Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Santiago Navarro | 220601-N-NY362-2014 PHILIPPINE SEA (June 1, 2022) Quartermaster Seaman Chaz Michel,...... read more read more
Subscribe
PHILIPPINE SEA-
A Troy, Ohio native and Troy High School graduate is serving aboard the U.S. Navy aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54).
Chaz Michel is a Quartermaster who works for the navigation division on the Antietam, which is forward-deployed to Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan.
Quartermasters are in charge of the safe navigation and movement of a ship. They probe its surrounding waters for potential hazards.
“We rely on the sun from sunrise to sunset,” said Michel. “We measure the angle of the sun and compare it with our GPS, so we are always able to keep track of where we are.”
Quartermasters have various duties. For navigation, they rely on tools like the sextant to measure the sun’s angle and GPS, which provides a ship’s longitude and latitude. Additionally, they are responsible for putting up signal flags labeled from A to Z, which represent certain operations such as F for fuel intake and H for helicopter operations.
“It’s an informative job, knowing where we can be at this time and at this latitude and longitude,” said Michel. “The comfort we have as Quartermasters is knowing we’re satisfied knowing we can get over 300 people safely from point A to B.”
Despite having been onboard for eight months, Michel has earned many shipboard qualifications including basic damage control and 3M, along with those more aligned with his rate such as signalman, bearing taker, and in-port duty Quartermaster.
“I am qualified out of this world for an E-2,” said Michel. “It would be easier to print out all the qualifications we need than to list them.”
Along with his regular duties, Michel also participates in the ship’s multicultural committee, which he’s involved in primarily while in port as Quartermasters regularly stand watch while out to sea.
“It’s a committee I pride myself in,” said Michel. “It’s astounding how much I’ve learned about other cultures in just three months of being in the committee.”
The Antietam returned to sea as part of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5 on May 19 after a ten month in-port period. The ship is currently participating in a bilateral exercise with South Korea in the Philippine Sea as part of Carrier Strike Group 5, which includes the CSG 5 flagship USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65). The exercise aims at testing the interoperability of the countries’ navies.
Antietam is attached to Commander, Task Force 70/ Carrier Strike Group 5 conducting underway operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
| Date Taken: | 06.01.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.27.2022 22:38 |
| Story ID: | 425779 |
| Location: | PHILIPPINE SEA |
| Web Views: | 174 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Troy, Ohio Native Serves Aboard USS Antietam while conducting operations in the Philippine Sea, by PO2 Santiago Navarro, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
