In every walk of life there are people who go above and beyond what's asked of them; who take initiative and use creativity to solve problems others deem unsolvable. Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Daniel Booth, assigned to USS George Washington (CVN 73), is one such person.

Booth is described as a handyman by his shipmates in the V-1 division of Air Department.

"He's pretty much the McGyver of V-1," said Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 3rd Class TimothyJustin Husted. "He brings to the table a lot of creativity, a lot of experience and a new way of doing a lot of different things."

Booth describes himself as the problem solver for V-1.

"If there's something that they need to have fixed and it needs to be done right away, I'm the guy that figures out how we can do it to make it work," said Booth.

According to Booth, his duties as the unofficial handyman of V-1 include everything from changing the red, white and blue light bulbs of the ship's hull number on the island, to making a coffin for a Halloween event aboard. Booth has been developing his skills as a handyman for most of his life.

"All my life I've been learning how to fix things," said Booth. "Before the Navy I was doing construction and they always had me doing special projects. I was always learning different ways to make things work the right way."

Through his experiences, Booth has developed into an innovator.

"I've never seen somebody being so creative with tools," said Husted. "If he doesn't have the tools to complete a job, he comes up with a replacement or knows how to make a tool out of nothing to get the job done, as long as it was safe and usable."

Booth is not just a problem solver for his shipmates in V-1, he's also a mentor.

"He gets people to think out of the box," said Husted. "He educates everybody on how to do things differently, while still being safe."

Mentors like Booth will help train Sailors to be prepared for the ship's demanding schedule during its Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) maintenance period.

Booth is one of many Sailors aboard the George Washington who innovate and find solutions to difficult problems. The creative problem solving of the ship's crew has allowed it to serve honorably for 25 years.

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