My Former Life as a Naval Officer

Like many Americans, I spent several years of my life serving in the military. Unless you ask me about terrorism, or happen to be at my church on a holiday like Memorial Day or Veterans Day, when the pastor asks all of the veterans to stand, you probably wouldn’t guess that I spent my first ten years out of high school in the Navy. My days spent teaching kids and writing articles are nothing like the years I spent combating terrorism or standing watch on board a ship.

First Steps as an Airman

I joined the Navy the day after I told my dad that I would never join the military. My parents told me that they wouldn’t have much money to help me out for college, and they suggested that I join the military. Although I initially didn’t like the idea, after I thought about it for a while, it sounded like a rational solution. The day after my argument with my parents, I signed up as a member of the Navy Reserves. I picked the Navy because the two reserve recruiting offices in my area were the Navy and the Army, and I liked blue better than Army green. While that is probably a silly reason for making that choice, it turned out for the best. Twelve days after I signed up, I was on my way to boot camp.

I initially signed up as an aviation structural mechanic (AMS). I went through boot camp and A-school, where I learned how to fix aircraft structures, and then I went home to civilian life. I started college, but one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer, I put on my uniform and served my country at my local Navy base.

I enjoyed the travel and excitement that the military offered me part-time. After a year, I decided to look into joining my college’s Naval Reserve Officer Training Program. After I had been part of that program for a while, I ended up getting a full scholarship for the rest of the time that I was in college. When I graduated, I was commissioned as an officer.

Life as an Officer

Being an officer and being in the military full-time was a lot different than being enlisted one weekend a month; it was a lot more difficult. While it was challenging, I had a lot of opportunities. While I was stationed on the USS Wadsworth, which was a frigate, I had the opportunity to go to the Caribbean. I was able to make a difference by heading up my ship’s Combined Federal Campaign program, which collected donations for charity, and the Community Relations program, where we were able to visit places like hospitals and schools in other countries.

My last military assignment was to the security department at the Naval Support Activity in Naples, Italy. I was the Force Protection Assistant; my job was to make sure that the people around the base received anti-terrorism training, and that the base had adequate protection in case of a terrorist attack. That was where I was assigned on September 11th, 2001. Life was never the same afterwards.

Military Separation

After spending ten years with the military, either in the Naval Reserves or as an officer, I decided that I needed to spend more time with my daughter; I wanted to homeschool her when she was old enough. I also was never a big fan of the Navy’s physical fitness program; I had never been much of a runner, although I could manage the sit-ups and push-ups.

Although I saved up quite a bit of money before I left the military, I had one major hurdle to overcome when I left the military: finding a place to live. A lot of apartments have income requirements, and my husband hadn’t found a job before we moved from Italy to Arizona. We were able to overcome that problem with a little quick thinking, but if you do own an apartment building, I request that you give former military members a break when they are getting out. They’re generally a hard-working group of people, and if they have a decent savings built up, you’ll probably get all your rent payments on time.

My military life was an adventure. Sometimes I miss all the excitement (although I don’t miss the early mornings). If you love your country and like to travel, you might want to consider joining.


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