SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – USS Stockdale (DDG-106), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, arrived in Subic Bay on Tuesday, February 5 for a routine port visit.
This stop in Subic will permit the Stockdale to replenish supplies as well as offer its crew an opportunity for rest and relaxation.
“Visiting Subic Bay provides us with a great opportunity to continue the long-term relationship between the Philippines and the United States and that is very important to us,” said Cdr. Lex Walker, Commanding Officer, USS Stockdale.
Cdr. Walker also spoke about the diversity of his crew. “We have quite a few Filipino –American Sailors among our crew, and I hope that the citizens of the Philippines can look at our ship and see that their people and their culture are well represented and respected in the U.S. Navy,” said Walker.
Fifteen Filipino-Americans sail aboard the USS Stockdale, among them Sailors with family ties to Baguio City, Manila, Marikina City, Orion, Olongapo City, Quezon City, and Santa Monica. Some, like Geno C. Uy (GSM2) and Ryan Angeles (AM2), were born in the Philippines and immigrated to the U.S. in recent years.
Others, including Joel Marsigian (AM2) and Dean Rivera-Villanueva (ADAN), were born in the United States but still have relatives in the Philippines. Many of the Stockdale’s Sailors plan to visit family while in port.
This will be the Stockdale’s first visit to the Philippines. The visit is part of the ship’s nine month deployment to the Western Pacific that began in January 2013.
