Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Meranda Keller | Retail Specialist 1st Class Tommie Davis from Chicago, Illinois, a talent scout...... read more read more
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Story by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Meranda Keller, Navy Talent Acquisition Group Golden Gate
ALMADEN, Ca. — "We didn't have much … We depended on each other to help take care of one another," said Retail Specialist 1st Class Tommie Davis about his childhood. "I depended on my older siblings to take care of me, and being the middle child, my younger siblings turned to me."
Davis, his six sisters and his two brothers grew up in a low-income household in one of Chicago’s rough neighborhoods. The struggles they faced played a large part in his determination to be a positive role model and a mentor, not only to his siblings, but on a grander scale. He is doing just that, and on a national level, as a talent scout for Navy Talent Acquisition Group Golden Gate's Navy Recruiting Station Almaden.
In high school, Davis met a Marine recruiter who was in the hallway talking to people about joining the Marines. Davis decided he would go in and check it out. At the recruiting station, while waiting in the lounge, he was given a booklet to read about joining the Marines. As he skimmed through the booklet and read about the Marines, a Navy Recruiter with the same last name walked in and struck up a conversation.
"I envisioned myself in that uniform and decided to go with the Navy instead," said Davis.
Only a couple of days after that chance encounter, Davis’ mind had been made up, but at only 17, Davis needed his mother's consent to join.
Davis’ mother sat down with him to discuss his decision. She asked if he was confident this is what he wanted to do. Davis told her he didn’t want to go to community college; he didn’t have a lot going for him, and he had no one to look to as a role model to help push him in the right direction. She spoke her support. She wanted him to do something better that took him out of his current situation, something positive.
While boot camp can be a culture shock for many, Davis lucked out by being put in a special division, the White Sox division, made up of Recruits all from Chicago. This gave the division a sense of camaraderie and understanding that helped them bond right away. What’s even more exciting is that they all took their oaths of enlistment during a White Sox game.
However, it wasn’t until arriving at his first duty station, the USS McCampbell, homeported in San Diego, that it hit Davis that he has done it; he had changed his life.
"Arriving at my new command, I realized I didn't have anything there,” said Davis. “I didn't have anyone to depend on. It was all me now.”
Davis got to work earning his Air Warfare and Surface Warfare pins as an undesignated seaman. After that, he made the rank of third class petty officer.
During that tour Davis met multiple positive role models, a trend that would continue throughout his career. As Davis grew, so did his accomplishments. He became a man of faith, an ingrained member of his community, he met his wife and had two daughters. He had purchased homes, earned his AA and was working toward his BA, and he had traveled all over the world. He was living a dream he never thought possible.
It was time to give back. Not just to his current community, but to the community he came from and to communities worldwide. Davis had already encouraged his niece and nephew to join the Navy, and knowing he had made a difference in their lives gave him a renewed purpose. He decided he wanted to be a Navy recruiter.
“I wanted to be able to change lives and continue to pay it forward for the many blessing that I have received," said Davis.
Davis spends his days engaging with applicants, parents, and teachers, keeping him very active in the community. Dedicated to everything he does, and continuing to be a role model, Davis has helped change roughly 29 lives in the last two years as a recruiter.
Changing one life can have a ripple effect on so many other lives, said Davis. As a recruiter, there is an opportunity to show potential applicants how the Navy can change their life and the lives of those around them. There are people searching for a sense of purpose and for something bigger, and the Navy can be that for them.
Davis grew up wanting that purpose and that direction. What he found was an even bigger opportunity to help others pay for college, see their own potential, find their own way, or forge their own path.
As a recruiter Davis has won several awards, and has been recognized over and over as a stellar recruiter, but that is not what matters to him.
"The most rewarding part of recruiting is getting those letters, those calls, and those social media messages from Sailors you have helped," said Davis. "It's a surreal feeling to know you helped someone change their life for the better."
Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, three Navy Recruiting Regions, 26 NTAGs and 64 Talent Acquisition Onboarding Centers (TAOCs) that serve more than 1,000 recruiting stations around the world. Their mission is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America's Navy.
| Date Taken: | 01.08.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 01.08.2021 14:27 |
| Story ID: | 386619 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 463 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, From middle child to middle man; recruiter connects people with opportunity, by PO1 Meranda Keller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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