Focus: Why We Fight - What Keeps Me Going

By AWR2 Kaleb Mantela, USN

Deployment is a bag of mixed emotions, depending on who you ask. Few look forward to it. Some turn cold toward their environment and take on a terrible persona. Others delve into work, hoping to block the world out until they reach homeport again. For most, it is a torrent of movies and video games until the ordeal is over. My day on deployment starts inside a coffin-like bed within the steel belly of a ship, surrounded by people with questionable hygiene. The first thing on my docket is a bleary-eyed brief at three-thirty in the morning. It is in those moments, I curse my recruiter for not delving into such details. Next is a breakfast of champions, consisting of hard-boiled eggs, hash browns, and cold oatmeal. I then climb up to the hangar and traverse my way around the tie-down chains to preflight the aircraft. The sheer humidity in the South China Sea makes it feel like I am walking through a sticky fog. After preflight is complete, I am drenched in sweat, sitting in the back of the aircraft, taking off, admiring the sunrise over the ocean.

Depending on the mission, the respite may be momentary. Our crew could spot an adversarial ship on the horizon, with an aircraft of their own being unfolded on the flight deck. Soon after, a belligerent nation’s helicopter plays chicken with us throughout the air, forcing us to bob and weave to avoid near misses. On the surface, that same adversarial boat could perform dangerous maneuvers off our ship’s port and starboard sides. Meanwhile, fourth and fifth-generation fighters could fly off our ship's bow, wings dirty. The cherry on top would be getting a call to run down armed speedboats, charging headlong into unnecessary death as they race toward shipping traffic, but not before rescuing a downed aviator in a ballooned canopy. Finally, by the time noon rolls around, we are back on the deck, ready for chow, and the next crew starts all over again. Of course, this is a slightly exaggerated list of events. Anyone would be lucky to have these events in a single deployment, nonetheless, a single day. Truthfully, what deployment amounts to is one grand routine, with the air detachment trying to synchronize with the ship.

It is hard to say what keeps me motivated while on deployment. One thing that has always inspired me is our involvement with other nations. People are confounded by the intricacies of military operations. Often, when pundits get ahold of something, they are quick to reach conclusions that best fit their worldview. Those worldviews can be critical of the United States, and can even shed a bad light on American service members. The ports and people we come across may have never seen or met an American; they may have heard negative things about us. Therefore, it is paramount to represent the United States positively.

Most of my interactions are through the exercises we perform while being deployed. The usual suspects for allies always come out. However, due to increased angry dictatorial neighbors, nations that once declared neutrality now push their militaries to work alongside ours. It makes me excited to work with those nations, meet those people, and represent the United States in a way that squashes any doubt in our resolve. Seeing their enthusiasm once they figure out that an American warship, touting the battle ensign, is in the distance is a feeling I will always cherish. Having new allies also sends a message to despots that aspire for world domination: their hostilities will not be tolerated. Being a small piece in the bigger picture has an impact, and I can really feel that when we train with our allies.

Being a forward deployed service member in Japan carries its own unique problems. On top of deployments, we return to a port that is not exactly our home. There are certain growing pains such as not speaking the language, adapting to the local culture, and most of all, being away from friends and family. These problems are daunting, and the lifestyle is not for everyone. At our famous Springfest and Bon-Odori events, we open the base to the outside world, giving the public a small taste of what our day-to-day life is like. Surprisingly, I am thanked for my service by the Japanese, and, occasionally, I hear about their desires to immigrate to the United States. Whenever I return home, people are always appreciative and kind toward me because of my military status. It is small gestures expressed toward myself, other service members, and the United States of America that inspire me to keep pushing during those long hours and even longer deployments.