For many junior Sailors that are new to the fleet and have never deployed, the idea of being thousands of miles away from their family and home in the middle of the ocean can be very nerve-wracking. Many have no idea what to expect or how to get through it.

“I was scared,” said Chief Boatswain’s Mate Andre Wilkes, assigned to Beach Master Unit (BMU) 1, as he recalls his first deployment back in 1999. “I was newly married and I was nervous.  I was genuinely nervous.”

Wilkes said the one thing that helped him get through his deployment the most was the people on the ship around him.

“It comes back to the people you’re with,” said Wilkes. “We’re all missing our families at home so we all had to find ways to make the time go by. We all helped each other through it. If somebody was having problems at home it was like we all came together to help this person. I still carry that mentality with me today.”

Wilkes said the biggest thing that helped him each day was finding and creating a daily routine that worked for him.

“You just have to find a routine that makes the days pass by,” said Wilkes. “For me, I get up and go to the gym early in the morning. After that, I check my emails and then go to work. I just try to find ways to occupy my time.”

Similar to Wilkes, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Kimberly Herbert, a Sailor aboard the Harpers Ferry-class amphibious dock-landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), said having a routine and finding ways to improve yourself was a great way to get through deployment.

“Yes, you miss your family terribly but as long as you try to stay busy and don’t always think about them, you’ll get through it,” said Herbert. “Try to think about the next step and what you’re gonna do. How can I improve myself here to help improve my family back home?”

The better parts of deployment for some Sailors is getting to see different parts of the world.

“The most memorable part of deployment for me was definitely the ports we got to see. We pulled into a few really good ones,  but my favorite port was definitely Saychelles. It was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”

Even though deployment comes with ups and downs, it’s helpful to make the most out of each situation.

“There was this one time when we were on the small craft action team for 24 hours, so we had 12 hour shifts,” said Herbert. “Me and my really good friend Ellis were on the fo’c’sle, and we couldn’t go to the gym because we were on 24 hour rotations. To get in our gym time, we started just doing squats and situps right there.”

After the mission is completed and the ship returns from deployment, Sailors can look back and cherish the memories they made along the way.

“When you come home, it does not feel like you were gone,” said Herbert. “Looking back on my deployment I can’t even remember some of it because it went by so fast. I mostly just remember all the good times I had and the memories I made.”

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