Fireman Stephen Martin, a native of Villa Rica, Georgia, serves the U.S. Navy aboard USS Frank Cable. Martin graduated from Villa Rica High School in 2021.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Villa Rica.
“I learned how to work with my hands and build things,” said Martin. “I’m going to take the skills that I’m continuing to develop here to start my own business in the future. I want to either go into welding or carpentry.”
Martin joined the Navy three years ago. Today, Martin serves as a hull technician.
“I joined to follow in my family’s footsteps,” said Martin. “My great-grandparents and grandparents served. I looked up to them and I wanted to make them proud.”
Frank Cable, an expeditionary submarine tender manned by a hybrid crew of sailors and civilian mariners, provides critical maintenance capabilities to the U.S. Navy’s submarine force in the Pacific.
Frank Cable’s primary clients are the four Los Angeles-class attack submarines homeported in Guam, but the ship can also provide repair and logistic services to other Navy ships like cruisers and destroyers. The submarine tenders provide maintenance, temporary berthing services and logistical support to submarines and surface ships in the Pacific Ocean as well as the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.
With a crew of more than 600, Frank Cable is 649 feet long and weighs approximately 23,493 tons.
With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea fiber optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of America.
Martin serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security.
“We will earn and reinforce the trust and confidence of the American people every day,” said Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations. “Together we will deliver the Navy the nation needs.”
Martin has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during military service.
“The second month I got here, I got to earn a swim qualification above the Marianas Trench,” said Martin. “Not a lot of people can say they went swimming in the deepest part of the ocean in the world.”
Martin can take pride in serving America through military service.
“It’s about doing something honorable,” said Martin. “Not a lot of people can or get to do it. I’ve got deep family roots in the military, so it’s an honor for me to continue that.”
Martin is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank my family – my parents and siblings,” added Martin. “They’ve been supporting me the whole way through, to this day.”
As seen on https://navyoutreach.blogspot.com/2024/05/villa-rica-native-supports-navys.html
