Owatonna’s Shadie Brooks Stationed to Navy Missle Cruiser in South China Sea

Stationed in the South China Sea, Sonar Technician (Surface) Seaman Shadie Brooks of Owatonna and Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class Darron Thomas from Ohio are assigned to USS Antietam (CG54), which is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, according to a press release that KRFO received.

In the photo above, they are watching the sonar control center as part of the 7th Fleet area to support the security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.

USS Antietam (CG54) is named after a Civil War battle along the Antie-tam Creek in northwestern Maryland. The battle was in Sharpsburg in 1862, according to the Navy's profile of the cruiser.

According to naval-technology.com, within the years of 1983-94 there have been 27 Ticonderoga Class Aegis Guided Missile Cruisers built in Mississippi and Maine, with 22 now in operations.

From Navy's public information website, the U.S. 7th Fleet has headquarters in Yokosuka, Japan, that operates 70-80 ships and submarines plus 140 aircrafts with 40,000 sailors and marines covering the Pacific and Indian oceans. They are in contact with seven of the 10 largest militaries to maintain defense treaties with Philippines, Australia, Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand.

With 70 percent of our planet covered by water, the U.S. Navy is positioned to protect anywhere, any time, according to a press release sent by Rick Burke from the Navy Office of Community Outreach Media Outreach Department.

Thank you to all our veterans.