Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 11-13-18

Military
Serves Aboard Future
Navy Warship
Alysia Lance, founder of She’X- cellence, hosted an Empowerment Summit aimed at women on Septem- ber 22, 2018.
The event, held at the Palm River Embassy Suites, featured speakers, luncheon and fashion show.
The opening prayer was by Min- ister Glenda Williams and a wel- come message from Mrs. Lance. She expressed gratitude to her hus- band, Tobias Lance, Ann Tucker, Diamon Reed, and Rosaland Kenon for the assistance they pro- vided to make the event successful. (Photos by Julia Jackson)
Minister Selina Bogan spoke during the workshop on Healthy Living.
MARINETTE, WI - A Clearwater resident has been assigned to serve on a future Navy Warship. Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Branch is serving aboard the future USS Sioux City, a littoral combat ship homeported in Mayport, Florida.
Chief Branch is a native of Clearwater and a 1996 graduate of Clearwater Cen- tral Catholic High School. He is the first in his family to join the military.
Chief Branch is a Fire Controlman. He is responsi- ble for operation, mainte- nance and troubleshooting of the ship’s weapon systems.
Sioux City is a Freedom variant littoral combat ship that is a resilient flexible war- ship, designed from the keel up to affordably take on new capabilities – from the most advanced sensors, to the lat- est missiles, to cutting-edge cyber systems. Its speed, strength and versatility make
CHIEF PETTY OFFICER JONATHAN BRANCH
it a critical tool to help our Sailors achieve the mission.
Littoral combat ships are a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, while capable of open-ocean tasking, and win against 21st- century coastal threats such as submarines, mines, and swarming small craft.
The warship will be offi- cially placed into active serv- ice on November 17th during a commissioning ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.
Mr. and Mrs. Tobias (Alysia) Lance, founder and hostess of the Ladies’ Empowerment Summit.
Minister Glenda Williams offered a powerful open- ing prayer.
Local
Clearwater Native
She’Xcellence Ladies Empowerment Summit
Plant City Native
Trains As A U. S. Navy
Surface Warrior
NEWPORT, R.I. – Lt. Joshua McColister applied the lessons learned from Plant City, to become one of the most elite surface war- riors.
Those lessons turned into an opportunity to learn lead- ership and the most innova- tive tactics of surface warfare at Surface Warfare Officers School, located in Newport, Rhode Island.
Considered one of the Navy’s greatest assets, sur- face warfare officers must first train and be mentored at Surface Warfare Officer School. These students must pass a rigorous course struc- ture in order to serve as sur- face warfare officers.
The mission of Surface Warfare Officers School is to ready sea-bound warriors to serve on surface combatants as officers, enlisted engi- neers, and enlisted naviga- tion professionals to fulfill the Navy’s mission maintaining global maritime superiority.
Once training is com-
LT. JOSHUA McCOLISTER
pleted, they are deployed around the world putting their skill set to work aboard Navy ships, such as aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, amphibious warfare ships, mine warfare ships and lit- toral combat ships.
Lt. McColister gradu- ated from C. Leon King High School in 2007. He continued his education at the Univer- sity of South Florida, and graduated in 2011. He also earned a master’s degree from the University of South- ern California in 2018.
He is continuing a family tradition of military service.
Pastor Zhenya (Pastor Zee) was also one of the speakers.
Sheryl Jordan-Clark was one of the mod- els.
PAGE 8 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2018