Xaverian grad getting Navy vessel into ship shape
Seaman James P. Mallon, a 1997 graduate of Xaverian High School in Bay Ridge, is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of a hand-selected crew charged with bringing the Navy’s newest and most advanced amphibious assault ship into service.
Currently stationed in San Diego, Mallon is an interior communication technician serving aboard the amphibious assault ship America. When construction and sea trials are complete and the Navy officially accepts the ship from the builder, the ship will be placed into commission and will become USS America.
Mallon and the rest of the 900-person crew are slowly bringing the ship to life, overseeing construction, testing new equipment, training on new systems and executing trials at sea.
The crew will eventually grow to more than 1,200 sailors and nearly 1,900 embarked marines when the ship is at sea.