by Lieutenant Chad Murphy, Navy Office of Community Outreach
NORFOLK, Va. – A 2011 Richardson High School graduate and Richardson, Texas, native is serving aboard USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98), one of the world’s most versatile multi-mission combat ships.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicholas Carpenter is a damage controlman aboard the Norfolk-based ship, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, that is longer than 1.5 football fields long at nearly 510 feet long. The ship is 66 feet wide and weighs more than 9,200 tons. Twin gas turbine engines can push the ship through the water at more than 30 mph. USS Forrest Sherman is named for Admiral Forrest Percival Sherman, and is the second U.S. Navy ship to bear the name.
As a 21 year-old with numerous responsibilities, Carpenter said he is learning about himself as a leader, sailor and a person. “I pay attention to detail a lot more now,” said Carpenter. “It can be easier to learn new things at home, but you learn much more, much faster on the ship.”
He also said he is proud of the work he is doing as part of the Forrest Sherman’s crew, protecting America on the world’s oceans. Carpenter discussed two job fields that protect USS Forrest Sherman. “Hospital corpsmen keep the crew alive and damage controlmen keep the ship alive. We’re always mission-ready, always awake and ready to go.”
Sailors’ jobs are highly varied aboard USS Forrest Sherman. Approximately 34 officers and 253 enlisted men and women make up the ship’s company, which keeps all parts of the destroyer running smoothly — this includes everything from washing dishes and preparing meals to handling weaponry and maintaining the engines.
“As John Paul Jones said, men mean more than guns in the way you run a ship and it’s still true today. It’s all about our people, I am proud and amazed by the knowledge they display and the work my sailors do every day,” said Cmdr. John A Krisciunas, the ship’s commanding officer. Their professionalism, motivation and commitment to the Navy are genuinely inspiring.”
Fast, maneuverable, and technically advanced, destroyers provide the required warfighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute multi-mission evolutions such as surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-air warfare. USS Forrest Sherman can operate independently or as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, amphibious ready groups, and underway replenishment groups.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most versatile combat ships, Carpenter and other USS Forrest Sherman sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes.
“It’s good to know that we’re out there on the sea to protect our country and be sure the sea is safe,” said Carpenter. “It’s rewarding to be bettering myself and making my family proud, while serving my country.”
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Kudos and applause to the young man for showing initiative and doing the work to move his life forward. But we need to move away from supporting the military in its’ function as the strong arm enforcers for the military-industrial complex. The role played by the U.S. military is far too often that of the aggressor/bully in world affairs (so that the military-industrial economic complex can make money) instead of the protector of the people of the U.S. The U.S. through its’ military-industrial complex was the “greatest purveyor of violence” in the world
during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King. It is the same purveyor today. We need to stop sending our children to become great in this wicked institution.
Agreed!