Foley Native in New York City Aboard USS Wasp for 2023 Fleet Week

(KNSI) — Central Minnesota native Brittni Latterell is in New York City for the first time, and it’s an experience she won’t soon forget.

Naval Air Traffic Controller – First Class Latterell is participating in the 35th Annual Fleet Week. It is the largest community outreach event of the year. Latterell talks about showing off her ship, the USS Wasp.

“The quarter deck is where people enter onto the ship and then we’ll go up into the hangar bay, where we work on the aircraft, and then it’ll work up into the flight deck where we have two static displays of aircraft and we’ll be able to show people what those aircraft are capable of doing. We have an H-60 (Blackhawk) onboard and an MV 22 (Osprey). And then we’ll bring them across the flight deck which is 819 feet.”

Latterell says the tours help rekindle an appreciation for their floating home among the crew. She says serving on it becomes mundane, but watching people react to it for the first time makes her realize how special it is.

Latterell grew up in Foley and Big Lake before attending the College of St. Benedict. She has been in the service for eight years and talks about that progression after starting her career at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.

“I was able to learn how the shore side of air traffic control flows, which is essentially just like working at an airport on the civilian side. And then I transferred over to the USS Wasp, which now I’m doing amphibious air traffic control. So we are taking on all types of aircraft in the middle of the ocean.”

The USS Wasp is an Essex-class aircraft carrier and was commissioned in 1989. The ship was deployed to Somalia in 1993, and in February 2004, it set sail to take part in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Fleet Week runs through Memorial Day.

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