Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam Butler | 210626-N-WU807-1020 INDIAN OCEAN (June 26, 2021) Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel Cox,...... read more read more
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APRA HARBOR, Guam (August 2, 2021) -- Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel Cox, a Leavenworth, Kan., native, is currently assigned to USS Charleston (LCS 18) and forward-deployed to the Indo-Pacific region.
“I looked into the Navy because I wanted more opportunities to travel,” said Cox. “It wasn’t that I disliked living in Kansas. Leavenworth will always be my hometown, but I needed to be challenged and grow as an individual.”
Cox graduated Leavenworth Senior High in 2003 and immediately started working in the area. He now operates, performs and coordinates organizational and intermediate maintenance on guided missile launching systems, missile launching groups, guns and gun mounts, as well as maintaining, training and issuing of small arms aboard the LCS.
An LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The crew size for this platform is approximately 100 personnel.
“The LCS community is small, which makes it easy to get to know everyone, and that’s my favorite part of my job,” said Cox. “I enjoy the people I work with and that’s a must when you are deployed away from your family and friends back home.”
Cox’s direct leadership, reflects the same sentiment, “Cox is a self-motivator that constantly performs above his pay-grade,” said Roditagus Jeffries, Gunner’s Mate 1st Class. “We wouldn’t be able to do what we do as well as we do without him.”
Travel has been Cox’s second favorite part of joining the Navy, “I’m glad the Navy gave me the opportunity to travel the world,” said Cox. “I’ve been to Japan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka - places I never imagined I would have gone to, and it creates and incredible sense of adventure and camaraderie.”
Cox plans on making the Navy a career, as he has already completed nine years of service, “I plan on staying in as long as I can, whether that’s 22 years or further. It isn’t always easy, but my work, my peers and my mentors motivate me.”
Attached to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7, Charleston is on a rotational deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the region, and to work alongside allied and partner navies to provide maritime security and stability, key pillars of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
As the U.S. Navy’s destroyer squadron forward-deployed in Southeast Asia, DESRON 7 serves as the primary tactical and operational commander of littoral combat ships rotationally deployed to Singapore, Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 7’s Sea Combat Commander, and builds partnerships through training exercises and military-to-military engagements.
Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 7, composed of Amphibious Squadron 11, DESRON 7, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25, Mine Countermeasures Squadron 7, Naval Beach Unit 7, and USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), is the Navy's only forward-deployed amphibious force, and is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and is responsible for the full range of expeditionary operations in the Indo-Pacific region.
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| Date Taken: | 08.02.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2021 07:09 |
| Story ID: | 401424 |
| Location: | GU |
| Web Views: | 132 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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