Nov 11, 2013 By Erin Hayes for The 4 min read

This Veterans Day, many across the nation will be thinking of the men and women in military uniform who currently serve or who have served to defend our country.

But for one area couple, there is one veteran at the top of their list: their son, retired U.S. Navy Lt. Robert A. Sante, whose military career has defined the man he is today.

A 1982 graduate of Laural Highlands High School, Sante served aboard the attack submarine USS Virginia (SSN-774) during Operation Desert Storm and today serves as the Navy’s civilian project manager overseeing construction of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), a first-in-class naval aircraft carrier expected to save the military branch billions of dollars over the ship’s 50-year life span.

Redesigned from keel to mast and named after the 38th president of the United States, the super carrier brings to the fleet new technologies designed to increase capabilities and decrease crew size.

The state-of-art carrier was christened by Ford’s daughter, Susan Ford Bales, during a closed ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia on Saturday. Now “launched” or undocked, the vessel is moved to a pier where shipbuilders will make final preparations for the 1,106-foot-long nuclear-powered super carrier to join the U.S. Navy fleet in 2016.

Sante’s parents, Robert S. and Michelle Sante of Grindstone, couldn’t be prouder of their son for his decision to join the military.

“We’re very proud of him, most of all because he had to work his way up,” said Sante’s mother, Michelle Sante. “He didn’t go in as an officer, he had to struggle, and it was hard leaving his family. It’s hard to go out on six-month cruises,” she added, noting that her son was often gone during holidays and missed the birth of his first son while out at sea.

Robert Sante had been somewhat undecided about he wanted to do with his life, and Michelle said she remembers the day a recruiter at Uniontown Mall led her son away to embark on his new journey. She said her son is quiet, modest and not the kind of person to boast about himself.

But Michelle Sante makes no bones about it: “We’re very proud of him. The military has been a great career for him.”

“It wasn’t easy, but it certainly has been a good decision for me,” said Robert Sante, who finished his bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering technology and earned a master’s degree in project management during his 22 years of service in the U.S. Navy.

“It certainly has been a positive experience and I got to go places I don’t think I ever would have gone on my own,” he added.

Sante attended the closed christening ceremony Saturday, along Bales and other dignitaries.

At an estimated cost of about $13 billion including cost overruns, the USS Ford is the single most expensive piece of military equipment ever created, according to Business Insider.

According to the Military Aviation and Space website, the USS Ford represents an evolutionary leap in carrier design and operations by employing the following new technologies:

n Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) in place of traditional steam catapults for launching aircraft

n New nuclear reactor delivering more power, reducing manning and maintenance requirements

n Advanced Arresting Gear using an electric motor-based system instead of current hydraulics

n Automation of various systems on board, reducing crew requires by 1,000 sailors

n AN/SPY-3 dual-band radar

n A robotics munitions handling system which, when coupled with relocated rearming and refueling stations, will reduce the number of times that an aircraft will need to be moved after landing, and eliminates the need for ordinance to cross areas of aircraft movement

The Navy plans to build three Ford-class carriers intended to replace the current Nimitz-class USS Enterprise ships designed in the 1960s. Construction of the second Ford-class carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy, began in 2011.