By MC1 James Green, Navy Office of Community Outreach Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII – A 2009 Olympic High School graduate and Bremerton native is part of a select crew, protecting and defending America aboard the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Texas.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Fabian Payne is a logistics specialist aboard Texas, one of the Virginia-class submarines based at the Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

“I like the people I work with,” said Payne.

Texas, commissioned in Newport News, Virginia in 2006, is longer than a football field at 377 feet and can sail under the waves at more than 30 mph.

Texas, like all attack submarines in the Navy’s fleet, can carry out an array of missions on the world’s oceans in defense of America.

“Our attack submarines can deploy for as many as six months at a time to anywhere in the world, including under the Arctic Ice,” explained Cmdr. Brook DeWalt, Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesperson. “Their missions can range from tracking and hunting enemy submarines, launching cruise missiles from sea to inland targets hundreds of miles away as well as surveillance and intelligence gathering.”

Because of the demanding nature of service aboard submarines, sailors like Payne are accepted only after rigorous testing and observation that can last several months. The crews have to be highly motivated, and adapt quickly to changing conditions.

“I am responsible for making sure all of the repair parts and supplies are ordered and are here when it is time to get underway,” said Payne.

The training is demanding, as the crew needs to be ready to respond to any kind of situation that may arise while at sea and endure long periods of time submerged deep below the surface of the ocean.

“The Texas Crew has demonstrated an amazing resolve to come through challenges that we as a submarine force are faced with every day,” said Cmdr. Todd J. Nethercott, Texas’s Commanding Officer. “Each sailor on board working together makes what we are tasked to do possible.   A high degree of skill, work ethic and camaraderie throughout the boat has and will continue to ensure the success of the Navy’s undersea dominance.”

The rigorous nature of submarine service is challenging, but Payne enjoys it and believes it makes the crew tighter.

“I enjoy the steady paycheck and the benefits,” said Payne. “I like the administrative work. I love doing paperwork.”

Being an attack submarine sailor has meant spending a lot of time away from his friends and family, but Payne believes in the work he is doing.

“I enjoy the opportunity to see other places,” said Payne.