Published in the October 19, 2016 edition
ENSIGN Christopher Kent, a Lynnfield native, is serving aboard the USS Barry, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer based in Japan. A Naval Academy graduate, he recently completed his qualification for Surface Warfare Officer. (Hometown News Service)
YOKOSUKA, JAPAN — A 2011 Phillips Academy graduate and Lynnfield native is serving aboard the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52), living and working at the Navy’s forward-deployed base south of Tokyo.
Ensign Christopher Kent is the Communications Officer aboard the destroyer operating out of Yokosuka, Japan which is located approximately 35 miles south of Tokyo and accommodates the United States’ furthest forward-deployed naval forces.
After graduating with a degree in mathematics from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Kent was commissioned as a United States Naval Officer in 2015 and subsequently reported to the USS Barry for his first assignment. As a division officer, he successfully led and provided guidance to a team of sailors who were responsible for all of the destroyer’s external communications and computer network administration. He recently completed the demanding Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) qualification.
An Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the USS Barry is 505 feet long, or more than 1 1/2 football fields. The ship is 66 feet wide, weighs more than 9,000 tons, and its four gas turbine engines can push the ship through the ocean at nearly 35 miles per hour. The USS Barry is the fourth U.S. Navy ship named in honor Commodore John Barry (1745–1803), known as the “Father of the American Navy.”
As an officer with numerous responsibilities and sailors to mentor, Kent said he is proud to serve his country aboard a destroyer in Japan.
“I chose to serve as a forward-deployed officer,” said Kent. “I wanted the challenge and am grateful for the opportunity and the mentorship to rise to this high level of service.”
Kent also said he is proud to continue living the fighting spirit of the Navy, living thousands of miles from home, and protecting America on the world’s oceans.
“I am honored to be carrying on the legacy of the great men and women who have secured freedom for the United States over the past 241 years,” said Kent.
“Barry sailors represent the very best our nation has to offer,” said Cmdr. Jennifer Eaton, the ship’s Commanding Officer. “As a forward-deployed crew, these men and women should be proud of their ability to adapt and flex to an array of situations in the highest of standards they have set. Our motto of ‘Strength and Diversity’ is alive with them and I am personally proud to be a part of their dedication.”
Approximately 35 officers and 265 enlisted men and women make up the ship’s company. Their jobs are highly specialized and keep each part of the $2 billion dollar destroyer running smoothly – this includes everything from washing dishes and preparing meals to maintaining engines and handling weaponry.
Fast, maneuverable, and technically advanced, destroyers provide the required war-fighting expertise and operational flexibility to execute any task overseas. With multi-mission capabilities in surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, anti-air warfare, ballistic missile defense, and humanitarian assistance, Arleigh Burke destroyers, such as the USS Barry, excel as the Navy’s premier fighting warship.
Assigned to U.S. 7th Fleet, USS Barry sailors are on watch continuously throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, acting as America’s first responders in that part of the world. As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most versatile combat ships, Ens. Kent and other crew members understand they are part of a forward-deployed team that is heavily relied upon to help protect and defend America across the world’s oceans.
Ens. Kent is the son of Liz and Bob Kent of Lynnfield and the brother of Suzanne, a student at Tufts University Medical School; Caroline, a sophomore at Northeastern University; and Danny, a sophomore at the Middlesex School in Concord.
His mom recalled that her son always dreamed of serving in the Navy. Previously home-ported in Virginia, the USS Barry shipped out to its present home port in Yokosuka, Japan in January. The Kent family plans to visit Christopher during the Christmas holiday season when the Barry is expected to return to port for the crew’s next extended leave.
U.S. Navy: Why “being there” matters
On this planet, more than 70 percent of which is covered by water, “being there” means having the ability to act from the sea. The Navy is uniquely positioned to be there; the world’s oceans give the Navy the power to protect America’s interests anywhere, and at any time.
The U.S. Navy protects and defends America on the world’s oceans. Navy ships, submarines, aircraft and, most importantly, tens of thousands of America’s finest young men and women are deployed around the world doing just that. They are there now. They will be there when we are sleeping tonight. They will be there every Saturday, Sunday and holiday this year. They are there around the clock, far from our shores, defending America at all times.
