LV sailor leads refueling team on Navy assault ship

Dick Benoit

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003 | 8:37 a.m.

A 23-year-old Las Vegas sailor leads a flight deck aircraft refueling team on the Navy multi-purpose assault ship USS Boxer, which has just completed its longest ever deployment. Navy Airman Robert E. Atkinson, son of Robert Atkinson of Las Vegas, is a key member of a crew of more than 800 sailors and nearly 2000 Marines that deployed for 190 days in the global war on terrorism. It was the longest deployment in the ship's history.

The Boxer's weapons include CH53E Super Stallion helicopters that carry Marines to the fight and AV8 Harrier jets that provide close air support for the Marines.

The flight deck of a ship like Boxer can be very confusing during air operations, with the movement of men aircrews, troops, maintenance personnel, aircraft and equipment, but it is all a choreographed ballet placed and propelled with precision. The Boxer was involved in various missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom, including the night rescue of former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch.

"I feel that this is the best time to serve my country," said Atkinson, an aviation boatswain's mate and two-year Navy veteran. "I joined the Navy two weeks after Sept. 11. Those events motivate me in everything I do," he said.

Scholarships

The Defense Commissary Agency's annual student scholarship application drive began this month and runs through Feb. 18. Children of active-duty, retired, Guard and Reserve members can apply for $1,500 academic scholarships for the 2004 academic year.

In four years, the Defense Commissary Agency program has awarded nearly $2.5 million in scholarships to about 1,500 children of U.S. service members and retirees. The agency's goal is to award at least one scholarship at every commissary location, depending on the number of qualified applicants and funding, said Kay Kennedy, chief of corporate communications for the agency.

Funding comes from manufacturers and suppliers whose products are sold at military commissaries, Kennedy said. The Fisher House Foundation is also underwriting the program's administrative costs.

Last year 550 scholarship recipients were selected from 6,500 applicants. For more information about the scholarship program and application procedures, visit the program's website (militaryscholar.org).

In brief