Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Alexandria Esteban | 250715-N-CV021-1017 Machinery Repairman 2nd Class Jose Longoria, from Brownsville,...... read more read more
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INDIAN OCEAN — A Brownsville, Texas native and 2015 graduate of Los Fresnos High School is currently serving aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn (DDG 113), which is forward-deployed to the Indo-Pacific and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jose Longoria is a Machinery Repairman. According to the Bluejacket Manual, Machinery Repairman are skilled machine-tool operators that make replacement parts in order to repair shipboard equipment. Longoria has made items such as nuts, bolts, adapters, pins, and gears during his time in the Navy. His favorite part of the job is the satisfaction he feels after watching the perfect installation of a part he fabricated.
According to Longoria, when a work center needs an emergent part immediately, and can’t wait for parts to move through Navy supply chains, Machinery Repairman can step in to manufacture on-demand.
“We can remake you a brand-new part to get your vital piece of equipment back up and running,” Longoria said.
Longoria joined the Navy in December 2015. He joined the crew aboard John Finn in June 2024, but he has previously served aboard the Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Comstock (LSD 45) from 2016 to 2021, and at the Public Works Department on Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy from 2021 to 2024. His proudest accomplishment was his involvement in Operation Allied Refuge, a mission that took place while he was stationed in Sigonella.
“During the evacuation of Afghanistan, my entire base got involved to receive and get refugees to their next destination,” Longoria said. “For nearly a month, the whole base, spouses included, came together to accomplish this. My wife and I worked night shifts during this time, and it just felt like we were really being a part of something monumental. We were truly helping people in need.”
John Finn is currently homeported at Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan. Longoria has been exploring the country with his wife, sampling local restaurants and taking trips to Shibuya and Yokohama. Before he leaves Japan, Longoria wants to hike up Mt. Fuji. His primary goal in the Navy is to continue rising in rank, so that he can provide for his family.
“Quite a bit of my family has served in the Armed Forces, mostly the Marine Corps and the Army,” Longoria said. “My family, of course, could not be more happy for me to serve.”
Longoria admits that he did not have any prior experience with machines or fabricating repair parts before joining the Navy, and he expressed his gratitude toward the military for teaching him a valuable skillset. His advice to anyone that wants to be a Machinery Repairman is to learn from every mistake.
“You’re going to make a lot of mistakes,” Longoria said. “You’re going to mess up your math eventually. You’re going to ruin projects you’ve spent many working hours on, and that’s okay. You can’t be discouraged. Learn from your mistakes and overcome those obstacles. It will feel all the more satisfying when you get it right. A subject matter expert isn’t someone doesn’t make mistakes, but someone who has made every single mistake possible in their field of work.”
John Finn is forward-deployed and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. (U.S. Navy story and photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Alexandria Esteban)
| Date Taken: | 07.23.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.30.2025 05:26 |
| Story ID: | 544211 |
| Location: | INDIAN OCEAN |
| Hometown: | BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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