Hospitalman Gregory B. Tate, from Abbeville, South Carolina, has been a corpsman in the Navy for more than three years. The son of a retired Navy cryptologic technician, he is currently serving underway on his first deployment aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2).

According to Tate, having the opportunity to experience new things persuaded him to enlist in the Navy.

"The best part of my job is the satisfaction I get knowing that I contribute to helping people day to day, and being able to see the work that I do throughout the ship," he said.

Being one of only two audio technicians aboard Essex, Tate is responsible for conducting audiograms and assisting with the hearing conservation program.

"We have a large amount of Sailors and Marines in the hearing conservation program," he said. "We need to be able to perform audiograms and conduct these tests in order to prevent any hearing loss that may occur in the workplace, and make sure that any hearing loss is documented."

Tate is also the vice president of the the ship's Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions (CSADD).

"CSADD is putting together trainings and events to show Sailors and Marines that there are things that they can do in their free time," he said. "We just try to get them to make non-destructive decisions on and off duty."

Essex is the flagship for the Amphibious Ready Group, and, with the embarked 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

For more news from USS Essex (LHD 2), visit www.navy.mil