Work of valley sailors makes Navy boss proud

Their "gun boss" calls them two of the finest sailors on board the USS Ronald Reagan, the Navy's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier where warplanes launch for the skies over Afghanistan.

Jacqueline Carrizosa and Sara Blouin -- both from the Las Vegas Valley -- enlisted to be at the tip of the Navy's spear. And, that's where the "gun boss," Cmdr. Tom Karney, has them.

"If I had 250 other sailors like them, they'd put me out of a job," Karney said earlier this month, speaking by satellite phone from the Gulf of Oman.

"These sailors are out here standing the watch. It just makes you feel proud to be a part of them," he said.

Having women serve in the ship's 270-member Weapons Department isn't that unusual. They make up 25 percent of that crew and roughly one-fifth of the carrier's 4,500 sailors.

In addition to Carrizosa and Blouin, there are about 10 men from Southern Nevada serving on the USS Reagan.

Nineteen-year-old Carrizosa, of North Las Vegas, operates machine guns and is assigned to teach her shipmates how to use small arms.

"I deal with anything that shoots pretty much and we also protect the magazines on board," said Carrizosa, referring to where ammunition is stored.

She joined the Navy after graduating from Shadow Ridge High School in 2007.

She was attracted by the college benefits that come with enlistment. Her fascination for guns goes back to her childhood when she and her stepfather shot BB guns at oranges in their backyard.

She now handles .50-caliber machine guns and is an expert at firing 9mm pistols and M-16 rifles.

She hasn't had to pull the trigger yet on someone in combat. However, the aircraft carrier did have an encounter with an approaching boat during its months at sea.

"We had to fire flares one time for a warning," she said. "It got me amped. My blood was pumping a bit."

She's "very tough," too, said spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Ron Flanders. A gunner's mate third class, Carrizosa won the ship's pull-up competition for women with 17 and has her sights set on advancing to special operations.

Like Blouin, he said she welcomes the responsibility that comes with bullets and bombs.

"Both are warriors in every sense," Flanders said.

Blouin, 22, who is a 2005 Las Vegas High School graduate, makes sure that bombs and missiles are delivered on time by elevator from the ship's "bomb farm." She inspects them, gets them to the right planes for mounting, and ensures they will work if needed.

"I get a lot of satisfaction out of my job. I am proud to serve in the military and I know that at the end of the day I'm doing my part to help troops on the ground," she said.

Blouin said she joined the Navy for travel, adventure and to get an education. She is the first in her family to join the military and did so at the urging of her mother, Linda Getz, who told her that's what she'd do if she had the chance.

That's how Blouin found herself at the Navy's Great Lakes boot camp the week after her 18th birthday, training to be an aviation ordnanceman.

"I thought it would be something that I couldn't do anywhere else," Blouin said. "It would be a good opportunity to have something cool to tell my kids later down the road."

She was on the maiden deployment of the USS Reagan in December 2005 and has seen much of the world including Hong Kong, Guam, Australia, Japan, Korea and the Balkans.

"I've seen wild dolphins," Blouin said. "Every day is something new."

On deck, her job is rewarding. "I feel like I carry my weight. I do my job just like any man could so I feel I get respect because of that," she said.

Blouin does think about what happens after a warplane such as an F/A-18 Hornet drops a 500-pound bomb on a target.

"You can pray for world peace but if it were between not dropping (ordnance) and many of our men dying, I'd rather it goes where it goes," she said.

Blouin believes the war in Afghanistan can be won.

"I think that with the planning and with the brains and brawn on our side, the war is definitely winnable," she said. "I measure victory by a stable nation and having my brothers and sisters in arms at home where they should be, taking care of their families."

Both women know that life at sea means working long hours and spending many months away from family and friends.

That can be difficult, Carrizosa said. Having been gone a year from home, she said she misses riding her dirt bike in the desert, her friends "and swimming in the summer heat and walking down the Strip."

Karney, the carrier's "gun boss," said he's inspired by their dedication for "doing what they're doing to serve their country."

"They're both outstanding sailors," he said. "I can see these ladies becoming chief petty officers or officers in the U.S. Navy. They both have unlimited potential."

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.