|
Growing Up On The Sea
by U.S. Navy MC3 Isaak Martinez
November 1, 2021
Sailors sometimes join the Navy as a
tradition or to find new experiences. They may have prior enlisted
family or friends, or not come from a military background
whatsoever.
In the case of Operations Specialist Seaman
Jordan Massey, his father’s 20-plus years of naval experience
reflected onto him in the best of ways.
|
October 5, 2021 - Operations Specialist Seaman Jordan Massey
on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) during flight operations. Essex and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Isaak Martinez)
|
Retired Chief Warrant Officer Troy Massey
enlisted in February of 1994 as an operations specialist and rose
through the ranks as a chief petty officer before being commissioned
as a chief warrant officer in 2008. In 2002, Jordan Massey, his
second son, was born and would come to learn and grow fond of his
father’s ever-growing career and follow in his footsteps.
“Growing up, I was very close with my father,” explained Massey,
“So, I understood what was going on with him more and that has
helped shape me to the person I am today in the Navy. I expected a
lot of what is happening to me now in my career, and my dad’s job
gave me a good foundation of who I am today in regards to position
and overall expectations.”
Massey explained he understood
the Navy lifestyle from his fathers multiple deployments. “The main
thing I took away was to always be respectful. Especially when my
dad was gone, I was feeling alone a lot of the time, but knowing it
was not permanent and that it only lasted six or seven months. Once
he was back, I knew he would be all in. He made me realize the
things I might be going through aren’t permanent.”
Further
understanding his father’s career, Massey is still deciding what to
do with his own. “I’m asking myself if I really want to do this
since it is my first deployment. But if I stay in [the military], my
goal is to beat my dad. My dad has 20-plus years in the Navy, and I
joke to him about it all the time that I will do better than he did,
but I really have a long way to go.”
With the teachings of
his father, Massey saw what attributes his father exhibited the most
... how successful and how caring he is.
|
The Massey family reunites after now retired Chief Warrant
Officer Troy Massey's returns from a deployment on August
15, 2004. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Operations
Specialist Seaman Jordan Massey)
|
"He takes what he has learned and gives it
to me knowing I’m in the same position he was. Doing that shows that
he cares about me and makes me feel like he wants me to do better.
I’ve taken a lot of his advice, and it’s really helped me the past
six-and-a-half months. I think I’ve come a long way with my
qualifications and knowing what an operations specialist does, and I
have my dad to thank for it all,” Jordan Massey explains proudly.
“I could not have done it without him. Joining the Navy was one
of the hardest things I have done leaving so much behind back home.
Without his support, knowledge and motivation, there was no way I
could do it all. If he was here, on the boat, I would tell him,
‘thank you.’”
U.S. Navy | U.S. Navy Gifts | U.S.
Department of Defense
Our Valiant Troops |
I Am The One |
Veterans |
Citizens Like Us
|
|
