Mountain Home native Anita Gray, serving aboard the Guam-based submarine tender USS Frank Cable, is featured in an article released this week by the Navy Office of Community Outreach. The article notes Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Gray is providing critical maintenance to the U.S. Navy’s submarine force in the Pacific as part of a hybrid crew of sailors and civilian marines working aboard the Frank Cable.
The submarine tender is one of only two such ships in the U.S. Navy. The Frank Cable and its crew provide maintenance and resupply capabilities both in port and at sea.
Gray says she is responsible for electrical safety throughout the ship and performs maintenance on portable electronics and different types of machinery.
She credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Mountain Home.
Gray says she completed Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps in high school and most of her family is in the military, so she was able to ease into the Navy seamlessly.
Guam is also home to four Los Angeles-class attack submarines, Frank Cables primary clients, but the ship can also provide repair and logistic services to other Navy ships like cruisers and destroyers.
The submarine tenders provide maintenance, temporary berthing services and logistical support to submarines and surface ships in the Pacific Ocean as well as the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the
Indian Ocean.
With a crew of more than 600, Frank Cable is 649 feet long and weighs approximately 23,493 tons.
According to officials at the U.S. Navys Pacific Fleet headquarters in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the ships, submarines, aircraft and Navy personnel forward-deployed to Guam are part of the worlds largest fleet command and serve in a region critical to U.S. national security.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet encompasses 100 million square miles, nearly half the Earths surface, from Antarctica to the Arctic Circle and from the West Coast of the United States into the Indian Ocean. All told, there are more than 200 ships and submarines, nearly 1,200 aircraft, and more than 130,000 uniformed and civilian personnel serving in the Pacific.
The integrated crew of sailors and civilian mariners builds a strong fellowship while working alongside each other. The crews are highly motivated, and quickly adapt to changing conditions. It is a busy life of specialized work, watches and drills.
Gray says for her, it is a good way to learn the basics of the job while learning to interact with the different rates and learn about submarines.
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community, and career, Gray is most proud of the work she does and her responsibilities.
She says she puts in a lot of work and transferred between duty sections to complete her Personnel Qualification Standards.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navys most relied upon assets, Gray and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes, one that will provide a critical component of the Navy the nation needs.
Gray says serving in the Navy has helped her widen her horizons and come out of her shell. She says she used to be a shy, timid person, and now she is more confident in herself. The Navy has also helped her support her family financially.
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