SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Obame, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, wanted to help people and serve the country.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
Now, two years after enlisting in the U.S. Navy, Obame serves with the Raptors of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 71, working with one of the Navy’s most advanced helicopters at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego.
“Life's good in this squadron, my job involves a lot of preparing for situations that might arise,” said Obame.
Obame, a 2012 graduate of Fellowship Baptist Adcademy, is a naval aircrewman 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.
“I am a rescue swimmer, door gunner and radar operator for our helicopters,” said Obame. “I provide reconnaissance for the ship.”
Obame credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Raleigh.
“I learned that hard work can overcome anything, and that's been a big help in the Navy,” said Obame.
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.
“Life's good in this squadron, my job involves a lot of preparing for situations that might arise,” said Obame.
Obame, a 2012 graduate of Fellowship Baptist Adcademy, is a naval aircrewman 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.
“I am a rescue swimmer, door gunner and radar operator for our helicopters,” said Obame. “I provide reconnaissance for the ship.”
Obame credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Raleigh.
“I learned that hard work can overcome anything, and that's been a big help in the Navy,” said Obame.
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.
“There are a lot of sensors and capabilities on the aircraft,” said Obame. “It's truly the best multi-mission helicopter in the world, and there's no other helicopter that can complete the missions that our helicopter can.”
Serving in the Navy means Obame 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, Obame is most proud of graduating rescue swimmer school.
“I had to endure five weeks of intense physical and mental training,” said Obame. “I am most proud of this because it was an opportunity very few people get, and even fewer people achieve.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Obame 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 serving something greater than myself,” said Obame. “It's a great sense of accomplishment.”