Green Valley High graduate has key role on Navy destroyer

By Adwoa Fosu

Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015 | 2:25 p.m.

A Henderson native is serving his country aboard the Navy destroyer the USS Fitzgerald in Japan.

Ensign Michael Boushy, a 2009 graduate of Green Valley High School, is serving as the combat equipment division officer of the destroyer, which is stationed in Yokosuka, 35 miles south of Tokyo.

On a ship with a company of 40 officers and 260 enlisted men, Boushy's duties include supervising the sailors who work on the communications and weapons equipment that keep the ship running smoothly.

“My favorite thing about serving aboard this ship is the camaraderie and being able to see things that I wouldn’t normally get to see,” Boushy said.

The USS Fitzgerald, which was named after the late Navy Cross recipient and Vietnam War hero Lt. William Charles Fitzgerald, is 505 feet long and would span the length of more than one and a half football fields.

Its four gas turbine engines push the 9,200-ton ship through the ocean at speeds of up to 35 mph.

Each sailor on board has a highly specialized job, from washing dishes to maintaining engines.

“Fitzgerald sailors represent every state in the union as well as a diversity of ethnicities," said Chris England, the ship's commanding officer. "It is an honor to lead and serve with the finest sailors the nation has to offer.”

Boushy and his comrades also have the task of acting as America's first responders throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, a job which opens up a lot of travel possibilities.

“The Navy has given me the opportunity to explore both myself and the world,” Boushy said.