PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 2^ND CLASS SANG KIM

NAVY PUBLIC AFFAIRS SUPPORT ELEMENT WEST

Cleveland native, Petty Officer 2nd Class Damion Schultz, serving aboard a floating airport, the USS Carl Vinson. Schultz is a 2016 graduate of James Ford Rhodes High School. He joined the Navy six years ago. Schultz says, “I did four years of Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC)  in high school. I wanted to be the first person in my family to serve in the military, so I joined the Navy.”

Cleveland native serves aboard floating airport USS Carl Vinson

by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jerry Jimenez,

      Navy Office of Community Outreach

(Plain Press, September 2022)           SAN DIEGO – A native of Cleveland, Ohio, serves the U.S. Navy aboard one of the world’s largest warships, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson.

     Petty Officer 2nd Class Damion Schultz, a 2016 James Ford Rhodes High School graduate, joined the Navy six years ago.

     “I did four years of Junior Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) in high school,” said Schultz. “I wanted to be the first person in my family to serve in the military, so I joined the Navy.”

     Today, Schultz serves as a master-at-arms. Schultz relies upon skills and values from lessons learned in Cleveland to succeed in the military.

     “Learning how to adapt to change was one of my biggest lessons from my hometown,” said Schultz.

     Homeported in San Diego, California, USS Carl Vinson is the United States Navy’s third Nimitz-class supercarrier. She is named for Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia, in recognition of his contributions to the U.S. Navy.

     Aircraft carriers provide unique capabilities and survivability. They are a powerful exhibition of the American Navy’s legacy of innovation, technological evolution, and maritime dominance, according to Navy officials.

     Vinson, like each of the Navy’s aircraft carriers, is designed for a 50-year service life. When the air wing is embarked, the ship carries more than 70 attack fighter jets, helicopters, and other aircraft – all of which take off from and land aboard the carrier at sea.

     With more than 5,000 sailors serving aboard, Vinson is a self-contained mobile airport.

     Serving in the Navy means Schultz is part of a world that is taking on new importance in America’s focus on strengthening alliances, modernizing capabilities, increasing capacities, and maintaining military readiness in support of the National Defense Strategy.

     “The Navy is important to national defense because we always have people deployed out to sea protecting the United States and our NATO allies around the world,” said Schultz.

     Sailors like Schultz have many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during their military service.

     “My proudest accomplishment is advancing to Petty Officer Second Class within two years of being in the Navy,” said Schultz.