By ENSIGN HAN FIORI-PUYU
Navy Office of Community Outreach
BILOXI, MISS.—Los Fresnos native, Senior Chief Petty Officer Juan Arredondo, serves in the U.S. Navy and is assigned to the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit (CNATTU) at Keesler Air Force Base.
Arredondo, stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, graduated from Los Fresnos High School in 2003. Arredondo also earned a bachelor’s degree in marine science from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2009.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those in Los Fresnos.
“My mother instilled the work ethic to make it,” Arredondo said.
Arredondo joined the Navy 19 years ago.
“I joined to pay for college,” Arredondo said. “I was originally intending to do four years and get out. Then I was selected to complete my degree in my first four years in the Navy, and I enjoyed everything I’ve done so far, so I decided to stay.”
Arredondo is currently stationed at CNATTU Keesler, serving on staff and managing sailors at the training command.
Navy aerographer’s mates are experts in meteorology and oceanography who provide environmental information to support Navy missions. They collect, record, and analyze weather and oceanographic information.
CNATTU Keesler is a training command under Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), the Navy’s largest shore command, with more than 24,000 military and staff personnel across more than 624 subordinate activities, sites, talent acquisition groups, stations, and detachments worldwide.
NETC recruits, trains, and delivers those who serve the nation, taking them from “street to fleet” by transforming civilians into highly skilled, operational, and combat-ready warfighters.
Arredondo has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during military service.
“I got to be the first aerographer’s mate to get deployed on a submarine, the USS Missouri, for an anti-submarine mission,” Arredondo said. “The deployment was three months.”
Arredondo serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world, and around the clock, to promote the nation’s prosperity and security.
“It’s family at the end of the day,” Arredondo said. “I was able to go around the world and create family with people that I would’ve never had the opportunities to meet had I not left my hometown.”
This year, the Navy is commemorating its role in the nation’s defense as the United States celebrates 250 years of independence. According to Navy officials, the Navy has sailed the globe for more than 250 years, defending freedom and protecting prosperity.
With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and internet access relying on the security of undersea fiber-optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across America’s rich fabric.
Arredondo is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I would like to thank my wife, San Juanita. I would never have made it this far without her continuous support,” Arredondo said.
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