My spirited and beautiful cousin-in-law is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War. To know a female veteran is unique and her story is a fascinating one. It’s an appropriate story for my travel/adventure blog because it incorporates both aspects—traveling around the world with the Navy and achieving the adventures of boot camp, military service and pursuing something for a passion. Sandy’s story embodies such honesty about the questions and issues many 18 year olds ponder when making decisions about their future.What made  you decide to go into the Navy?

It was my senior year of high school and I was planning for college. I didn’t have any motivation and I was burnt out during my senior year. I wasn’t serious and didn’t have a passion for going off to college. Now, it’s interesting because this recent “gap year” concept has become popular and I think that’s a great idea for 18 year olds. I wanted to experience some adventure. My dad mentioned he had a cousin of his who was stationed in S. Korea with the Air Force. He suggested I try that out, travel a bit and figure it out. He encouraged me to get it out of my system and that way I could be more focused on going to college.

What was the hardest part of boot camp?

Initially, definitely being away from my family was the hardest part. The purpose of boot camp is to physically, mentally and emotionally transition you  from the civilian to  military life.  Bootcamp was 8 weeks long and it was pretty difficult.  Everything was a privilege….we couldn’t wear jewelry, make-up or watches. We didn’t know what time it was and we couldn’t have access to television or newspapers. We were at the mercy of our company commanders and felt isolated from the rest of the world. That was difficult because you are with a group of about 75 other women of all different personalities from all over the United States. In that, you find those that you have things in common with among strangers. The physical part was not as challenging as the psychological training part of it. There is a purpose for that because you are stripped of thinking as an individual and reprogrammed to think about the collective group, the mission.

It’s hard to picture such a free-spirited person like you being like that….

Initially, when I told my friends I was joining the military, they said, “WHAT? YOU? You don’t follow any rules!” But what’s interesting is eventually you learn to conform to the rules and boot camp was only 8 weeks. Being in a group setting made the transition easier  because you were working as part of a team.

Tell me the countries you were able to visit and where you were stationed.

Female Boot camp was in Orlando, Florida at the time. Now, all Navy bootcamp training has been moved to  Great Lakes, IL.  After bootcamp, I went to Charleston, SC where I was stationed onboard the US Destroyer Tender USS-Sierra AD-18,  for about year and a half. We did a port visit to Boston. Then we went underway for training and stopped in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Nassau, Bahamas and the St. Thomas Virgin Islands.  There was also a Mediterranean cruise which took us two weeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean through the Straits of Gibraltar where we spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Mallorca, Spain. I had received  orders to return to the US and my ship  continued on to Crete, Italy and France.

Do you leave the base when you’re on Guantanomo? 

No….we get to go swimming and have liberty (free time) but your base is like it’s own little city. We were there for 4-5 days.

You were in the Persian Gulf War?

Desert Shield has just started. (And then became Desert Storm).  The USS Sierra traveled to the Med battle group with different types of ships. (8-10). Each ship has different purposes; there was an aircraft carrier, ours was a destroyer tender, there’s frigates, and even subs.  There’s rotations among different naval battle groups.  The U.S. mission is to safeguard the seas with its military presence.

What is the greatest lesson you took away from your experience in the Navy that still affects you today? How would you convince someone to do it? 

There’s something for everyone. If there is someone who just knows they are not ready to commit to school, there’s alot of different ways to achieve your goals. College is not the only path to that anymore. There’s so many avenues to success. I learned how to work with all different types of people and the value of accepting people from all different walks of life and to never judge a book by its cover.  I decided to join the military because I couldn’t join the Peace Corps at the time because they required an associates degree and I only had a high school degree.

I never knew this about you and  I was actually curious about the Peace Corps, too, during college. Now, all these years later, I found a travel company that was founded by a former Peace Corps member and took some Voluntourism trips through that program.

That’s what I wanted to do—go out in the world. When I was in the Navy, I wanted them to send me overseas because all I wanted to do was travel and go abroad. At the end of my 4 year enlistment, I talked to the recruiter and asked them to send me somewhere overseas so I would stay in the military. But they only had so much availability so I didn’t re-enlist. It was the safest way for me at that time of my life to travel and be taken care of but still explore the world. I had to follow those rules. It was safer than backpacking and you always have that safety net.  I chose the Navy because I knew I would always be near the oceans.

Did you do the submarine experience?

No, when I was active duty women were limited to the types of vessels  they could be assigned to because of the law prohibiting women from engaging in combat situations. But the law has definitely changed now. It fit me and I made wonderful friendships. It was my version of a sorority or fraternity. There’s a camaraderie with fellow veterans. You automatically strike up conversations when you meet other veterans…especially generational conversations with men and women from other eras and different wars.. It’s helped me have a connection and bond with them.

Even though we’re so different…we still share  something in common.

 

 

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https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Carpet-Ride-Michalopulos-Kingsley/dp/069271393X