Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Samantha Oblander | SOUTH CHINA SEA (Feb. 10, 2022) Operations Specialist Seaman Recruit Alayis Vicens,...... read more read more
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A Lorain, Ohio native and 2020 graduate of Amherst High School is serving aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114).
Seaman Recruit Alayis Vicens is an Operations Specialist, also known as OS, serving aboard USS Ralph Johnson, forward-deployed to Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan.
“I joined the navy to be the first female in my family to join the military,” said Vicens. “I also joined to be myself. I came from a very sheltered lifestyle where I didn’t really know anything outside from Lorain, Amherst and Cleveland Ohio.”
OS’ serve on every ship the Navy has to offer and maintain the ship’s Combat Information Center (CIC) displays of strategic and tactical information and Vicens explained why she chose her rate.
“I actually wound up taking my dad’s advice,” said Vicens. “I was looking at DC (Damage Controlman) and OS and I called my dad before I joined and he suggested going with OS. He thought it would be a better fit for me and mentioned that as a Sailor, everyone has firefighting training and being an OS would give me the best of both worlds.”
As the long-range eyes of the ship, Vicens shared the importance of her job.
“As an Operations Specialist, I work in CIC, which has manned watch centers 24/7 while underway,” said Vicens. “Those watches in CIC are vital to the ship’s safety. Without OS’s, the Navy would be blind to the other ships at sea, especially at night.”
Many Sailors will tell you that they have an awesome job, but Vicens explained why she loves her job.
“When you are manned 24/7 and stand long hours of watch, you grow really close to the people that are around you,” said Vicens. “You get to learn so much from the people you work with, whether it be on a professional, personal, or cultural level. Your division becomes your at-sea family.”
Everyone has their reasons for joining the military and one of Vicen’s reasons was to grow as a person and she said that she’s already seen a difference in herself in the short time that she’s been in.
“I’ve taken on a lot of responsibility since coming to this command,” said Vicens. “I joined the Navy to expand my horizons and I’ve taken on a lot of different collateral duties which helps to not only increase my professional knowledge, but will also help me become a better leader.”
USS Ralph Johnson recently shifted homeports from Everett, Wash. to Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka and while she is enjoying her time in Japan, Vicens is actively thinking about the future and what she hopes to accomplish in the Navy.
“One thing I want to accomplish is that I definitely want to leave a positive impact on future Sailors,” said Vicens. “I want to be able to expand my knowledge, not only in my rate, but in life. I want to be the person that people come to for advice, that people rely on. I want to be someone that people know they can come to no matter what. I want to be able to make people smile if they’re having a bad day and help people become the best version of themselves that they can be at that point in their life or career. I want to help people remember that they’re human and that they matter.”
In order to reach her goals and leave a positive impact on future Sailors, Vicens has been taking advantage of the opportunity to learn from everyone around her and is applying those lessons to the way she approaches her daily life.
“The people that I look up to have taught me to not give up on what I want, but that it is okay to be human,” said Vicens. “By teaching me that, they’ve taught me to be better at self-care; to make sure that I’m eating and hydrating properly and getting enough sleep. They’ve essentially given me permission to fail, but to learn from that failure so when I face that challenge again I can overcome it.”
Ralph Johnson is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet is the largest forward-deployed fleet and routinely operates and interacts with 35 maritime nations while conducting missions to preserve and protect critical regional partnerships.
| Date Taken: | 02.08.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.22.2022 00:55 |
| Story ID: | 415013 |
| Location: | YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 192 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Lorain, Ohio Native Serves Aboard USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) While Conducting Operations in the South China Sea, by PO1 Samantha Oblander, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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