SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert Vasquez, a native of Laredo, Texas, joined the Navy to make a career and be a role model to his children.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
Now, two years later, Vasquez serves with the Raptors of Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 71, working with one of the Navy’s most advanced helicopters at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego.
Vasquez, a 2014 graduate of Lyndon B. Johnson, is an aviation ordnanceman with Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 71, a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“I maintain weapons," said Vasquez. "Loading and unloading torpedoes and guns on the aircraft, pretty much anything ordnance related. I also maintain small arms for the aircrew.”
Vasquez, a 2014 graduate of Lyndon B. Johnson, is an aviation ordnanceman with Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 71, a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“I maintain weapons," said Vasquez. "Loading and unloading torpedoes and guns on the aircraft, pretty much anything ordnance related. I also maintain small arms for the aircrew.”
Vasquez credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Laredo.
“I was taught to have a strong work ethic," said Vasquez. "My father worked two or three jobs and he taught me to always work hard, that's what puts food on the table.”
HSM 71'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 Vasquez 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, Vasquez is most proud of getting promoted to petty officer third class in August.
“I was an undesignated airman and finally was able to strike for aviation ordnanceman," said Vasquez. "I finally officially made it.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Vasquez and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes contributing to the Navy the nation needs.
“Taking care of the squadron and taking care of the United States essentially correlates to taking care of my family at home and being able to show my kids that I'm in the Navy and doing something,” said Vasquez.