Chandler native serving on Navy ship based in Guam

Petty Officer Second Class Sophia Freestone serves in the U.S. Navy aboard the submarine tender ship USS Frank Cable.

Though a Chandler native, Freestone graduated from Thunderbird High School in Phoenix in 2018.

“I learned that change is always good,” said Freestone, via a U.S. Navy news release. “Being able to change and adapt will always carry you further.”

Freestone joined the Navy six years ago, serving now as a logistics specialist.

“I joined the Navy because ever since I was young, I always wanted to be a sailor,” Freestone said. “In high school, I enrolled in the RTOC program, which I did for all four years and loved it.”

The USS Frank Cable, an expeditionary submarine tender manned by a hybrid crew of sailors and civilian mariners, provides maintenance capabilities to the Navy’s submarine force in the Pacific.

Its primary clients are the four Los Angeles-class attack submarines home-ported in Guam, but the ship can also provide repair and logistic services to other Navy ships like cruisers and destroyers.
Submarine tenders provide maintenance, temporary berthing services and logistical support to submarines and surface ships in the Pacific Ocean as well as the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.

With a crew of more than 600, the Cable is 649 feet long and weighs approximately 23,493 tons.

Freestone has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during military service.

“I am most proud of earning my surface and air warfare qualifications,” said Freestone.

Freestone has pride in having chosen a particular military service branch.

“Serving in the Navy is like being a personified word,” Freestone said. “You’re not just military, you’re ‘Navy.’ Whenever people see you, they see ‘Navy.’ There is a lot of pride that comes with that.”

Freestone is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.

“I would like to thank my mom and my ROTC instructor, retired Senior Chief Shepherd,” added Freestone. “They were the most inspiring people to get me into the Navy and encouraged me to make positive change.”

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