Pacific Islander Excels on TACRON 11's Western Pacific Deployment
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS060713-14
Release Date: 7/13/2006 9:43:00 PM
By Lt. Elizabath Pimper, Tactical Air Control Squadron 11 Public Affairs
USS PELELIU, At Sea (NNS) -- A USS Pelleliu (LHA 5) Sailor has excelled during Tactical Air Control Squadron (TACRON) 11’s Western Pacific deployment this summer.
Peleliu Executive Officer Cmdr. Jerry Hendrix said Air Traffic Controller 2nd Class Rizalina Pedro is a “consummate professional.
“She makes time to train the junior controllers and constantly strives to better herself and the rest of the detachment,” said Hendrix.
Besides training her shipmates, Pedro has also earned two designators, Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist (EAWS) and Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS). A junior tactical supervisor in her career field, Pedro has a reputation for keeping her team in line and focusing on the challenges ahead.
“I always learn something when I stand watch with Pedro,” said Air Traffic Controller 3rd Class Adam Stabler. “She not only takes time to train us while on station, she spends a lot of time after working hours studying with us for rating exams and qualification boards.”
Pedro joined the Navy in 1999 after taking a routine entrance exam administered during high school in her homeland, which is about 300 miles north of Peleliu in the Federated States of Micronesia, part of the Caroline Island chain.
“I took the test with my fellow classmates and didn't think anything of it,” she said. “In a couple weeks, I found out that my brother and I passed the test, and we were asked to fly to Guam to be recruited into the Navy.”
She and her brother were two of just 10 people selected from the nearby islands each year. When she and her brother flew to boot camp in January 1999, it was their first time stepping foot on soil in the continental United States. Being the first in her family to move off the island was a challenge for Pedro.
Pedro said there have been some challenges along the way, including speaking English, her second language.
“Having Yapese as a native language made everything more challenging,” she said. “It's one of the reasons why I chose to strike to [the air traffic controller rating] because I figured it would help me speak with more confidence.”
She said she knows her experience in the Navy and knowledge of two languages will make her marketable as a civilian air traffic controller, although at this point, she’s not sure if she’ll return to work in the Pacific Islands.
Pedro said she never expected to deploy on a ship with a history like Peleliu, which is named in honor of the Third Amphibious force's assault and capture of Peleliu Island in the fall of 1944. This battle was one of the most vicious and stubbornly contested of the Pacific campaign, with eight Marines awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions, five posthumously. This is the second U.S. Navy ship to honor the memory of the World War II battles fought in the Palau Islands.
For related news, visit the Commander, Amphibious Force, U.S. 7th Fleet Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/ctf76/.
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