By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Robert Zahn, Navy Office of Community Outreach

SASEBO, Japan – A Houston native and 2013 Summer Creek High School graduate is serving in Japan in the U.S. Navy aboard USS Germantown.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Ulysses Goree is an engineman aboard the ship operating out of Sasebo, Japan.

A Navy engineman is responsible for operating, maintaining, and repairing internal-combustion engines, main propulsion machinery, refrigeration, air conditioning, gas turbine engines, and assigned auxiliary equipment on Navy ships; stand safety watches on auxiliary boilers and other assigned equipment.

Goree is proud to serve in the Pacific and fondly recalls memories of Houston.

“I learned honesty and respect for others from my parents,” said Goree. “With me being a leader now, I have to be honest with my crew and show respect and be fair with them.”

Moments like that makes it worth serving around the world ready at all times to defend America’s interests. With more than 50 percent of the world's shipping tonnage and a third of the world's crude oil passing through the region, the United States has historic and enduring interests in this part of the world. The Navy's presence in Sasebo is part of that long-standing commitment, explained Navy officials.

Commissioned in 1986, Germantown is the second Navy ship named after the Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown. With a crew of more than 900 sailors and Marines, Germantown is 609 feet long and weighs approximately 16,000 tons. Designed specifically to operate landing craft air cushion small craft vessels, Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships have the largest capacity for these landing craft out of any U.S. Navy amphibious ship.

Goree is proud of earning the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal award for his work in the dry docks installing ship’s diesel generators. He shows his dedication to the ship’s overall mission.

As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Goree and other Sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.

“I’ve met people that I would never have met or talked to outside of the Navy,” said Goree. “Being in the Navy has given me an open mind with everyone. People don’t have to be from the same place that you're from to get along, that’s what I like about the Navy.”