Liles flies Seahawk helicopter with Navy’s Blue Hawks

SAN DIEGO – Participating in Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps for three years inspired Trevor Liles to join the U.S. Navy and fulfill his quest to travel the world.

Now, seven years later, Petty Officer 2nd Class Liles serves with the Blue Hawks of Helicopter Maritime Squadron or HSM 78. He works with one of the Navy’s most advanced helicopters at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif.

“Everyone relies on the quality of work that we provide,” Liles said.

Liles graduated from Hazel Green High School in 2010. His current work as a logistics specialist placed him with HSM 78, a versatile squadron that completes numerous important missions with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter.

Greatly enhanced over its predecessors, the MH-60R helicopter features a glass cockpit and significant mission system improvements.

“My responsibilities include ordering parts to repair the aircraft and get the aircraft back up and running, as well as any consumables they need to do their day-to-day work,” said Liles.

Liles credits success in the Navy to lessons learned in Hazel Green. “I learned to always treat people with respect,” Liles said. “Someone could have a bad day and you don’t know what they’re going through — Try to be understandable.”

HSM 78’s primary mission is to conduct sea control operations in open-ocean and coastal environments as an expeditionary unit. This includes hunting for submarines, searching for surface targets over the horizon and conducting search-and-rescue operations.

Liles takes pride in completing his first college course while being deployed. “Not many people in my family had gone to college,” Liles said. “While on deployment, it can be tiring to focus on college when you have some time to yourself.”

Liles and other sailors realize their service places them in a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes for a strong American navy.

The Navy Office of Community Outreach or NAVCO produced this information and photograph. Employees in the outreach office travel the globe to collect and distribute photos to their hometown media.

Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jerry Jimenez documented Liles’ work.

The Media Outreach Department with the Navy Office of Community Outreach is located in Millington, Tenn. For more information, visit outreach.navy.mil, Facebook/Navy Outreach, Twitter @NavyOutreach or Instagram @US_Navy_Outreach.