Photo By Cpl. Nicholas Martinez | Sailors assigned to the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney, homeported at Naval Station...... read more read more
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With a gentle breeze in a warm and humid morning along a northeast Florida slipway, Sailors were singing “The Marines’ Hymn.”
Six Sailors assigned to the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney, homeported at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, completed their chief petty officer initiation capstone events Sept. 25 at Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island.
Located along the St. Johns River, the 1,100-acre facility is home to Blount Island Command. It’s the hub of Marine Corps’ prepositioning programs, which ensure Marine warfighters respond with the highest quality combat-ready equipment and supplies.
For the chief petty officer selectees, Blount Island offered a secluded, well-kept location in a natural setting.
The Sailors had departed the nearby Navy destroyer, where they recently completed a seven-month deployment to the Middle East, documenting more than 50 engagements with enemy targets, to earn the rank of chief petty officer.
“It’s been a great experience, a team-building experience,” said Petty Officer First Class Bob Hobronhyland of Staten Island, New York. “We’re learning to work cohesively and we’re bonding, so we can work as one and rely on each other.”
“Over there, you have to work cohesively,” said Hobronhyland, referring to his recent deployment as a weapons technician. “Here you make the choice.”
“It’s tying together the work I’ve done over the years—trying to get the job done to the best of my abilities while putting in that extra effort.”
“I don’t have a singing voice, but you got to do what you’ve got to do,” he said, after reciting the hymn.
The day’s capstone events, culminating six weeks of training, trials and team building, had kicked off at 3:30 a.m. The chief petty officer selectees left a three-story, Vietnam era birthing barge to land on Blount Island.
Between dozens of acres of military equipment and staging areas, adjacent to a 1,000-foot pier used by U.S. Navy roll-on, roll-off support cargo ships, operated globally by Military Sealift Command, they jogged in-step to the headquarters building.
The Sailors flanked a Marine Corps headquarters company, which had hoisted the colors up a flagpole. Wearing brown shirts, blue shorts and fresh haircuts—marching in place—the Sailors sang. When finished, they shouted, “thank you, Marines.”
The Marines escorted the Sailors to the facility obstacle course, where they taught the techniques required to traverse its logs, bars and ropes.
“We’ve learned how to rely on the chiefs’ mess in its entirety,” said Hobronhyland, after completing the course’s demanding tasks. “We know when to ask for help, and sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do.”
For Petty Officer First Class Alexander Boston of Bartow, Florida, a personnel specialist aboard the USS Carney, getting selected for the chiefs’ mess is part of an exceptional level of personal growth that arises in the military’s enlisted ranks.
“It’s been a unique experience—this obstacle course was a great experience,” said Boston, who joined the Navy in 2010 after playing professional football for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Teamwork and comradery are about knowing you can trust each other,” said Boston, who earned a bachelor’s degree in social science and a master’s in organizational leadership.
“Teams with that true bond, that’s the team that wins.”
Capstone events were scheduled through midnight.
| Date Taken: | 09.25.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.25.2024 17:34 |
| Story ID: | 481793 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | BARTOW, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 491 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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