By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Steve Watterworth, Navy Office of Community Outreach Photo
Petty Officer 1st Class Sean Hurt is a mass communication specialist in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. (Photo by Dusty Good)
NORFOLK, Va. – A Westfield, Massachusetts, native and 2007 St. Mary’s High School graduate is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush.
Petty Officer 1st Class Sean Hurt is a mass communication specialistaboard the carrier operating out of the Navy’s largest base.
As a mass communication specialist, Hurt is responsible for telling the Navy’s story through photographic, journalistic and video media products.
“My favorite part of this command is getting to mentor junior sailors,” said Hurt.
Named in honor of former President George H.W. Bush, the carrier is longer than three football fields, measuring nearly 1,100 feet. The ship, a true floating city, weighs more than 100,000 tons and has a flight deck that is 252 feet wide. Two nuclear reactors can push the ship through the water at more than 35 mph.
Powerful catapults slingshot the aircraft off the bow of the ship. The planes land aboard the carrier by snagging a steel cable with an arresting hook that protrudes from the rear of the aircraft.
As a sailor with numerous responsibilities, Hurt learns about life at sea serving in the Navy and the importance of taking personal responsibility while leading others while still using lessons learned from their hometown.
“My hometown taught me to always be honest even when the results may not be favorable,” said Hurt.
Sailors’ jobs are highly varied aboard the carrier. Approximately 3,200 men and women make up the ship’s crew, which keeps all parts of the aircraft carrier running smoothly — this includes everything from washing dishes and preparing meals to handling weaponry and maintaining the nuclear reactors. Another 2,500 men and women form the air wing responsible for flying and maintaining more than 70 aircraft aboard the ship.
George H.W. Bush, like each of the Navy’s aircraft carriers, is designed for a 50-year service life. When the air wing is embarked, the ship carries more than 70 attack jets, helicopters and other aircraft, all of which take off from and land aboard the carrier at sea.
All of this makes the George H.W. Bush a self-contained mobile airport and strike platform, and often the first response to a global crisis because of a carrier’s ability to operate freely in international waters anywhere on the world’s oceans.
Sean Hurt is seen aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush last year entering the Mediterranean. The Rock of Gibraltar is in the right background. (Photo courtesy of Rita Hurt)
“I am most proud of my wife and kids,” said Hurt.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied upon assets, Hurt and other George H.W. Bush sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“The Navy allows me to provide for my family and become more mature,” added Hurt who with his wife Stephanie have two children.
Sean is the son of Rita Hurt of Westfield and he is a graduate of St. Mary’s High School. While growing up in Westfield Sean earned the rank of Eagle Scout with Troop 109 of St. Mary’s Parish.
Sean spent a year as a photographer in the Secretary of Defense office where he traveled domestically and internationally with Secretaries Chuck Hagel and Ash Carter. He was U.S. Navy 2015 Photographer of the Year and selected to attend a year at Syracuse University Media School.
