In 2005, our ship pulled into Guam for a port visit. While most of the crew got to enjoy their liberty, I wasn’t so lucky—I had duty the day before we pulled out, which meant I was stuck on the ship. Part of the job, right?

At some point, I was called to “ride brakes” on our E-2C, which was parked right in front of the carrier’s island. If you’re not familiar, riding brakes basically means I was sitting in the cockpit, ready to apply the brakes if needed while they moved the aircraft. Simple enough.

So, there I was, sitting in the cockpit, waiting. Nothing exciting, just passing the time. After a while, I noticed a group of reporters being toured around the flight deck. No big deal—until one of them spotted me sitting there. Curious, the guy waves, and I decided to pop up out of the overhead hatch to see what he wanted. He asked a few questions—typical stuff, nothing too memorable—and then, out of nowhere, he asked if he could take my photo.

“Sure, why not?” I thought. It wasn’t like I expected anything to come of it.

Fast forward to the day we’re leaving port. I’m walking past the maintenance control office when our Warrant Officer stops me in my tracks. He’s grinning and says, “Hey, you’re famous now.”

At first, I had no clue what he was talking about. Then he pulls out a copy of the Pacific Daily News—actually, he grabbed several copies so I could send some home—and there I was, right on the second page. The photo the reporter took of me sitting in the cockpit had made it into the paper, along with the caption:

Technician: Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Hugh-es, an aviation electronics technician with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 117 who is originally from Stratford, Ct., stands out of an emergency escape hatch of an E-2C Hawkeye as he waits to be towed on the flight deck of USS Nimitz yesterday.

I never saw it coming, but hey, I guess that’s one way to leave a mark during a port visit!