SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 1st Class Amber Scroggy, a native of Scotts Valley, California, joined the Navy for the benefits. She wanted to see the world and get some money for college.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
Now, 18 years later, Scroggy 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.
Scroggy, a 1994 graduate of Harbor High School in Santa Cruz, is a yeoman with a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“After being leading petty officer for the administration department, I'm taking over as command career counselor," said Scroggy. "I enjoy helping sailors make smart career choices for themselves.”
Scroggy, a 1994 graduate of Harbor High School in Santa Cruz, is a yeoman with a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“After being leading petty officer for the administration department, I'm taking over as command career counselor," said Scroggy. "I enjoy helping sailors make smart career choices for themselves.”
Scroggy credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Scotts Valley.
“Pick your friends wisely. I didn't want to go down the same path as some of the people I went to school with,” she said.
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.
Serving in the Navy means Scroggy 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.
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, Scroggy is most proud of making it to retirement after 20 years of honorable service.
“I completed my time in the Navy honorably and without getting in trouble like some sailors do,” said Scroggy, “I can be proud of that service.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Scroggy 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 being part of a community," said Scroggy. "I look at the Navy as an organization made of people. People make it what it is.”