{"id":678952,"date":"2026-03-24T18:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/678952\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T18:56:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:56:17","slug":"families-bid-farewell-as-uss-mason-heads-out-for-deployment-from-naval-station-mayport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/678952\/","title":{"rendered":"Families bid farewell as USS Mason heads out for deployment from Naval Station Mayport"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Sailors assigned to the USS Mason at Naval Station Mayport set sail Tuesday on a scheduled deployment overseas.<\/p>\n

Their families bid them farewell as global tensions remain high amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n

The parents of Ensign Emma Single told News4JAX their daughter told them not to worry about her as she embarks on her first deployment after being recently commissioned from the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018I\u2019ll be fine,\u2019 she said. \u2018I\u2019m not afraid. I\u2019m just going to miss Florida.\u2019 Those were her exact words,\u201d Robin and John Single told News4JAX.<\/p>\n

Valencia Smith, mother of sailor Ashley West, said she comes from a military family, but the experience and the heartache hit differently when a child of your own is deploying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want her to go, but I mean it\u2019s her job,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI love her so much, and I\u2019m going to miss her and I can\u2019t wait until she gets back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The length and exact location of the deployment mission, and the number of sailors aboard the ship, will not be disclosed for security reasons.<\/p>\n

But Capt. Kevin Hoffman, commanding officer of the USS Mason, said it\u2019s a routine deployment that has been planned months and years in advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe official ship\u2019s motto of USS Mason is Proudly We Serve. And we are proud to serve each other on the crew of Mason,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cWe are proud to serve our families and friends and loved ones who are gathered with us today. We\u2019re proud to serve our Navy, and we\u2019re proud to serve our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The USS Mason is no stranger to combat. The destroyer returned from a nine-month deployment in July 2024. <\/p>\n

During past missions, sailors aboard the Mason intercepted missiles and conducted defensive operations.<\/p>\n

The ship previously operated in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Mediterranean Sea, responding to threats in the region.<\/p>\n

The vessel\u2019s main capabilities include advanced anti-air, anti-submarine, and surface warfare. It specializes in ballistic missile defense, making it an essential asset to defending both land and sea.<\/p>\n

Family members tell us they will have the ability to send and receive emails to communicate with their sailors aboard the ship.<\/p>\n

News4JAX joins the families in wishing the sailors a successful deployment and safe return.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. \u2013 Sailors assigned to the USS Mason at Naval Station Mayport set sail Tuesday…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":678953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,285751,718,285750,3188,723,83,7310,1802,12013,5502,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,285749],"class_list":["post-678952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-attack-on-iran","tag-community","tag-conflict-with-iran","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-iran","tag-jacksonville","tag-military","tag-morning-show","tag-navy","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-uss-mason"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116285681633033520","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}