Monday, April 05, 2010

Sailors in Afghanistan Celebrate 117 Years of Navy Chief Petty Officers

April 5, 2010 - KABUL, Afghanistan (NNS) -- Sailors assigned to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command (IJC) took time out of their busy schedules in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 3 to celebrate the 117th anniversary of the establishment of the rank of chief petty officer.

While the anniversary was April 1, the event April 3 brought together approximately 70 Sailors for an indoor barbeque that included burgers, hot dogs, ribs and cake.

The Sailors are part of a NATO staff of more than 1,200 personnel representing more than 40 nations, and while they are often outnumbered, Navy pride runs deep.

Master Chief Intelligence Specialist Todd Schroeder, the senior enlisted Sailor at IJC, thanked all the Navy personnel at the event.

"Sailors just get the job done; they don't say 'that's not my job,'" said Schroeder. "Most importantly, they get it done right!"

Sailors at IJC range from E-4 to O-7 service members; they are intelligence specialists, information systems technologists, mass communication specialists and a number of other ratings in between. They work on the operations' watch floor, keep the computer systems operational and perform a number of other critical missions.

Rear Adm. Paul Becker, the IJC director of intelligence, is the senior Navy officer at the IJC.

For Becker, the commitment to the mission is reflective of his personal dedication, coupled with the importance of the mission at hand. Becker and his staff are responsible for pulling together intelligence and information to better inform the operational commanders in this counterinsurgency fight.

While the majority of Navy personnel are working within their career fields, several Sailors are not. Most notably, the IJC Post Office is run by a team of Sailors, including Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Jarvis Wright, Gas System Technician (Mechanical) 3rd Class Jeremy Rodriguez, Logistics Specialist 3rd Class Marc Robles and Aviation Electronics Technician 3rd Class Richard Bullock.

The IJC is the operational command responsible for NATO operations throughout Afghanistan and was established at the North Kabul International Airport military complex in October 2009. Currently, more than 4,500 U.S. Navy personnel are deployed to Afghanistan, with approximately 1,500 of those Sailors in country as individual augmentees.

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