St. Petersburg, Fla. native serves aboard USS Halsey

AT SEA

10.07.2020

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrew Langholf 

Commander, Destroyer Squadron 15

EAST CHINA SEA— A St. Petersburg, Fla. native and 2015 Granby High School graduate is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the guided-missile destroyer, USS Halsey.

Petty Officer third class Quiana Quezada is a Damage Controlman 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.

Damage Controlmen make up a part of the ship’s Repair Division that maintains damage control equipment from bow to stern. They perform hundreds of maintenance checks each week to ensure our ship is mission-ready.

“We maintain our ship’s readiness in any kind of environment, whether it’s fire, flooding or CBR-N [chemical, biological, radiological-nuclear],” said Quezada. “All of our maintenance helps set out ship up for success.”

Damage Controlmen maintain a constant state of readiness in both damage control training as well as maintaining critical equipment throughout the entire ship. Keeping the ship in a constant state of mission-readiness to defend against any casualty is paramount.

“My favorite part of my job is training my fellow shipmates,” said Quezada. “I’m confident that if we have a damage control emergency, we’ll be ready.”

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: 10.07.2020
• Date Posted: 10.06.2020 22:52
• Story ID: 380380
• Location: AT SEA