Aboard the USS Milius

USS Milius is an Arleigh-Burke Class destroyer. Aboard her are over 300 sailors. (Frauline S. Villanueva)

The USS Milius is on its way to Hawaii today after staying four days at the Port of Saipan but before they left, I was lucky enough to get permission to go aboard.

USS Milius is helo-capable, meaning helicopters can land on the ship to serve purposes such as delivering mails, bringing in personnel or refueling. (Frauline S. Villanueva)

While most of its crew was enjoying the island’s great beaches, serene sceneries, and exciting adventures, I was able to tour the decks and galleys of the destroyer.

It was my first time to go on a naval ship (and a giddy kid was I) and was greeted by sailors who seemed to me very proud of their ship and to serve on board. Among them was Command Master Chief William Houlihan, who helped me get around.

As a naval ship, Milius is one of the smaller ones, but all the same a great ship. It is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, whose mission is to “provide multi-mission offensive and defensive capabilities in support of the nation’s maritime security strategy.” It operates as part of strike groups or underway replenishment groups but can also function independently.

Our first stop was its upper deck where the huge MK45 5”/54-caliber gun is mounted. Over on its south side is its flight deck where it’s capable of landing helicopters in order to transfer mail, equipment, and people to and from the ship.

The bridge of USS Milius where the ship is commanded. (Frauline S. Villanueva)

Located in various strategic positions are several more of its weaponry, including two MK41 vertical launching systems, Tomahawk cruise missile system, Harpoon cruise missile system, and two Phalanx close-in weapon system, among others.

Tough on the outside, ‘city’ on the inside
On the outside, Milius seems intimidating—as a naval ship should be. But on the inside, as Houlihan said so himself before we went in, the ship is “like a small city.”

Among the many cabins, nooks, and crannies of Milius is a barbershop, which explains how Navy service members avoid being scruffy sailors despite being out at sea for too long.

There are also a number of spaces turned into gyms for those who want to work out and keep fit. Houlihan pointed out that small ships like Milius shouldn’t have gyms, unlike bigger aircraft carriers, but they just have to make use of whatever space they can. Not only do they have weights but few pieces of gym equipment as well.

The mess deck is where sailors whose pay grades are E6 and below eat and relax while underway. (Frauline S. Villanueva)

With the ship’s tight halls and passages, it’s easy to be claustrophobic and bump your head while going up one of the stairs. After banging my head on one of the metal floorings, I was told I could then call myself a sailor as sailors won’t be sailors without going through that, too.

There is also a room that can pass for a mini-library but has many purposes such as being a conference room, prayer room or a place where dads or moms record themselves reading books to their little ones to send back home. Ain’t they sweet?

More sweet for the sailors aboard is their mess deck where everyone can spend their break times to eat. Here, they can also watch movies or even play video games. Those under pay grade E-6 and below all use the mess deck while those from E-7 through E-9 eat and do their own recreational activities at the CPO Mess.

The mess looks like a diner and aside from soda dispensers, a sundae-maker caught my eye. However, officer Houlihan said it is no longer functioning.

“We like to tease them with the idea that there is ice cream,” he said.

Over at the ship’s galley is where the food is prepared. When underway, cooks prepare four meals a day. And with them feeding a ship of over 300 hungry sailors, no wonder Houlihan noted that they are the “most hardworking” in the ship.

Knowing some sailors
One of the cooks on board is a Filipino named Llewelyn Llanera. Before even coming to the ship, I already heard about her cooking from operations officer Lt. Jessica Poniatoski. She swears Llanera’s lumpia are amazing.

“They all love it,” Llanera said, “Sometimes we have adobo, sinangag. They like it. Once in a while we serve it.”

Aside from Pinoy-style food, Llanera says Wednesday is burger day on the ship. They also have Taco Tuesdays and Pizza Night on Saturdays.

At 21, this is Llanera’s first deployment after three years of being in the Navy. She wakes up at four in the morning and works through eight in the evening. She said it’s not easy to be on board but she enjoys being with her crew.

Llanera tells me that every time they pull in is the best moment for her. But one of memory she wouldn’t forget in her young navy life is “Wog Day.” It is a longstanding tradition in ships and serves as an initiation rite.

“Sailors who cross the equator for the first time, anybody who’s never crossed the equator on a navy ship or at all, is typically referred to as a pollywog or a wog. And once you cross, you’re a shellback. There’s a ceremony in every ship that initiates pollywogs to shellbacks,” Houlihan said.

“Every ship will make the effort to get close to the equator, so that we can cross the equator, just for that purpose. But we’re always operating in that area, not like we’ll go a thousand miles out of the way,” he added.

Better community
Being small has its advantage. For one, destroyers are considered fast warships. But what makes the USS Milius different from the bigger ships is its community and the camaraderie that they build with each other.

That is exactly why out of 23 ships, 2nd class Petty Officer Brian Hewitt, 28, chose Milius.

“It’s smaller so it’s better community on the ship. You know everybody. I talked to a couple of my buddies that I went to boot camp with [who] went to the bigger ships. They can’t just bump into their command master chief and have them know their names,” Hewitt said.

“This ship has a level of camaraderie that you won’t find anywhere else. They just get along, there’s a great deal of respect,” Houlihan said.