Photo By Chief Petty Officer Aidan Campbell | NEWPORT NEWS, Va., (March 16, 2015) - Boatswain's Mate Seaman Apprentice Shamika...... read more read more
Subscribe
But Robinson, a native of Interlochen, Mich., and Ford shipmate Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Apprentice Shamika Broome, from Barbados, made a different decision. Robinson and Broome were underway aboard USS Arlington (LPD 24) for personal development and in-rate training when they took action in the spirit of namesakes Gerald R. Ford and Arlington.
Arlington left its homeport in early February for a series of training events during which the ship experienced rough and rolling seas that lasted for days. Eventually, all but one training event was cancelled and many members of the ships’ crew suffered from sea-sickness.
“We were underway with the Arlington and the seas were rough,” explains Broome, whose family moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., when she was 11. “When we moved from the mess decks it was one big roll. [An Arlington Sailor] hit her knee and it twisted. We took her to berthing. Her rack was in the middle, so we moved her to the bottom.”
This simple act of kindness would prove a wise move later that night.
“The ship, and how our racks were, was moving side to side, and she fell out of her rack and hit her head,” says Broome. “Robinson asked her if she was okay, and we both kept asking her if she wanted to go to medical and she said yeah.”
Broome and Robinson’s shipmate turned out to be uninjured. Their actions may not have been life-saving, but they exemplify one of the best qualities of Gerald R. Ford Sailors: a willingness to help one another.
“I feel like she would have done the same thing for me,” says Broome, “Deck Department is like a close family, and we take care of each other.”
Broome and Robinson’s moral fiber did not go unnoticed by their supervisor who was also underway aboard Arlington.
“For two junior Sailors to take the initiative to take care of a shipmate—another Sailor from another command—is the image the Navy needs to display throughout,” says Boatswain’s Mate 1 Class Thomas Brandon. “Both Sailors [safeguarded] the well-being of another shipmate and ensured that there weren’t any injuries. Though they only had less than a year in the Navy, they reacted the way junior Sailors should. This is what I consider to be our 21st century Sailors.”
Gerald R. Ford began his life of service at an early age, joining Boy Scout Troop 15 in Grand Rapids, Mich., when he was 12 years old; attaining the rank of Eagle Scout two years later. The culture of proactive leadership and service to others permeates his namesake ship and, as Broome and Robinson demonstrated this month, infects the entire crew in everyday situations.
| Date Taken: | 03.24.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.03.2016 21:08 |
| Story ID: | 194245 |
| Location: | NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 175 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Ford's Youngest Sailors Find the Highest Calling, by CPO Aidan Campbell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
