Petersburgh sailor has role on elite force

Chief Petty Officer Todd Ciuk of Petersburgh, Rensselaer County, tapped his civilian skills as an electrical worker as way to launch his Navy career.

Ciuk was screened and successfully trained to become a sailor in an elite force of submariners in the electronics field.

The 1996 graduate of Berlin Junior-senior High School, Berlin, Rensselaer County, now serves as a member of the Navy’s “Silent Service” force.

Ciuk is an electronics technician, submarine, communication, stationed at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay and Trident Training Facility, Georgia.

He is continuing a tradition that only a small fraction of military members will ever know: strategic deterrence, according to Chief Mass Communication Specialist Erica Gardner, a Navy spokeswoman.

“Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is home to all East Coast Ohio-class submarines,” said Rear Adm. Jeff Jablon, commander, Submarine Group 10. “Team Kings Bay ensures our crews are combat ready when called upon, putting our submarine forces on scene, unseen.”

“As a chief electronics technician, I am a submarine communications expert,” Ciuk said.

Ciuk credits his success in the Navy to many lessons learned in Petersburgh.

“I learned about hard work as I grew up in a small town,” he said. “I learned to respect other peoples’ things. I was taught if you work hard you will succeed. After I graduated from high school at 17, I tried college and by the time I was 18 I had worked 21 different jobs in the electronic field. Andrew, as well as her daughter, Catherine, pinned her new rank insignias on her uniform.

Hanson, daughter of Fred and Marlyn Dunn of Delmar, is on duty with the Chiefs of Staff.

She previously served as commander of the 517th Airlift Squadron of the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorfrichardson, Alaska. Hanson also previously served as chief of the 15th Wing’s Plans and Programs at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-hickam, Hawaii.

The 1994 Bethlehem Central High School graduate was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon completion of a Reserve Officer Training Corps program and graduation with a bachelor of science in aeronautical and mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, in 1998. She earned Leadership and Academy Excellence Awards while completing undergraduate pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. She also is a graduate of the Eisenhower School at the National Defense University.

The colonel was also a fellow with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

As a pilot she logged 578 hours of combat time while flying Iraq and Afghanistan war missions and has more than 3,300 flight hours overall.

Hanson has earned three Meritorious Service Medals, four Air Medals in combat, two Air Force Commendation Medals and an Air Force Achievement Medal.

She is married to retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jeremy Hanson.

Because of the demanding environment aboard submarines, personnel are accepted only after rigorous testing, according to Navy officials.

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