Seaman Matthew Leroy A 2009 graduate of Howell High School is serving aboard the USS John S. McCain, living and working at a U.S. Navy base in Japan.
Seaman Matthew Leroy, of Howell, is a boatswain’s mate aboard the ship operating out of Japan. Yokosuka is about 35 miles south of Tokyo and accommodates the nation’s farthest forward deployed naval forces.
The John S. McCain, an Arleigh Burkeclass destroyer, is 505 feet long. The ship is 66 feet wide, weighs more than 9,200 tons, and four gas turbine engines can push the ship through the ocean at faster than 30 knots.
The ship is named in honor of two individuals named John McCain. U.S. Naval Academy alumni John Sidney McCain Sr. and his son, John Sydney Jr., both served in World War II and became the first fatherson pair ever to achieve the rank of four-star admiral. They are the grandfather and father, respectively, of U.S. Sen. John Mc- Cain, who himself served as a Navy pilot during Vietnam and achieved the rank of captain.
A 23-year-old with numerous responsibilities, Leroy said he is learning about himself as a leader, a sailor and a person.
“I grew up with a lot of opportunity that I took for granted. The Navy is giving me a chance to help people and give back,” Leroy said.
He said he is proud of the work he is doing as part of the McCain’s 300-member crew, living thousands of miles from home and protecting America on the world’s oceans.
“I enjoy serving with the hope of becoming a pilot one day,” Leroy said.
Assigned to the Navy’s Seventh Fleet and Destroyer Squadron 15, McCain sailors are continuously on watch throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and remain among the nation’s first responders.
After just returning from a four-month patrol, the McCain is already preparing for her next underway period. Routinely assigned to Carrier Strike Group operations, leading new international exercises and representing freedom of the seas in challenged waters, the demand for the John S. McCain has never been higher.
However, despite a demanding overseas tempo, each sailor carefully serves his role in support of America’s Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy.
Approximately 40 officers and 260 enlisted men make up the ship’s company. Their jobs are highly specialized and keep each part of the $2 billion destroyer running smoothly — this includes everything from washing dishes and preparing meals to maintaining engines and handling weaponry.
“Our Navy presence has to be where it matters and we have to be there when it matters. I am so proud and amazed by the knowledge McCain sailors display and the work they do every day,” said Commander Chase Sargeant, the ship’s commanding officer. “Their professionalism, motivation and commitment to the Navy are genuinely inspiring.”
Fast, maneuverable and technically advanced, destroyers provide the required warfighting expertise and operational flexibility to execute any tasking overseas.
With multimission capabilities in surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, anti-air warfare, ballistic missile defense and humanitarian assistance, Arleigh Burke destroyers alike excel as the Navy’s premier fighting warship.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most versatile combat ships, Leroy and other John S. McCain sailors understand they are part of a forward deployed team that is heavily relied upon to help protect and defend America across the world’s oceans.
“The Navy has given me so many opportunities. It taught me how to be a good husband and a responsible adult,” Leroy said.
This article was written by Lt. Carl P. Zeilman of the U.S. Navy Office of Community Outreach.