Serving at Sea Part Four: Hometown Heroes aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Navy Week continues in Wilmington, North Carolina, including the Serving at Sea series on WWAY. On Wednesday, we got to witness life on board a US Navy aircraft carrier. Now, WWAY’s Matt Bennett introduces us to some sailors from North Carolina who serve on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The ship, also known as the “Ike,” is one of the most formidable ships in the United States Navy, and Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill believes that it’s the best damn ship in the Navy.
“We have 20 departments on this ship, and all of those heads of departments are experts in their fields,” Hill said. “We actually do a lot of operations off the coast of North Carolina. There’s a lot of facilities there that support the military.”
Many of those facilities are supported by North Carolina residents, including several sailors on the Ike who hail not only from the Tar Heel State but also from the Cape Fear specifically. Lead Petty Officer Adam Peterson, who handles material control in the aircraft intermediate maintenance department, joined the Navy 18 years ago and credits his older brother and sister, who were also in the Navy prior to him, for showing him a path he says wasn’t available to him in his hometown of Wilmington.
Peterson’s journey from Wilmington to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower began during a troubled time in his life.
“There was a school called Lakeside at one point. Sound familiar? It was an alternative school for ‘unique’ students who needed a little more guidance,” Peterson said. “So that’s where I went and finished out the rest of my years in high school.”
Peterson credits his teachers for pushing him to see his potential, and he says he only wishes he could’ve brought more of his friends along with him.
Up in the pilot house, where the captain keeps watch, you’ll find a different kind of North Carolina success story in Quartermaster Seaman Leteiacesa Lewis. Lewis’s job is to make sure that the ship is safely navigated.
“Our job is to make sure that we’re safely navigating the ship, that’s really the big thing,” Lewis said. “We’re keeping our position, making sure our position is what it’s supposed to be, so we compare the different GPSs we use.”
Lewis made the decision to join the Navy after graduating from an early college high school in Kinston.
“I pretty much joined mainly because I really just wanted to do something bigger myself because I was like okay, I do want to finish college, but at the time I was just like traveling sounds so much fun,” she said. “So when I actually got in and then I went through boot camp and I made it through all, my goodness. It made me realize that I was a lot more capable of things than what I thought I was.”
Captain Hill believes that it’s sailors like Peterson and Lewis who make the Ike one of the most formidable ships on the water.
“We expect every warrior leader on this ship to love and value every sailor on this ship, to give each one of them mission and purpose, and to create a winning environment so everyone feels like they’re part of something greater than themselves,” Hill said. “That’s how you get morale, and that’s how you maintain your status as the best damn ship in the Navy.”
Our Serving at Sea series will conclude on Friday on WWAY News at 6:00.
View other Serving at Sea stories:
Serving at Sea Part One: Life on a US Navy submarine
Serving at Sea Part Two: Navy Expeditionary Unit shows off hovercrafts, advanced simulators
Serving at Sea Part Three: Boarding the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
