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Wailuku native serving aboard USS Oscar Austin

A 2010 Baldwin High School graduate and Wailuku native is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Oscar Austin.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Clyde Cabico is a radioman aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer operating out of Norfolk, Va.

A Navy radioman is responsible for the network and off-ship communications.

“I enjoy the process it takes for a ship to receive internet and outside communication via satellite,” said Cabico. “Providing this capability means communication for our sailors back home to their families, and families are our backbone.”

Commissioned in August of 2000, USS Oscar Austin measures approximately 500 feet and is powered by four gas turbines that allow the destroyer to achieve over 30 mph in open seas. Destroyers are tactical multimission surface combatants capable of conducting anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare, as well as humanitarian assistance. Fast, maneuverable and technically advanced, destroyers provide the required war-fighting expertise and operational flexibility to execute any tasks overseas.

With a crew of over 300 sailors, jobs are highly specialized and keep each part of the destroyer running smoothly, according to Navy officials. The jobs range from washing dishes and preparing meals to maintaining engines and handling weaponry.

“I get to travel around the world,” said Cabico. “While aboard this ship I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Spain, France, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Seychelles and the Bahamas.

“Serving in the Navy means to me sacrifice. I saw service in the Navy as something much bigger than me, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

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