Program will reunite two Simi brothers aboard Navy destroyer
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers ALMOST PACKED- Scott Martin, 17, of Simi Valley considers taking his guitar with him to Hawaii to meet his brother Nick who is serving in the United States Navy aboard the USS John Paul Jones. Scott will return to San Diego onboard the ship with his brother for a practical experience of what Navy life is like.

Scott Martin looks up to his older brother, Nick.

But since Nick's been in the Navy, traveling the world on the USS John Paul Jones for the past two years, Scott hasn't been able to hang out with his brother lately.

On Sunday, that's going to change.

Through the U.S. Navy Tiger Guest Program of Tiger Cruise Travel, Inc., Scott, 17, will fly to Honolulu and meet Nick at Pearl Harbor. After spending a day together in Hawaii, the brothers will travel on the John Paul Jones, a guided missile destroyer, for about six days to San Diego.

"It's going to be pretty fun," said Scott, a senior at Simi Valley High School who hasn't seen Nick in six months. "I think it's going to be more like a learning experience than anything else. I'm not really sure what I'm getting myself into. It sounds cool."

Nick, 21, a 2004 graduate of Simi Valley High, is an operations specialist petty officer third class. He works in the combat information center and also helps navigate the ship by radar and GPS.

After traveling the world, including stops in such exotic locations as Australia, Guam and Hong Kong, he's looking forward to seeing Scott again.

"I'll get to show my brother what I do out here and how it's important," Nick said in an e-mail from the John Paul Jones as it sailed across the Pacific Ocean. "He'll get a unique first-hand experience of the way a naval warship operates."

However, Nick warned, it won't be a pleasure cruise.

"(Guests) will get to be handson with our equipment and work side by side with all the sailors on board from other departments so they get a chance to see everything," the operations specialist said.

The Tiger program was designed for sailors to spend some extra time with family members who aren't spouses. That means Nick, who got married last November, couldn't invite his wife, Maggie.

Scott is considering joining the Navy or another branch of the armed forces after graduation, and he thinks his upcoming voyage will help answer some questions.

"I don't know if it's for me or not. I'm still trying to decide," he said. "I should know after this trip."

The time aboard won't be all work and no play. The brothers will enjoy a barbecue on the flight deck, and guests will be shown how to run damage control drills in the event of a fire or flood.

The Martin brothers' mother, Rhonda Bernaby, was ecstatic when she heard about the Tiger cruise. She's talked to Nick twice on the phone in the past six months, but the two stay in touch primarily through e-mail.

Bernaby and her daughterinlaw Maggie can greet the brothers at the port, but Nick will remain stationed in San Diego for the remainder of his three-year commitment. He'll visit home in Simi Valley for several days in October as part of a two-week break.

"Nick misses his family and his brother so much. They're very close," Bernaby said. "(Scott's) so excited to go. The first thing they're going to do is Nick is going to take him snorkeling."

For Bernaby, the wait to see her son has been excruciating.

"Well, I can't really breathe," she said. "It's like . . . it's hard to relax. I just can't take a deep breath and relax. I'm always thinking about him wondering where he's at, wondering if he's okay. I just miss him so much. I'm so close to Nick and it's really hard to have him gone and not hear his voice."

Nick and Scott Martin aren't the only members of their family interested in the Navy.

Bernaby's 12-year-old son, Eion Martin, also likes the Navy. "He thinks it's cool," she said. Her 5-year-old grandson, Ryan Martin, wants to be in the Navy too.

Nick, who joined the Navy on Pearl Harbor Day two years ago, plans to continue his education with the $50,000 the Navy will give him for school. He credits the Navy for opening up a whole new world for him.

"I think that the Navy was fun and helpful and it built me into who I am today," Nick said. "I've seen many countries and done things from launching jet aircraft off a carrier to manning a hightech navigational weapons system. . . . . I think I've been set up for success from the Navy and I just have to get out there and see what else I'm capable of (doing)."