Audrey Petro

By Lieutenant Junior Grade Jennifer Cunningham
Navy Office of Community Outreach

A 2010 Warsaw Community High School graduate and Warsaw native is serving on USS Donald Cook, living and working at a Navy base in Rota, Spain.

Ensign Audrey Petro is the combat acoustics division officer on the Rota, Spain-based ship. Rota is located near the Strait of Gibraltar, the entryway into the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean.

“I think the close-knit bond of the division is my favorite part of the sailors,” said Petro. “I trust them fully.”

USS Donald Cook is 505 feet long, almost the length of two football fields. The ship is 66 feet wide and weighs more than 9,200 tons. Twin gas-turbine engines can push the ship through the water at more than 30 mph.

USS Donald Cook is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer that has been outfitted with an Aegis ballistic missile defense capability that enables the ship to conduct long-range surveillance, tracking, and engagement of short and medium-range ballistic missiles. Only 15 other destroyers in the Navy have been outfitted with the Aegis BMD system.

“I’ve matured a lot quicker than a lot of my peers,” said Petro. “I’ve taken a lot of responsibility early on in my life. For example, being on the bridge at 3 a.m.… it’s you and couple of sailors in their early 20s. You are in charge of the ship and the crew.”

USS Donald Cook was commissioned in 1998 and is named in honor of U.S. Marine Corps officer and Medal of Honor recipient Donald Cook; a Vietnam prisoner of war who died in captivity.

Assigned to U.S. 6th Fleet, USS Donald Cook sailors are on watch throughout the European region and are important assets supporting President Obama’s European Phased Adaptive Approach to enhance the security of that area of the world from ballistic missile threats originating in the Middle East.

Having four destroyers based in Rota gives the U.S. 6th Fleet flexibility to send these ships to a variety of locations for a range of missions, while at the same time providing a large umbrella of protection for European allies.

“Our Navy presence has to be where it matters and we have to be there when it matters. I am so proud and amazed by the knowledge Cook sailors display and the work they do every day,” said Cmdr. Charles E. Hampton, the ship’s commanding officer. “Their professionalism, motivation and commitment to the Navy are genuinely inspiring.”

In addition to missile defense, the forward-deployed, BMD-capable destroyers conduct a myriad of tasks that include the full range of maritime security operations, bilateral and multilateral training exercises, and NATO operations and deployments.

Destroyers are one of the most versatile ships. Fast, maneuverable, and technically advanced, they provide the required war fighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute multi-mission evolutions such as surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-air warfare.

As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most versatile combat ships, Petro and other USS Donald Cook sailors know they are part of a forward-deployed naval forces team that is heavily relied upon to help protect and defend America on the world’s oceans.

“What we do matters,” said Petro. “The feeling that you are doing something for your country and the patriotism is the most rewarding thing.”