San Antonio, Texas native serves aboard USS Halsey

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Langholf | 200914-N-FA490-1022 EAST CHINA SEA A portrait of Ensign Patricia Walker, from San Antonio, Texas, assigned to Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97), while serving as Gunnery Officer. Gunnery Officers assist the ship’s weapons officer by directing all gunnery/ordnance activities, and ensure operational readiness of personnel and equipment. Halsey is underway conducting operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific while assigned to DESRON 15, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Andrew Langholf)  

AT SEA

09.15.2020

Courtesy Story

Commander, Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron 15

EAST CHINA SEA— A San Antonio, Texas native and 2010 Theodore Roosevelt High School graduate is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the guided-missile destroyer, USS Halsey.

Ensign Patricia Walker is the Gunnery Officer serving aboard USS Halsey, homeported out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Halsey is underway in 7th Fleet conducting operations in the Indo-Pacific while assigned to the forward deployed Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15.

Gunnery Officers assist the ship’s weapons officer by ensuring operational readiness of personnel and equipment. They oversee the care and maintenance of all gun armament to include designation equipment, fire control equipment, naval guns and associated ordnance.

“Weapons department provides multiple layers of defense for the unit and is always ready to combat any attack,” said Walker. “Our equipment provides the ship’s self-defense and aids in the early detection of air, surface and sub-surface threats.”

The gunnery officer ensures that combat gunnery division Sailors are properly trained and prepared to combat any threat to the ship by ensuring personnel respond to all manning of gunnery stations in the event of a closing threat.

“I love being the gunnery officer and I am extremely proud of my division,” said Walker.
“Being out here feels great. I realize that I am a part of something bigger and making sacrifices here so that others back home won't have to.”

A U.S. Navy destroyer is a multi-mission ship that can operate independently or as part of a larger group of ships at sea. The ship is equipped with a vertical launching system, tomahawk missiles, torpedoes, guns, and Phalanx Close-In weapons systems.

Halsey is underway conducting operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific while assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force..

For more information on Halsey, visit https://www.facebook.com/DESRON15.

• Date Taken: 09.15.2020
• Date Posted: 10.04.2020 23:00
• Story ID: 380213
• Location: AT SEA
• Hometown: SAN ANTONIO, TX, US