Helping To Keep USCGC Stone Running
by U.S. Coast Guard PO2 Kate Kilroy
August 22, 2026 Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class (PO3) Dabney Walden didn't expect the Coast Guard to change how she sees herself. Petty Officer 3rd Class (PO3) Hunter Conner didn't expect it to hand him a foundation to build a life on. Both found more than they enlisted for aboard the Legend-class national security cutter USCGC Stone (WMSL 758). 
June 2026 - (Left) U.S. Coast Guard PO3 Dabney Walden, on the deck national security cutter USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) ... (Right) U.S. Coast Guard PO3 Hunter Conner cleans the engine room of national security cutter USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) with other out of scene members of the main propulsion team ... while the USCGC Stone was off the coast of Virginia during Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250. (Image created by USA Patriotism! from U.S. Coast Guard photos by PO2 Kate Kilroy.)
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Walden, a storekeeper, could have reported to Stone when the cutter returned to port. Instead, she reported early to sail with the crew for Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250 and keep them supplied through all of it. She said she didn't always carry herself the way she does now, and she didn't think she did well in school, but she has excelled in the Coast Guard, learning from its core values and treating people the way she wants to be known for treating them. As a storekeeper, she buys and tracks the parts, gear, and supplies the cutter runs on, and gets them aboard before the crew needs them. She has a heart for service, for listening to people and being there for them, and the work lets her live that out.
"I've seen how much I've grown as a person," Walden said. "I want to think of myself in a positive way, and the Coast Guard helps me do that."
Conner grew up working on engines. He and his grandfather restored a 1940s Ford F1 truck together. He graduated high school six months early and left for boot camp a month later, while his friends were still finishing their senior year. He came aboard Stone as a non-rate, earned his machinery technician rating, and still turns wrenches today, keeping the cutter running through the exercise and everything after it.
"Something always needs to be worked on," Conner said, "and that's how I like it."
Stationed in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, Conner bought his first house this year and plans to begin classes at American Military University when Stone returns to port.
One buys the parts. The other installs them. Members like Walden and Conner push Stone forward and let the cutter carry out its missions at sea.
FLEETEX 250 represents the United States' commitment to layered defense of the homeland through forward-deployed forces and reinforces interoperability with allies and partners through collective maritime security.
Stone is a Legend-class national security cutter in the Coast Guard fleet, homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. Stone operates under U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area, based in Portsmouth, Virginia, which oversees Coast Guard operations east of the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf. U.S. Coast Guard | U.S. Coast Guard Academy | Coast Guard Gifts | U.S. Department of Homeland Security | |
