Sailor in the Spotlight

Securing housing is one of the very first tasks that incoming personnel think about. When moving overseas, tackling the housing logistics is an important step in feeling comfortable in a foreign country. And for many service members, Sigonella is their very first tour of duty. It takes Sailors like Logistics Specialist Seaman Apprentice Phillip Jaurequi to keep the unaccompanied housing program a well-oiled machine.

Unaccompanied housing is responsible for assigning and maintaining rooms for single E-4 and below Sailors. Jaurequi’s day consists of walking around the barracks making sure everything is clean and well-maintained. If anything is in need of repair, he will place trouble call tickets for action. On top of that, he also conducts room inspections to make sure the residents are keeping up with their cleanliness.

As an LS, Jaurequi is normally responsible for ordering supplies and parts for the commands they work for or handling the command’s mail. So while a bit out of his rate, Jaurequi is learning new skills here at Sigonella.

Like many other Sailors, on top of his normal work duties Jaurequi has also been temporarily assigned to the Auxiliary Security Force. Along with other ASF personnel, he helps augment the base’s security forces. When he is standing ASF, he works from 0500 to 1800. ASF members are activated for a few months at a time, during which their sole focus is standing security watches.

When Jaurequi joined the Navy, his primary goal was to get the education benefits, travel, and meet new people. “I was really unsure on what I wanted to focus on for a career,” said Jaurequi.

“I didn’t want to throw away my money on something I am unsure about. The one thing I knew for a fact was I wanted to travel and meet new people, so I figured why not join the Navy and get that and the college benefits.”

With the summer weather lasting well into fall, frequenting the Sicilian beaches seem to be a big part of people’s lives here.

“My favorite part of Sicily is definitely the beaches and the food,” said Jaurequi. “Especially coming from the southwestern part of the States where there is no beaches, it is nice to be able to drive 30 minutes away and be on a beach.”

Another perk of being stationed in Sicily is the ability to travel around Europe inexpensively. Jaurequi himself has already traveled to most of mainland Italy as well as Amsterdam and London.