By Dustin Good, Navy Office of Community Outreach
OAK HARBOR, Wash. – Chief Petty Officer Brian Miller, a native of Camarillo, California, joined the Navy to find direction in life.
Now, 10 years after joining the Navy, Miller serves with the “World Watchers” of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1, working with the Navy’s premier intelligence-gathering aircraft at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington.
“Life is good,” said Miller. "We work hard to support our mission."
Miller, a 2006 graduate of Rio Mesa High School, is a naval aircrewman avionics with VQ-1, a state-of-the-art intelligence-gathering squadron flying the EP-3 “Aires,” a variant of the venerable P-3C “Orion.”
“As an in flight technician, I fix avionics that malfunction in flight,” said Miller.
Members of VQ-1 conduct reconnaissance as well as intelligence-gathering missions. They deploy around the world to monitor the world’s oceans wherever they are needed.
The EP-3 “Aires” is a land-based, long-range, signals intelligence-gathering aircraft. It is a variant of the P-3C “Orion,” which has been in operation since the 1960s. They are still in service and performing missions all over the world.
Serving in the Navy means Miller 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, Miller is most proud of finding and rescuing 69 refugees in the Mediterranean Sea.
“I'm proud of that accomplishment because my crew saved their lives,” said Miller. “If we didn't find them they most likely would have drowned.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Miller 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 gives me the opportunity to provide for my family and I get to do a job I love,” said Miller.