Michael Delich’ Navy berth on the USS Kansas City was duty on a ship that was constructed in 1968 in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched in 1969. Commissioned in 1970, the USS Kansas City served in the Vietnam War, earning three battle stars and the Meritorious Unit Commendation, and in Operation Desert Storm. Decommissioned in 1994, the USS Kansas City was broken up at the All Star Metals Salvage Yard in Brownsville, Texas in 2013.
Michael Delich served as an electronics specialist for the United States Navy, assigned to the USS Kansas City, a Wichita-class ship which served with distinction in the Vietnam War and in Operation Desert Storm. The rating of radarman was split up between the ET, electronics technician designation, and the EW or electronic warfare technician titles, with the original rating badge still used by the operations specialist. Operations specialist is a sea-duty intensive rating, with most of its assignments afloat on warships such as guided missile cruisers, destroyers, aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships and tactical air control squadrons.
As an operations specialist working with electronics, Michael Delich worked aboard United States Navy combat vessels in the tactical nerve center of the ship. The initial training for operations specialists was originally at the Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois. In 1979 training was moved to Dam Neck in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but has since been returned to the Training Support Center in Great Lakes, Illinois. Advanced training takes place in various locations, including California and Virginia. Delich was trained as an electronics specialist, one of several operations specialists on United States Navy combat vessels.
