Army Spec. Michael J. Griffin Sr., a 1995 graduate of Jackson High School, is a U.S. Army watercraft operator aboard the Charles P. Gross. Home port is in the heart of the military's most hallowed harbor -- Pearl Harbor.

The crew lives at sea six months each year. Theirs is less a world of infantrymen and artillerymen than a universe of first mates and engineers. Together they sail far from Oahu or shuttle from Oahu to the Big Island of Hawaii, but for Griffin and most GIs on the Gross, the journey to this tropical paradise began a long way from Hawaii.

"I started my career in the Army as a combat engineer in 1997 with the Missouri National Guard. Then I joined the active Army in 1998 and re-enlisted as a watercraft operator," he said. "I really like this mission -- if it weren't for our ship and what we do with it, then soldiers and Marines wouldn't have the chance to train in all of the areas that they do now."

With its wide service ramp sticking out like a tongue, the Gross is much more than a floating pickup truck with the tailgate down. One moment they cram Marine Corps cannons and trucks aboard, later they might reel in a school of marlin -- and dinner is grilled against a brilliantly hued Hawaiian sunset.

The Gross' homeport is on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, right next to the underwater tomb of the crew of the USS Arizona that went down in the infamous attack on the harbor.

Griffin can visit many exotic headwaters by traveling often as one of 29 crew members on the Army container ship. Potential ports include the Hawaiian Archipelago, the South China Sea and the Persian Gulf.

His ship is nearly as long as a football field. The 273-foot cargo carrier even has its own zip code. Griffin said, "I'm a deckhand during the in-port operation and a quartermaster of a watch when we set sail. As quartermaster, I keep track of our position and keep the ship's logbook updated. If needed, I'm at the helm where I take commands from the watch officer."

Every day on the sea is an adventure, Griffin said.