SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 3rd Class Jacob Minton, a native of Savannah, Georgia, joined the Navy to work on helicopters.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
“My stepdad worked on CH-46 and CH-47 helicopters in the Army," said Minton. "I wanted work on helicopters and I thought the Navy would be a little bit easier than the Army.”
Now, four years later, he 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.
Minton, a 2014 graduate of South Effingham High School, is an aviation machinist's mate 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.
Minton credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Savannah.
“Pops always taught me if you're gonna be dumb you've gotta be tough," said Minton. "I still like to take on the tough jobs that other people avoid.”
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 Minton 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, Minton is most proud of being able to go onto a combat element as a new airman.
“Usually they only want fully qualified petty officers so for me to be a part of it means I was pretty good at the work,” said Minton.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Minton and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes contributing to the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving is a long family tradition," said Minton. "Pops is the only one that joined the Army. Everyone else has been Navy.”