By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (SW) Patrick Grieco
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 2nd Class (AW/SW) Joshua Mendez went to school to become a barber. By the time he was 19, his career plans changed and he decided to join the Navy.
Mendez says he never expected to assume a position of leadership in the Navy, but a few months after joining he was on that trajectory, serving aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) in Yokosuka, Japan.
“I was 20 then, and I didn’t know what to do,” says Mendez. “I could feel it. I’m not in America anymore. The currency, food, language, personalities, everything was different. My first thought was ‘what have I got myself into,’ but my people were waiting for me and guided me through the ship.”
“I’ll never forget meeting my [chief petty officer] for the first time and the speech he gave me about hard work and promotion.”
Mendez’s chief equated hard work and promotion to working at a fast-food restaurant. The employee may start out on the bottom rung of the ladder swabbing decks until working his way up to cashier, manager and eventually supervisor.
Mendez says the qualities his parents instilled in him-respect and professionalism at all times-make it easy for him to live up to what his chief taught him about work ethic and motivation. After arriving aboard Pre-commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), he put those traits to use and quickly became the leader Air Department Sailors look to for training on some of the ship’s newest systems, including the Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG).
“We need to get people qualified on EMALS and AAG; that’s our focus,” says Mendez. “I know it’s going to help us and I’m committed to that.”
“He’s the consummate professional; everything he does is above reproach,” says Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuels) 1st Class John Quillin, Air Department’s career counselor. “In our office, it’s all about customer service and making sure Sailors are where they are supposed to be and are taken care of. We don’t ever have to question anything that he does as far as ethics or morals; he’s an outstanding Sailor.”
Mendez, whose daily routine also includes coordinating college courses, liberty requests and temporary duty orders, was recognized in February as Gerald R. Ford’s Petty Officer of the Quarter. Mendez plans to keep pushing forward, assuming greater responsibility within the command before eventually returning to Florida to inspire high school students to follow his lead.
“I’m determined to make [first class petty officer] before I leave this command and become a recruiter back in Florida,” he says. “It’s another opportunity to be a role model. There’s so much the Navy can offer. I’m about to start college next month for transportation and logistics. I never thought I’d come into the military and like I said, I love cutting hair, but everything happens for a reason.”
