www.flagshipnews.com | The Flagship | Section 1 | Thursday, December 15, 2022 1
IN THIS ISSUE
Service members remember Pearl Harbor 81 years later
Service Members young and old gathered at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) Fort Worth base chapel Dec. 7 to remember the lives lost 81 years ago when Japanese aircraft attacked United States Naval Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Page A5
VOL. 29, NO. 47, Norfolk, VA | flagshipnews.com
December 15-December 21, 2022
A tradition of service for the Dukes family
NORFOLK, Va. (Oct. 13, 2022) Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (MA2) Amaya Dukes and her father, Ben Dukes, on the pier after returning home from a 7-month deployment with the amphibious assault ship, USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), Oct.13, 2022. Kearsarge was deployed to the High North and Baltic Sea with the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group. (PHOTOS BY MC2 GWYNETH VAN DEVENDER)
By MC3 Jordan Grimes NORFOLK, Va. — The year was 2006 and the guided-missile destroyer, USS Ross (DDG 71), had just returned from deployment. Personnel Specialist 1st Class (PS1) Ben Dukes was greeted excitedly on the pier by his 6-year-old daughter, Amaya, in the brisk November air. Sixteen years later, the tables have turned for the Dukes family. Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (MA2) Amaya Dukes returned from deployment with the amphibious assault ship, USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), October 13, and was met with a surprise greeting from her father, recreating that special moment from so many years before. To her father’s surprise, the events leading up to meeting Amaya on the pier were similar to when he was the one returning from deployment. “We call it channel fever,” said Ben Dukes. “It’s a period where you just don’t sleep, and the day before [she got back], I couldn’t get
to sleep! I did the same thing when I was coming home.” Although he is happy about his daughter following in his footsteps now, Amaya’s father says he was caught off guard initially by her decision. “It was a shock actually,” said Ben Dukes. “[Amaya and her brother] called me one day and said, ‘Hey, guess what we did!’ I was shocked when they both went in, but I’m happy that they did.” The Dukes family and their shared experience in the service has opened new doors of communication for them. They say they often spend time reflecting on the good times they have had. Overall, the Navy has become something of a family business for the Dukes clan. It has created a bond between them not only as a family, but as a brotherhood in service. A little girl who once ran into her father’s arms now serves in his place, making him proud every day.
From Dam Neck Annex to the Alaskan wilderness, photographer’s passion began in the Navy By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Megan Wollam Carl Johnson, a professional photographer based in Alaska, recently completed the artist-in-residence program at Shenandoah National Park in northwestern Virginia. Johnson spent three weeks exploring and documenting the park’s landscapes and natural features. During his stay, he reflected on the path that led him to this career, and it all started with a collateral duty as a ship’s photographer in the Navy. In 1987, Seaman Apprentice Carl Johnson graduated from Operations Specialist ‘A’ School which, at the time, was located at NAS Oceana’s Dam Neck Annex in Virginia Beach. He knew that he wanted to travel outside of the United States, and received his first choice of orders: the Nitro-class ammunition ship USS Haleakala (AE-25) homeported in Guam. “Because of the size of the command, they didn’t have a photographer’s mate onboard,” Johnson said. “They were looking for someone to be the ship’s photographer, and I said, ‘Sure, I’d love to.’ ” He then purchased his first camera, a Minolta X-700, and started photographing shipboard life in addition to his job as an operations specialist. He was also part of the Ship’s Nautical or Otherwise Photographic Interpretation and Examination (SNOOPIE) team, a group of Sailors who are charged with collecting information on surface and air contacts that come in close proximity to a U.S. Navy vessel. At his next duty station, the Spruance-class destroyer USS David R. Ray (DD-971), Johnson again volunteered to take on the role of ship’s photographer. He recalled some of his most memorable experiences, from taking aerial photos of the ship from a CH-46 helicopter to photograph-
ing Tomahawks, Sea Sparrows, and RAMs launching from the ship. “Most of the work I did was more of a photojournalistic, documentary sort of style,” Johnson said. “It just really laid the
seeds for a passion for photography.” After completing his enlistment, Johnson attended the University of Minnesota Law Turn to Photographer, Page 7
Carl Johnson being recognized as an honor graduate of the OS“A”School at Fleet Combat Training Center Atlantic at Dam Neck, 1987 (COURTESY PHOTO)
JEB Little Creek-Fort Story kicks off the holiday season www.flagshipnews.com
www.facebook.com/ The.Flagship
www.twitter.com/ the_flagship
Santa joined the Fleet Forces Band during the JEBLCFS annual holiday concert, Dec. 2. The show capped evening festivities featuring a tree lighting, a gift giveaway, and a guest appearance by Santa. Page A2
THE FLAGSHIP’S FREE HOME DELIVERY South Hampton Roads: Get the convenience of your Navy newspaper delivered right to your door for free!
Signup today! Call 757222-3900