SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 2nd Class Chelsea Smith, a native of Mobile, Alabama, was inspired to join the Navy by a friend and for educational opportunities.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
“I had a best friend that joined the Navy out of college and I felt if he's doing it, I can do it, too, and it could help me pay for school,” Smith said. “I joined for the experience and to continue going to school.”
Now, four years later, Smith 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.
“We're kind of a big family,” Smith said. “It can be fun at times but we also work really hard.”
Smith, a 2008 graduate of Davidson High School, is an aviation maintenance administrationman with HSM 71, a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“My responsibilities include maintaining the components on the aircraft and making sure parts don't expire,” Smith said.
Smith credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Mobile.
“I learned ‘when’ to speak, because sometimes in the Navy you can be under so much pressure,” Smith said. “That has helped me this far.”
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.
“This aircraft is unique within itself,” Smith said. “Out of every aircraft in the Navy, this aircraft has the most technology. There's a lot more going on with the bird in terms of what it can do. It’s very complex. I feel like I'm getting the most knowledge working on it.”
Serving in the Navy means Smith 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, Smith is most proud of earning a Navy Achievement Medal (NAM) while on deployment.
“I worked very hard for it,” Smith said. “It lets me know that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and I’m doing it the right way.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Smith 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 to me means I have a very important job,” Smith said. “I'm doing my part to keep everybody back home safe.”
Now, four years later, Smith 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.
“We're kind of a big family,” Smith said. “It can be fun at times but we also work really hard.”
Smith, a 2008 graduate of Davidson High School, is an aviation maintenance administrationman with HSM 71, a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.
“My responsibilities include maintaining the components on the aircraft and making sure parts don't expire,” Smith said.
Smith credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Mobile.
“I learned ‘when’ to speak, because sometimes in the Navy you can be under so much pressure,” Smith said. “That has helped me this far.”
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.
“This aircraft is unique within itself,” Smith said. “Out of every aircraft in the Navy, this aircraft has the most technology. There's a lot more going on with the bird in terms of what it can do. It’s very complex. I feel like I'm getting the most knowledge working on it.”
Serving in the Navy means Smith 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, Smith is most proud of earning a Navy Achievement Medal (NAM) while on deployment.
“I worked very hard for it,” Smith said. “It lets me know that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and I’m doing it the right way.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Smith 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 to me means I have a very important job,” Smith said. “I'm doing my part to keep everybody back home safe.”