Brandon Swinford, aviation bosun mate handler third class on the USS John C. Stennis, arrived in Burlington Jct. to visit his mother, Melissa White, after completing his second deployment.
In anticipation of Swinford’s visit, the BJ American Legion Auxiliary planned a welcome home luncheon on August 20. Cathy Mather and Teresa Hickok, auxiliary national security co-chairpersons, planned the event.
Swinford, 24, is a 2010 graduate of West Nodaway High School. He is serving his second enlistment and has been in the Navy for four and a half years.
After graduation, he worked on a local farm when, on a whim, he decided to join the Navy. He is stationed at the Bremerton, WA, Naval Base. His primary job is directing planes to the hangar bay for maintenance. He is also an aircraft fireman.
Swinford said the job allows him to meet all kinds of people and see places he wouldn’t otherwise have seen. He has been to Guam, South Korea, Singapore, Manila, Hawaii and the South China Sea.
“It’s the people who make it go by better,” he said of his crewmates. “I’m proud about being a sailor.”
Swinford isn’t certain he’ll make the Navy a career. He would like to someday own an automotive shop.
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