Fire Controlman Second Class Ron H. Barbee hails from Fort Wayne Indiana. He joined the Navy two years after graduating high school in 2009 and completed his “C” school for the SPY-1D Radar System and follow-on Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) course in 2011.

He reported onboard the USS Stethem (DDG 63), assigned to the Forward-Deployed Naval Forces in Yokosuka, Japan, in 2011.  As a SPY-1D technician he has spent hundreds of hours performing both routine and corrective maintenance. Barbee takes great pride in keeping the USS Stethem’s SPY-1D radar fully operational.

In addition to excelling in his role as a SPY-1D maintenance technician, he also expertly performs duties as a Radar System Controller (RSC) and Mission Planner Operator. He has supported numerous BMD and surveillance missions, both as a technician and as an operator, in the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf.