Pinellas County Job Corps students got a chance to experience history in the making as part of a community service project on Saturday. A dozen students volunteered to park cars for a very special military event—the commissioning of a new naval ship.

The U.S.S. Jack H. Lucas was officially commissioned into active service in front of a crowd of thousands at the Port of Tampa in Florida. The 511-foot-long ship is the Navy’s newest and most technologically advanced  guided missile destroyer.

The ships namesake, Private First Class Jack H. Lucas served in the U.S. Marines during World War II, earning the Medal of Honor for his heroism at Iwo Jima. The ship has a crew of more than 300 sailors.