Navy Office of Community Outreach:

San Diego CA— A native of Vista serves the U.S. Navy aboard one of the world’s largest warships, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson.
Seaman Isaac Montoya, a 2017 Rancho Buena Vista High School graduate, joined the Navy one year ago.
“I joined the Navy because I had a child on the way,” Montoya said. “I needed a stable job with benefits in order to provide for my family.”
Today, Montoya serves as a master-at-arms.
Montoya relies upon skills and values from lessons learned in Vista to succeed in the military.
“Growing up, I learned to be mentally tough,” said Montoya. “I learned to push through challenges that may seem too much at the time. I learned that you can make it through anything.”
Homeported in San Diego, USS Carl Vinson is the United States Navy’s third Nimitz-class supercarrier. The ship is named for Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia, in recognition of his contributions to the U.S. Navy.
Aircraft carriers provide unique capabilities and survivability. They are a powerful exhibition of the American Navy’s legacy of innovation, technological evolution, and maritime dominance, according to Navy officials.
Vinson, like each of the Navy’s aircraft carriers, is designed for a 50-year service life. When the air wing is embarked, the ship carries more than 70 attack fighter jets, helicopters and other aircraft — all of which take off from and land aboard the carrier at sea.
With more than 5,000 sailors serving aboard, Vinson is a self-contained mobile airport.
Aircraft carriers are often the first responders in a global crisis because of their ability to operate freely from anywhere on the world’s oceans. Carrier strike groups are uniquely mobile, which makes them far more strategically advantageous than fixed-site bases. No other weapon system can deploy and operate forward with a full-sized, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier’s speed, endurance, agility and the combat capability of its air wing.
Since USS Langley’s commissioning 100 years ago, the nation’s aircraft carriers — such as Vinson — and embarked carrier air wings have projected power, sustained sea control, bolstered deterrence, provided humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and maintained enduring commitments worldwide.
“The aircraft carrier is our U.S. Navy’s centerpiece, our flagship, and a constant reminder to the rest of the world of our enduring maritime presence and influence,” said Rear Adm. James P. Downey, Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers. “These ships touch every part of our Navy’s mission to project power, ensure sea control and deter our adversaries.”
Serving in the Navy means Montoya is part of a world that is taking on new importance in America’s focus on strengthening alliances, modernizing capabilities, increasing capacities and maintaining military readiness in support of the National Defense Strategy.
“The Navy is important to national defense because we have access to most of the world through the oceans,” Montoya said. “We are a deterrent to keep our countries and its allies safe.”
More than 90% of all trade travels by sea, and fiber optic cables on the ocean floor carry 95% of the world’s international phone and internet traffic.
Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity and security of the United States is directly linked to ready sailors and a strong Navy.
“Maintaining the world’s best Navy is an investment in the security and prosperity of the United States, as well as the stability of our world,” said Adm. Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations. “The U.S. Navy — forward deployed and integrated with all elements of national power — deters conflict, strengthens our alliances and partnerships and guarantees free and open access to the world’s oceans. As the United States responds to the security environment through integrated deterrence, our Navy must continue to deploy forward and campaign with a ready, capable, combat-credible fleet.”
Sailors like Montoya, have many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during their military service.
“I haven’t been in the Navy that long, but my proudest Navy accomplishment is making it through master-at-arms school and receiving all the training that we were given,” said Montoya.
As Montoya and other sailors continue to train and perform missions, they take pride in serving their country in the United States Navy.
“Serving in the Navy to me, means being able to provide for my family,” Montoya added. “I also am proud of the ability to keep other people safe in their time of need.”

— By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Bryan Niegel,
Navy Office of Community Outreach

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