NORFOLK, Va. — A Vero Beach native and 2014 Vero Beach High School graduate is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. Petty Officer 3rd Class Danielle Duval is an electronics technician aboard the carrier operating out of the Navy’s largest base.
As an electronics technician, Duval is responsible for ships radar and air traffic control.
“The best part about serving on the Bush is the friends who turn into family,” said Duval.
Named in honor of former President George H.W. Bush, the carrier is longer than three football fields, measuring nearly 1,100 feet. The ship, a true floating city, weighs more than 100,000 tons and has a flight deck that is 252 feet wide. Two nuclear reactors can push the ship through the water at more than 35 mph.
Powerful catapults slingshot the aircraft off the bow of the ship. The planes land aboard the carrier by snagging a steel cable with an arresting hook that protrudes from the rear of the aircraft.
As a sailor with numerous responsibilities, Duval learns about life at sea serving in the Navy and the importance of taking personal responsibility while leading others while still using lessons learned from their hometown.
“My hometown taught me to always be humble and treat others with the respect you want to be treated with,” said Duval.
Sailors’ jobs are highly varied aboard the carrier. Approximately 3,200 men and women make up the ship’s crew, which keeps all parts of the aircraft carrier running smoothly — this includes everything from washing dishes and preparing meals to handling weaponry and maintaining the nuclear reactors. Another 2,500 men and women form the air wing responsible for flying and maintaining more than 70 aircraft aboard the ship.
George H.W. Bush, like each of the Navy’s aircraft carriers, is designed for a 50-year service life. When the air wing is embarked, the ship carries more than 70 attack jets, helicopters and other aircraft, all of which take off from and land aboard the carrier at sea.
All of this makes the George H.W. Bush a self-contained mobile airport and strike platform, and often the first response to a global crisis because of a carrier’s ability to operate freely in international waters anywhere on the world’s oceans.
“I’m most proud of making it through deployment,” said Duval. “It’s an achievement for me.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Duval and other George H.W. Bush sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“The Navy has taught me to be able to adapt and be more understanding of others you work with,” added Duval. “It’s also taught me patience.”
