A DeLand voice from the Arabian Sea

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Feb 19, 2009 - 7:20:59am

Meet Dan Wimberley of DeLand and the U.S. Navy. Wimberley is serving aboard the USS Monterey, a Navy cruiser that is part of the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group that is providing support to air operations over Afghanistan.

The Monterey is responsible for protecting the Roosevelt, and Wimberley carries a large responsibility for protecting both ships.

"We're in charge and tasked with ID'ing all air contacts," Wimberley said, speaking to The Beacon from his ship in the Arabian Sea Feb. 10.

He described the Monterey as a "guided-missile ship."

Wimberley's rank, "FC2," means fire controlman. That's a person skilled in electronics and computers.

According to the U.S. Navy, "FCs operate, maintain and repair the electronic, computer and control mechanisms used in weapons systems."

Along with electronics technicians, FCs are responsible for maintaining the ship's readiness for combat operations.

Wimberley is a work-center supervisor, overseeing both FCs and electronics technicians. He cross-trained them so they can readily handle trouble calls.

Now 32, Wimberley joined the Navy in 2001, following in his father Dan's footsteps.

The Navy family settled in DeLand, where the younger Dan Wimberley attended George Marks Elementary School, DeLand Middle School, and DeLand High School.

"I spent most of my life in DeLand," he said.

Wimberley's first job was in DeLand, at Won Lee Restaurant.

He finished high school in Indiana, where his dad had relocated the family to take a job.

The family moved back to DeLand after a couple of years, and Wimberley's parents still live here.

"I enjoy my job," he said. "I've enjoyed the Navy."

Wimberley is preparing to re-enlist, and foresees a 20-year stint in the Navy.

Life aboard a small ship, away from home

In the meantime, what's it like living on a 567-foot-long, 55-foot-wide ship, with around 350 other crew members?

"It's close quarters," Wimberley said. "Everyone looks after each other, and there's a lot of camaraderie."

He's had some great experiences.

In October, the Monterey visited Cape Town, South Africa. The Theodore Roosevelt was the first U.S. carrier to visit the port since 1968, and the welcome was enthusiastic.

"The whole city was so excited," Wimberley said.

His ship sailed around the Cape of Good Hope when it left port, another amazing experience for the DeLandite, and the ship sailed across the equator.

Without the opportunities provided by the Navy, Wimberley would never have been able to do that, he said, or to visit Norway, Germany, Latvia and Greece — or many ports of call.

The food aboard the Monterey is "not too bad," Wimberley said, and sometimes the hot water goes out.

What Wimberley misses most is his wife, Sandra. The couple are newlyweds, married since August.

Sandra, who lives in Virginia Beach, Va., where the couple met, said this is their second deployment together. The first was in 2005. She flew to Italy to see the love of her life.

Wimberley proposed to her at the Coliseum in Rome, then had to run to join his ship, serving in the Mediterranean.

Wimberley said most deployments last six months, but this one on the Monterey is longer – seven or eight months. He expects to come back stateside in the spring, for shore duty as a Navy recruiter in San Francisco.

He said it will be great to sleep at home, in his own bed every night. The Wimberleys foresee starting a family before long.

E-mail has been Dan's lifeline to Sandra — "Thank God for that," he said – along with contact with his parents and other folks back home who send care packages.

"It breaks your heart when you leave the pier and see their faces. But when you come back, you see their faces, and it's hard not to get teared up. I'm so excited when we pull in," Wimberley said.

The love and support of family and friends is what keeps Wimberley going, he said. "It keeps me in the military."

Visit the home page of the USS Monterey.

Reporter's note: Special thanks to MC2 Lewis Hunsaker of the Navy Office of Community Outreach for arranging the long-distance telephone interview.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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