NORFOLK, Va. – A 2004 Leone High School and 2008 Chaminade University graduate from Pago Pago, American Samoa is serving on one of the world’s largest warships, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jasmine Laumoli is a legalman aboard the Norfolk-based ship, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and one of only ten operational aircraft carriers in the Navy today. Named in honor of former President Harry Truman, the carrier is longer than 3 football fields, at nearly 1,100 feet long. The ship is 252 feet wide and weighs more than 100,000 tons. Two nuclear reactors can push the ship through the water at more than 30 mph.
As a 28 year-old with numerous responsibilities, Laumoli said she joined the Navy because she wanted to see the world, get her master’s degree and try out a new adventure. She added she is happy to be using her college degree in her work. “I love meeting new people and you get to go places you only read about,” said Laumoli. “Even though I came in with a college degree and many of my friends came in straight out of high school, we all support each other.’