Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Jacksonville offers built-in logistics companies for new ship building in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the place Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) was constructed by Huntington Ingalls Industries.
The Navy accepted supply of PCU Higbee on Nov. 30. To put together for that milestone, navy and civilian logisticians assigned to the FLC generated over 17,700 preliminary requisitions valued at greater than $16.9 million. They outfitted the ship with 97.13% of its allowed materials checklist to make sure that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer is prepared for sea. This exceeds the provision readiness goal established by NAVSUP and Naval Sea Systems Command.
But it wasn’t simply enterprise as typical with this specific ship for a number of the NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville ladies who participated in its preparation. They really feel a part of the Higbee legacy.
Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee emigrated from Canada to the United States and have become a pioneer in Navy nursing, receiving the Navy Cross for her distinguished service combating the Spanish flu throughout World War I. She was the primary ladies to have a U.S. Navy warship named for her, and DDG 123 is the second destroyer to bear her identify.
Nurses had been the primary ladies to serve within the U.S. Navy, starting with the official institution of the Navy Nurse Corps in May 1908. Higbee was one of many unique 20 Navy nurses often known as the Sacred Twenty. She served because the second superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps throughout World War I and is credited with shaping the younger group and increasing it from 160 to 1,300 nurses.
Higbee’s story resonated with Yineiry “Genie” Ducre, who serves because the DDG Platform Manager for the FLC in Pascagoula. Like Higbee, Ducre is an immigrant and located a brand new house within the U.S. Navy. As a feminine Navy pioneer, Higbee opened the door for ladies like Ducre to have roles within the Navy.
“For me personally, it’s an honor. Like her, I was also an immigrant. My family came from the Dominican Republic, and I joined the U.S. Navy,” Ducre stated.
“I feel like I’ve come full circle, I started my Navy career at 17 years old serving aboard the destroyer USS Mahan (DDG 72) in the Deck Division as a striker for storekeeper. I arrived aboard the ship two days before the Navy birthday and cut the cake,” she stated “Now, I’m the DDG platform manager.”
Culinary Specialist Senior Chief Lakesia Jackson leads the Fleet Support Team and assists potential provide officers as they set up the Supply Department aboard pre-commissioning unit ships.
“I’ve served on active duty as a culinary specialist in the U.S. Navy for 23 years, and it’s been an honor to work on the future USS Higbee,” Jackson stated. “It’s amazing, my daughter asks me when I go home, ‘What did you do today?’ And it excites me to see her face light up when I explain to her what I do for the Navy to deliver ships to the fleet.”
Analila “Lilli” Tosado is a Navy civilian assigned to the Outfitting Branch. In addition to being an immigrant and Navy veteran, Tosado has a daughter who works in medication.
“My family migrated from Mexico, and I’m the first female in my family to join the military. I’m a retired U.S. Navy storekeeper,” Tosado stated. “My 22-year-old daughter works as a multi-skilled technician in the Medical Telemetry Department at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport. It’s a great honor, the fact that she (Higbee) is a female. For her to be one of the first Navy nurses sets a great example for others to follow.”
The connections proceed. Rita F. Johnson-Amaker is a retired U.S. Army grasp sergeant and works as a purchase order card holder within the Technical Data Branch in Pascagoula. She is accountable for procuring general-use consumable materials for ships. Her aunt at present serves at a U.S. Air Force nurse.
“I feel honored to support a ship named after a female who served during WWI as a Navy nurse. Women have always found ways to serve in the military in one form of another,” Johnson-Amaker stated. “Nursing was one of the first, and it’s a job that’s still in great demand today as it was back then.”
Vanessa Davis is a retired Navy storekeeper who has labored within the Pascagoula Outfitting Branch, although she is at present the LPD platform supervisor.
“For me, it’s full circle from serving on a ship to working on a ship that’s named for a female. As a child, I wanted to join the Navy. Now, I feel proud to be associated with the ship, especially after learning about her,” stated Davis, who has a sister and niece who’re medical technicians. “She’s what I would’ve liked to learn about while I was serving on active duty in the Navy.”
Iris Linder briefly crammed in as appearing DDG platform supervisor whereas Higbee was below building. An Air Force veteran, she has household ties to Navy nursing.
“I retired from the U.S. Air Force with 27 years of honorable service, and have over 30 years of supply experience. It’s an honor to work on this ship and know the trailblazing history behind its namesake,” Linder stated. “I’m also the only female in my family to join the military. My grandmother was a civilian nurse at the Navy base in Mobile and Pensacola, and my daughter recently followed in my footsteps and joined the U.S. Army.”
A century in the past, Higbee retired from the Navy on Nov. 30, 1922. She died in 1941 in Winter Park, Florida, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
This spring, PCU Higbee is scheduled to be commissioned into service at a ceremony in Key West, Florida.
Read extra about Lenah Higbee on the Naval History and Heritage Command: https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/people/namesakes/lenah-higbee.html
NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville is one in every of eight Fleet Logistics Centers below Naval Supply Systems Command. Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, NAVSUP employs a various, worldwide workforce of greater than 22,500 navy and civilian personnel.
Nurse Namesake for New Destroyer Continues to Inspire > United States Navy > News-Stories
Nurse Namesake for New Destroyer Continues to Inspire > United States Navy > News-Stories
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Nurse Namesake for New Destroyer Continues to Inspire > United States Navy > News-Stories