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Manorville native Lt. j.g. Nick Randazzo joined the U.S. Navy in 2016 to continue a legacy of military service in his family.
Now, the 2010 graduate of Eastport South Manor Junior/Senior High School is a pilot with the “The Golden Swordsmen” of Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Squadron 47, working with the Navy’s cutting-edge maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington.
“Life is busy, but there is an excellent desire to excel, both personally and with making sure the squadron, and all personnel in it, are successful,” Randazzo said in a post on the Navy Office of Community Outreach blog.
Randazzo, a 2010 graduate of Eastport South Manor Junior/Senior High School, is a pilot with VP-47, a high-tech maritime patrol and reconnaissance squadron tasked with monitoring the world’s oceans in the state-of-the-art P-8A “Poseidon” aircraft.
VP-47’s primary mission is to conduct maritime patrol and reconnaissance as well as long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and intelligence gathering missions. They deploy around the world to monitor the world’s oceans wherever they are needed.
Randazzo is also a 2014 graduate of SUNY Albany with a degree in criminal justice.
Randazzo credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons he learned in Manorville.
“My town was small, so everyone knows everyone, so you always be the hardest worker,” he said. “Too many talented people wasted away without the drive to keep moving forward.”
The P-8A Poseidon, the Navy’s newest maritime, patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, is a replacement aircraft for the legacy P-3C “Orion.”
“Serving in the Navy is the culmination of years of hard work and perseverance,” Randazzo said. “It is a true testament to the infinite strength of the human spirit.”
