USS Dewey’s Torero Trio Leads with Pride and Precision

Sundays are for sports. Even in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Nicholas Hoffman ’04 (BA/BS), Commanding Officer of the USS Dewey, decided that Sundays aboard the guided-missile destroyer are dedicated to sailors wearing their favorite collegiate or professional sports gear. Every Sunday, like clockwork, CDR Hoffman proudly puts on his University of San Diego (USD) sweatshirt and baseball cap.

“It’s one of the first things I packed,” said CDR Hoffman about his USD sweatshirt. “It’s fun that we get to show our pride on board the ship.”

But he isn’t the only Torero in a sea of Naval Academy graduates. Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) Xavier Brenza ’21 (BA) and Ensign (ENS) Isabella Lanca ’22 (BA) are on board too, sporting their Torero blue gear alongside their Commanding Officer.

“I went home and brought back my USD sweatshirt. Now, it’s permanently on board,” said ENS Lanca. “It’s just something you have to have.”

The ties that bind these three Toreros run deeper than university spirit or reminiscing about meals at the Student Life Pavilion. The trio trusts each other wholly while upholding America’s presence on the high seas. The crew of the USS Dewey must maintain a constant readiness.

“We have to do a lot of really complex missions across the entire U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility and our crew must be trained and ready to execute at all times,” said CDR Hoffman.

The USS Dewey is one of the Navy’s most versatile ships in the U.S. 7th Fleet. From launching Tomahawk cruise missiles to conducting anti-submarine warfare and dispatching MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, the 510-foot ship is packed with an array of advanced technology.

Only three out of the 330 sailors on board are qualified to direct the Tomahawk missiles against targets — two of them are ENS Lanca and LTJG Brenza. Their elevation to this role, shared by an experienced Lieutenant Commander, is a prime example of how trusted the junior officers are among their peers.

“I was initially the electronic warfare officer, and then I transferred over to strike,” explains ENS Lanca who is currently working on her qualifications to obtain her Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) pin on top of her normal day-to-day duties.

“The process is time-consuming and requires much self-determination to study in your off hours, but the classes at USD prepared me to tackle this task and earn my SWO pin.”

ENS Lanca’s journey to her position as a Strike Officer started at USD’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). During her summer cruise, ENS Lanca had the opportunity to travel to Mobile, Alabama, and witness the commissioning ceremony for the LCS-26 USS Mobile. She was on board as the crew brought the newly-christened Navy ship from Alabama through the Panama Canal to San Diego. The experience cemented her path.

“Being with the crew and understanding SWO life is really what sold me. I remember thinking to myself, ‘This is it.’”

LTJG Brenza also went through USD’s NROTC program and served as Battalion Commander of the unit.

“I had tremendous support from the Battalion and staff that helped me lead training for students from universities across San Diego. I was lucky to have excellent peers to work with, and saw a lot of different parts of the Navy before I entered the fleet.”

Like ENS Lanca, LTJG Brenza knew SWO life was the life for him.

“The attractive part of jumping into the SWO community is that you go straight into it. I’m one of the few [from my commissioning class] who has seen any operational stuff,” said LTJG Brenza. “I’ve been able to do incredible things and go to interesting places like the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan and Guam.”

LTJG Brenza, serving as the Main Propulsion Officer, not only ensures the USS Dewey’s lights stay on but also doubles as one of two search and rescue (SAR) swimmers aboard.

“If we were to have a pilot or someone from another branch that was in the ocean, we could put someone in the water to retrieve them safely and provide first aid,” said LTJG Brenza. “It’s cool to be able to say I’m a rescue swimmer.”

“We can’t go to sea without LTJG Brenza on board,” adds CDR Hoffman. “We’re required to have two SAR swimmers on board.”

At the helm is Hoffman who harmonizes the diverse set of skills his crew brings to the USS Dewey. A USD electrical engineering graduate, Hoffman is now in charge of “absolutely everything” onboard the ship.

“I am responsible for the success or failure of everything onboard … the direct mission, the vision and philosophy that unites us all on the ship. My biggest role though is making sure everybody, and I mean everybody, makes it home safely.”

Under CDR Hoffman’s leadership, bolstered by the contributions of sailors like LTJG Brenza and ENS Lanca, the USS Dewey recently earned top honors as the battle effectiveness award winner out of all destroyers forward deployed in the U.S. 7th Fleet, a testament to the crew’s dedication and the Commanding Officer’s guidance.

“His tenure has been incredibly successful in achieving this,” said LTJG Brenza.

When asked how he fostered such an effective command, CDR Hoffman spoke of the wisdom passed down to him from an admiral who embodied what it meant to be a servant leader.

“He took a lot of time to invest in me, more time than I could ever imagine from someone of that rank,” CDR Hoffman recalled. “I was able to take a lot from that experience and build that up into my style of how I wanted to lead a ship.”

CDR Hoffman also took a moment to express the work of his fellow Torero sailors. “It’s great to have Toreros like Brenza and Lanca running the bridge teams, navigating the ship through some dangerous waters. I have a lot of trust and faith in them. I know that I’m getting a good officer when I get someone from USD and I know that they’re going to have the tools to be successful.”

For CDR Hoffman, LTJG Brenza and ENS Lanca, being a Torero means more than wearing blue on a certain day of the week – it serves as an anchor, steadying them as they face uncertainties and challenges at sea.

– Kelsey Grey ‘15 (BA)

Photo provided by the U.S. Navy