Another Lubbock Serviceman Rocks the High Seas
I love it when we get these updates about our servicemen and women.
Doesn't this look like a cool scene from a movie or something? Well, having all the cool guy fun is Lt. Samuel Fikes from right here in good old Lubbock, Texas, God's Country, U.S.A. It doesn't say exactly what he's doing here (other than using an air and missile defense coordination console onboard USS Gerald R. Ford), but I'm pretty sure it's not checking Facebook messages or playing Donkey Kong on some kind of retro arcade.
We sure do seem to have a lot of people from landlocked Lubbock join the Navy, or maybe the Navy is just better about letting us know all about it. I guess when you grow up in the dirty, long periods of time on the water practically seem like a vacation.
We want to take this opportunity to tell Sam "you rock" and to stay safe. We'll keep Lubbock warm for ya (most of the time) while you're gone.
Here's the official statement on everything from the U.S. Navy:
Lt. Veronica Hoecherl, left, USS Gettysburg’s navigator, from Del Ray Beach, Florida, and Lt. Samuel Fikes, Gettysburg’s systems test officer, from Lubbock, Texas, man an air and missile defense coordination console in the Tactical Flag Command Center onboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), Nov. 12, 2020. Under the leadership of Carrier Strike Group TWELVE, Gerald R. Ford is underway in the Atlantic Ocean conducting first-ever integrated carrier strike group operations with Carrier Air Wing EIGHT, Destroyer Squadron TWO and their Air and Missile Defense Commander, Commanding Officer of USS Gettysburg (CG 64). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jeff Troutman)