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The order finally came to go. It was mid-2002, and those of us in the USS Abraham Lincoln Battle Group had spent the months since September 11, 2001 on constant edge, knowing that we’d be going over the horizon at moment’s notice.

I was an SH-60B “Seahawk” helicopter pilot flying off one of the destroyers in the battle group. Gearing up for months at sea was always a challenge, and throughout my Navy career, I was constantly tweaking the list of items in my sea bag. Life underway can be tough on equipment not made to withstand salt air, desert sand (sandstorms in the Middle East often reach all the way out to sea), sweat, dirt, grease, and frequent contact with the solid steel trappings of a Navy ship.

Watches were extremely important to me: first, because I liked them and second, because they were an invaluable tool in the cockpit. Calculating time-distance problems and fuel burn rates are constant chores for Naval Aviators.

A few weeks prior to getting underway, I saw an ad for a Luminox dive watch. I owned several dive watches, but none fully met my expectations for the ideal, at-sea time piece. I made a comment in passing to my wife that “wouldn’t it be nice to add a Luminox to my collection . . .” Not sharing my same enthusiasm for dive watches, and given that I already had a drawer-full, my wife simply shrugged off the comment.

I returned to the task of preparing to get underway and forgot all about it. Then, only days before my departure, my wife brought me a small box wrapped in a red bow. She said it was a late Christmas present. Inside, I found the same Luminox I had seen in the ad.

That gesture alone should have been enough to make my Luminox one of my most prized possessions. But what most endeared me to it is the way it stood up to the following six months at sea. I wore it every single day, morning, noon, and night. It was perfect for life on the ship and in the cockpit. The luminescence was superb; 90% of the flying I did in that time period was at night. Most of us in the battle group were nocturnal, always concerned with optimizing our performance in non-daylight hours.

For my fellow pilots and me, that meant spending hours staring through the narrow TV tubes of our night vision goggles. My Luminox was perfect in this environment, because even the most minute stray beam of light can completely “bloom out” night vision goggles, rendering the wearer blind. Luckily, the luminescence of my watch was of a wavelength compatible with my goggles, and I was able to conduct my in-flight calculations without fear of losing my night vision.

Today, I wear my Luminox all the time. It goes to work with me, on runs, to the gym, on hikes, and out to the line-up for weekend surf sessions. It remains my absolute favorite watch. We’ve been through a lot together; besides the extraordinarily kind gesture of my wife’s giving it to me, it remains my happiest memento of what was a challenging and anxiety-laced time.

Shop for Luminox Watches at the NavySEALs.com Store today!