The officers and crew of guided missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) were named as the recipients of the 2014 Navy Region Southwest “Project Good Neighbor” flagship award for medium-sized sea duty commands, Sept. 29.
Princeton was one of eight Navy Region Southwest units recognized for their volunteerism and community service in an official naval message released by Rear Adm. Patrick Lorge, commander, Navy Region Southwest.
Led by Lt. John Quay, the ship’s command chaplain, Princeton Sailors leveraged their experience with community relations projects while deployed last year to create a year-round program to improve the quality of life for the less fortunate in San Diego County.
Quay said Princeton Sailors work with Habitat for Humanity at least once a month. He described the program as helping people in need by giving them a hand up, and not a handout.
Commissioned in 1989 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, CG 59 is the sixth U.S. Navy ship to carry the name “Princeton”. The name pays honor to battles in and around the city of Princeton, New Jersey in 1777 as part of the Revolutionary War.
[mappress] Press Release, October 06, 2014; Image: US Navy