SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 3rd Class Grayland Locklear, a native of Maxton, North Carolina, joined the Navy to get away and travel.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
Now, four years later, Locklear serves with the Blue Hawks of Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 78, working with one of the Navy’s most advanced helicopters at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego.
“We're always on the go," said Locklear. "I have done two deployments since I've been here and a lot of detachments.”
“We're always on the go," said Locklear. "I have done two deployments since I've been here and a lot of detachments.”
Locklear, a 2015 graduate of Purnell Sweat High School, is a logistics specialist with HSM 78, a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
Locklear credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Maxton.
“It is important to trust people because you have to be able to rely on your shipmates and your family," said Locklear. "Family is always important.”
HSM 78'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 Locklear 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, Locklear is most proud of making rank and completing an enlisted aviation warfare qualification.
“It took time and hard work and a lot of studying,” said Locklear.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Locklear and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes contributing to the Navy the nation needs.
“There's always new things to look forward to while serving in the Navy,” said Locklear.