Story and photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Bryan Niegel, Navy Office of Community Outreach
SAN DIEGO – A Pittsgrove, New Jersey, native serves in the U.S. Navy at a helicopter squadron who flies the newest and most technologically-advanced helicopters.
Airman Joshua Wolf joined the Navy one years ago. Today, Wolf serves as an aviation electrician’s mate.
“I joined the Navy because I wanted to go on an adventure, and earn my degree while doing it,” said Wolf. “I also wanted an experience few people will ever have.”
Growing up in Pittsgrove, Wolf attended Shalick High School and graduated in 2020. Today, Wolf finds the values in Pittsgrove similar to those needed to succeed in the military.
“One of the biggest life lessons I’ve learned has been that attitude is just as important as hard work,” said Wolf. “Being motivated to succeed is contagious.”
These lessons have helped Wolf while serving at Naval Air Station North Island.
Wolf serves with the “Battlecats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM 73), a San Diego-based squadron that operates the Navy’s next generation of submarine hunter and Anti-Surface Warfare helicopter, the MH-60R Seahawk. Each helicopter is nearly 65 feet long, may weigh up to 23,500 lbs. (max gross) and can travel over 120 miles per hour for nearly 320 miles on a tank of gas.
According to Navy officials, the MH-60R is the most capable multi-mission helicopter available in the world today. It is used for a variety of missions, including hunting and tracking enemy submarines, attacking enemy ships, search and rescue, drug interdiction, delivering supplies and supporting the Navy’s special operations forces.
With more than 90 percent of all trade traveling by sea, and 95 percent of the world’s international phone and internet traffic carried through fiber optic cables lying on the ocean floor, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity and security of the United States is directly linked to a strong and ready Navy.
Wolf and the sailors they serve with have many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during their military service.
“I’m extremely proud of being named an honor graduate in my secondary rate training school,” said Wolf. “I worked very hard during that time and the hard work paid off.”
As Wolf and other sailors continue to train and perform missions, they take pride in serving their country in the United States Navy.
“Serving in the Navy means I get an opportunity to be a part of something greater than myself,” added Wolf. “I’m fortunate to experience something many people will never understand.”
Steve Lubetkin is the news director for StateBroadcastNews.com. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. He refocused on multimedia journalism and podcast production after a long career in corporate branded journalism and public relations.
He has won numerous awards for his audio and video news reporting from the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced a wide range of audio and video podcasts in his other role as managing partner of State Broadcast News’s parent, The Lubetkin Media Companies.
Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional.
In March 2021, he was elected to the board of directors of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and in July 2021 he was named secretary of the chapter. In August 2021, he was honored by SPJ with one of the organization’s 2021 Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member Awards, given to regular members of an SPJ chapter who go above and beyond in serving their chapter.
Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996.
Steve also has reported on-camera and produces virtual conferences for NJSpotlightNews.org, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC.
From May-November 2019, he produced and reported a weekly podcast, The CRE News Hour, a news and features program focusing on the commercial real estate industry.
From 2014 to 2019 he was New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com and filled in covering Chicago/Midwest and Atlanta.
Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies.
Earlier in his career, Steve reported on rock music at the Jersey Shore for the Asbury Park Press, and was a broadcast news anchor and production engineer for WJLK-AM & FM, then owned by the Press. He also worked as a general assignment reporter for the Red Bank Register, Shrewsbury, NJ.
You can email Steve at steve@statebroadcastnews.com.
