#gsmc

The hard part....

                                                 ....of being a sailor....

NORFOLK, Virginia (September 20, 2018) -- United States Navy Chief Gas Turbine Systems Technician (Mechanical) [GSMC] Dennis Mottley says goodbye to his family before departing Naval Station Norfolk aboard his guided-missile destroyer, USS Mitscher (DDG 57).

The warship and her crew of almost 300 sailors sailed away from their homeport of Naval Station Norfolk a short while later....for a scheduled deployment, in support of ballistic missile defense, to the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theaters of operations over the months ahead.

They’ll be back home next year....likely by mid-Spring.

(Yeah! It’s a long cruise! Roughly 7 1/2 months. Nearly half a world away....)

                                                *          *          *          *

It all sounds exciting and purposeful....but....then....there’s those loved ones you won’t be hugging for a long time....

And just imagine how alone those wives, husbands, partners, children and parents left behind feel in your absence....so far away....

Life turns upside down....and the trick is for everyone to land on their feet....somehow....a majority do, but too many don’t.

Yeah....that’s the gut-wrenching, heart-rending part of being a sailor. And, the family of a sailor.

It’s a most honorable career (or job)! It’s an incredible adventure! But for many -- maybe, most -- it calls for major personal sacrifice for the sailor, and likely all those closest to them.

                                        ___________________________

>>Top photo: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Wolpert, USN