Episode 4 - Josh Himes of Florida talks Navy Life

Captain Joshua Himes is stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, where he is the Information Warfare Commander at Carrier Strike Group TWELVE, a U.S. Navy force that includes approximately 7,000 sailors, 5 vessels and 100 aircraft, among other assets.  Josh and host Michael Whidden first met as fellow Penn ROTC midshipmen in 1989.

Josh discusses his current responsibilities and, more generally, life at sea, including how he ran a marathon with his wife from thousands of miles away.  He then explains the challenges of intelligence gathering by relating it to putting together a jigsaw puzzle.  Josh describes a few times in his career when the responsibilities seemed especially momentous.  While naval service presents a unique challenge to parenthood and marriage, he shares how he and his family have persevered and enjoyed living around the world. Josh and Michael exchange thoughts on unity and common purpose in the military and in our country.  When asked about elements of the military that the general public may not appreciate, Josh talks about how military members truly prioritize service over self (it’s definitely not for the pay, he quips) and that members reflect the diversity of the country.

Josh draws hope from seeing his children grow and develop and learn at a quicker rate than he did, from the younger officers he sees developing even more rapidly than he did and from increasing efforts by Americans to explore and identify who we are as a country, what our country is about and where we want to go.