The assault ship USS America had arrived at the Los Angeles waterfront in honor of Fleet Week, a free public event that featured active military ships and festivities during Labor Day weekend.
Local residents and tourists explored the various vessels at the waterfront, including the USS Iowa and the USS Wayne E. Meyer.
The USS America, a vessel that has been commissioned since October 2014, is the first ship of its kind to be active in a semi-deployment capacity, according to Michael Karafotis, the CE DIVO of the ship in charge of sailors in the maintenance of all external communication systems and navigational radars.
Karafotis explained that the ship departed without ceremony in transit to various locations, such as its home port of San Diego. The craft also embarked on a humanitarian and public-relations tour during the summer of 2014 known as America Meets the Americas— where crew members networked and met with South American allies, such as Colombia, Peru and Chile, in security, medical and transportation missions.
The USS America was officially commissioned on Oct. 11, 2014 in San Francisco as part of the city’s own Fleet Week.
Karafotis left his post on the USS America about a month after LA Fleet Week and entered his next command on the east coast toward the end of September. He said crews typically “come and go,” as he reflected on the significant change in the ship’s roster since he first entered his position, but he does hold fond memories of the USS America in the two and a half years he served onboard.
“It’s been special,” he said. “I definitely enjoyed my time on board. And I definitely appreciate all the people I met.”
The vessel itself houses all sorts of utilities, vehicles and aircrafts.
A light-armored vehicle, the LAV-25A2, is a tank with a max speed of 62.2 miles per hour, a fuel capacity of 71 gallons and a max capacity of three people, according to a display in the USS America. Its armaments include a M242 25mm chain gun, a M240 7.62 machine gun and a M257 smoke grenade launcher.
The MV-22B Osprey is a MAG-39 aircraft that primarily serves in assault, logistics and transportation roles. It has two turbo-shaft engines, a max speed of 280 knots, a 24-combat-troop capacity and various ramp-mounted and turret-mounted machine guns.
Firefighter suits, medical facilities and dining halls are also on-board.
Shawn Fazio, who has been responsible for aircraft administration on the USS America for two years, works with his team to fix and repair aircraft parts. In March, Fazio will work on F/A-18 fighters at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
He had always taken an interest in electronics and “taking things apart and putting them back together.” He especially takes pride in seeing aircrafts fly off and knowing he helped assemble the parts to get them running.
Fazio claims it’s all part of his love for his military work.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Screen-Shot-2016-11-03-at-3.43.31-PM.png” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”A light-armored vehicle, the LAV-25A2, is a tank with a max speed of 62.2 miles per hour, a fuel capacity of 71 gallons and a max capacity of three people, according to a display in the USS America. Its armaments include a M242 25mm chain gun, a M240 7.62 machine gun and a M257 smoke grenade launcher. ” captionposition=”right” revealfx=”off”] “There are some times when you get a little bit of alone time and you’re just like, ‘Wow,'” he said. “You do just get that bigger picture of you” re on a Navy ship in the middle of the ocean fixing airplanes. It just gets you going. It’s almost awe-inspiring. These are the kind of things you see in movies, and I’m actually doing that for real. It’s definitely a cool thing.”
Dan Rheaume, a Navy aircraft pilot on the vessel, has navigated his share of MAG-39 aircrafts— claiming to have logged between 500 to 600 flight hours. He has participated in search-and-rescue, humanitarian-aid and disaster-relief missions.
A pilot with 14 years’ experience, Rheaume, as a young boy, took interest in aviation by watching movies like Top Gun and researching the topic.
He was a senior in high school during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and enlisted in the Navy with many of his fellow classmates. Rheaume eventually graduated the Naval Academy and got a pilot position “living his dream job.”
“It certainly sounds like a story, you know, but to live it, it just doesn’t seem real sometimes,” he said. “You really just got to remember that you are providing a service, and every time I ever get a big head, I remember that I am just a glorified bus driver… I’m not going to say it isn’t a difficult thing. It is a difficult thing flying helicopters, especially this one. But, it really is important to keep things into perspective, and it’s important to remember that we are here for people like you.”
