Chula Vista, California Native Serves Aboard USS Charleston

by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Breeden

26 November 2021 PHILIPPINE SEA (Nov. 26, 2021) – A Chula Vista, California, native and 2009 Hilltop High School graduate is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the deployed Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS 18).

Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Michael A. Hice joined the Navy in 2015 and has been assigned to Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS 18) since 2017.

“I went to college and eventually dropped out, worked a 9 to 5 job at a local clothing store and felt as if I had no direction in my life,” said Hice. “Living in Chula Vista, I saw what the Navy represented; it offered a direction, a sense of stability, and a way to finance my way back into college. I talked to a recruiter and went to bootcamp shortly after.”

As a boatswain’s mate aboard Charleston, Hice’s duties include coordinating with his team on the safe evolutions of the various operations conducted from a littoral combat ship, which include sea and anchor evolutions, helicopter launch and recoveries, rigid hull inflatable boat operations, underway replenishments-at-sea, and the safe handling of the ship and its equipment.

Charleston is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The crew size for this platform is approximately 100 personnel.

“The best part about Charleston is the people, the comradery, and the cultural of growth,” said Hice. “There are a lot of great mentors aboard who’ve helped me grow as a confident Sailor, who have also given me the tools to guide new Sailors.”

Hice has learned a lot and is grateful for being able to serve in the United States Navy.

“I’m the first Sailor within my family and since joining, it’s presented more opportunities for me as well as a stable career,” said Hice. “The Navy has a lifestyle that embodies diversity, patriotism, and a sense of doing something greater than yourself. I’ve learned that you don’t have to sacrifice or suppress who you are to become a Sailor, you just have to become a little more.”

Attached to DESRON 7, Charleston is on a rotational deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the region, and to work alongside allied and partner navies to provide maritime security and stability, key pillars of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

As the U.S. Navy’s destroyer squadron forward-deployed in Southeast Asia, DESRON 7 serves as the primary tactical and operational commander of littoral combat ships rotationally deployed to Singapore, functions as ESG 7’s Sea Combat Commander, and builds partnerships through training exercises and military-to-military engagements.

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