Airman Nicholas Romero, United States Navy Naval Aircrewman.
Photo by Dusty Good.
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Editor’s Note: Usually, this blog devotes space every July to recalling the gallantry and sacrifice Americans made in 1863 during the Battles of Gettysburg but when we noticed the following article we realized we needed to thank those who are working today to make our nation the best and the safest. It is a well-done article about one dedicated sailor stationed in the middle of America’s heartland—miles from any ocean. His story deserves our attention.
GUEST BLOG / By Lt. Cmdr. Gustav Hein, Navy Office of
Community Outreach—Airman Nicholas
Romero is based in Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. He and other sailors are there to support the
nation’s nuclear deterrence mission.
Romero, a 2014 Horizon
Christian Academy graduate and Chula Vista, CA native, is a Navy naval
aircrewman (avionics) serving with the Center for Naval Aviation Technical
Training Detachment Tinker, a versatile command capable of providing
maintenance training, centralized student management and support to E-6B
Mercury aviation squadrons consisting of VQ-3 and VQ-4 in the execution of
their training responsibilities.
Technical and vital to this
nation’s defense but it doesn’t give Airman Romero much time on the beach. But he’s not complaining Romero credits
success in the Navy to many of the lessons he learned growing up in Chula
Vista.
“I learned to be flexible and
adaptive,” said Romero. “It is very fast paced and you have got to be ready for
anything.”
Romero is responsible for
performing maintenance on the communication and electronic systems during the
mission.
And that mission stems from
the original 1961 Cold War order is known as ‘Take Charge and Move Out!’ Adapted
as TACAMO and now the command’s nickname, today, the men and women of TACAMO
continue to provide a survivable communication link between national decision
makers and the nation’s nuclear weapons.
The commander-in-chief issues
orders to members of the military who operate nuclear weapons aboard
submarines, aircraft or in land-based missile silos. Sailors aboard TACAMO E-6
Mercury aircraft provide the one-of-a-kind and most-survivable communication
needed for this critical mission.
“Its very team oriented and
everyone has a high level of responsibility which encourages every crew member
to do their best,” said Romero.
The Navy's presence aboard an
Air Force base in the middle of America may seem like an odd location given its
distance from any ocean; however, the central location allows for the
deployment of aircraft to both coasts and the Gulf of Mexico on a moment’s
notice. This quick response is key to the success of the nuclear deterrence
mission.
“It means training every day so that we can be prepared for the worst case scenario, which we hope never
happens,” said Romero.
Sailors serving from
America’s heartland take pride in the vital mission they support as well as the
nuclear deterrence they help provide.
“Serving in the Navy means
sacrificing my time and effort so that other Americans can enjoy their freedom
and liberties,” said Romero.
So next time you’re in
Oklahoma and see a sailor you’ll know why he or she is there.
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