircraft.”
Abdon credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in San Diego.
“I learned the importance of being friendly with others,” Abdon said. “You have to network.”
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.
“We are basically a multi-mission platform,” Abdon said. “We do search and rescue and anti-submarine missions.”
Serving in the Navy means Abdon 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, Abdon is most proud of being selected to the rank of chief petty officer.
“Not everybody stays in and makes chief and not everybody who stays in makes it,” said Abdon.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Abdon 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 protecting my family and my freedom,” said Abdon.