Thursday, September 26, 2019

Vallejo Native Serves with U.S. Navy Hospital Half a World Away in Guam

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Amanda Rae Moreno, Navy Office of Community Outreach

SANTA RITA, Guam – A 2011 graduate and Vallejo, California, native is serving in the U.S. Navy with U.S. Naval Hospital Guam.

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Heidi Cheek
Petty Officer 2nd Class Kashmir Villasin is a hospital corpsman, responsible for basic medical screening and healthcare support for service members and their families.

Villasin credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Vallejo.

“I learned that everything can be rough, but it's up to you to make it positive,” said Villasin.

Naval Hospital Guam is comprised of the main hospital in Agana Heights and two branch clinics, medical and dental, on Naval Base Guam. The hospital’s staff consists of 516 active duty and 201 civilians, contractors, reservists and volunteers who serve more than 26,000 beneficiaries.

According to officials at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet headquarters in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the ships, submarines, aircraft and Navy personnel forward-deployed to Guam are part of the world’s largest fleet command and serve in a region critical to U.S. national security. The U.S. Pacific Fleet encompasses 100 million square miles, nearly half the Earth’s surface, from Antarctica to the Arctic Circle and from the West Coast of the United States into the Indian Ocean. All told, there are more than 200 ships and submarines, nearly 1,200 aircraft, and more than 130,000 uniformed and civilian personnel serving in the Pacific.

“Leading sailors to meet their goals and accomplishments and catering to their needs to help them grow as a young corpsman,” Villasin said.

Serving in the Navy means Villasin 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, Villasin is most proud of working with the Marines and earning my Fleet Marine Force qualifications.

“Since being with the Marines and learning their job as you go, you get a lot of respect from the Marines. They take you in as a Marine and their doc,” said Villasin.

As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Villasin and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes, one that will provide a critical component of the Navy the nation needs.

“To me, serving in the Navy is about going all over the world to help whoever is in need," added Villasin. "When you're deployed on humanitarian missions is what Navy medicine is all about.”