Sailor in the Spotlight

Name: CS2 Michael Colburn Department: Executive Transport Detachment Hometown: Naples, FL

Naval Air Station Sigonella has a wide variety of tenant commands, 37 to be exact. This week’s Sailor in the Spotlight works in the Executive Transport Detachment Sigonella. One standout Sailor there is Culinary Specialist Second Class Michael Colburn, from Naples, Florida. Colburn works in the operations and safety departments within ETD.

ETD Sigonella’s mission is to provide airborne command and control communications and VIP travel services for Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Commander, Joint Forces Command Naples and staff, foreign dignitaries, and other Department of Defense and North Atlantic Treaty Organization personnel.

Colburn gets the opportunity to do the thing that most surface rates do not get the chance to do, and that is actually fly in Navy planes. Surface rates are usually billeted to ships or on the ground at a shore duty station.

“A normal work day for me depends on what’s going on,” said Colburn. “If we are going flying, then I have to show up for the pre-flight brief, help prepare the plane, as well as cook and prepare food they need for the flight.”

When he’s not flying, Colburn spends his days working on the flight schedule. His daily work also includes tasks such as booking hotel rooms and making orders.

Along with his normal daily work routine, Colburn’s collateral duties include serving as the assistant TSP coordinator and assistant urinalysis program coordinator. He is also in charge of the special inflight mess as well, so he prepares all the audits and deals with all the money needed to operate.

Culinary specialist daily routines can be very different depending on what command they are attached to.

“I am at a flag command right now, and I have been at flag commands my whole career,” said Colburn. “Right now I cook for about 16 people. On a ship you could be cooking for a couple hundred people or even thousands.”

Colburn has been in the Navy for about six years, and Sigonella is his 3rd command. Before coming here, he was assigned to Carrier Strike Group 10 out of Norfolk, VA and he served in Bahrain.

Colburn said he joined the Navy originally because he didn’t want to go college, although now he is currently enrolled in college at University of Maryland University College on NAS I.

In addition to pursuing academics in his spare time, Colburn also loves the Sicilian beach scene.

“My favorite part about Sicily is the beach,” said Colburn. “I live on the beach, I basically hang on the beach everyday. Also I like to go snowboarding in the winter.”