Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Stephanie Butler | Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Hazel Gomez poses for a portrait photo at Recruit...... read more read more
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Meet Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Hazel Gomez. She is currently an instructor at Marlinspike at #RecruitTrainingCommand, the #Navy’s only #Bootcamp.
Gomez was born in Managua, Nicaragua. She has one sibling, a brother who is 18 months older and their childhood was difficult. Gomez’s father passed away while her mother was pregnant with her second child.
“That left her heart between a hard rock and a hard place. She wasn't all that well off before, but now she came to the decision, I got to do something.”
Her mother met a family who were owners of an agricultural business. They agreed to help her with immigration paperwork in return for working for them cleaning the house and being a nanny. She saw this as a great opportunity to help her family.
“They brought her over to the United States and she left us in Nicaragua with our family there. Of course, we were in that lifestyle of poverty. We bathed in the same river she did, we washed laundry in the same river. We did get water from a well, so that was an upgrade. We had the horses and the cows and the pigs, the farm life.”
Her mother left her children while she worked to come up with a better plan for her and her kids. She was in Texas working, cleaning, being a nanny, and saving money to bring her kids to the United States. It took about a year for her to save enough money to bring the kids to America.
“I remember us walking to school over there, miles, and miles to school. There were no roads, there was no running water and no electricity. Our method of transportation was our feet or our horses.”
Gomez immigrated to Austin,Texas when she was 7. She is a 2005 graduate of Hayes High School, in nearby Kyle, Texas.
“My mother worked really hard and brought my brother myself over to America. She's made those very hard sacrifices.”
While in high school, she met her future husband. He joined the Marine Corps in 2004 and they were married two years later.
“I followed him around, and I was actually doing stuff. I was a stay-at-home mom and I had jobs, I was a dialysis technician and I was also a cardiovascular nursing assistant.”
Her husband was first stationed in Okinawa, Japan and later moved to San Diego where he was a drill instructor. With all the moving around it was very hard for her to maintain her job certifications.
Her husband inspired her to join the Marine Corps.
“I was all about it. I was like Marine Corps, Marine Corps, Marine Corps. I tried to join. I spoke with a recruiter, but they told me that I was already too old, and I had too many dependents. I was completely crushed.”
A short time, later she met her neighbors, both of whom are retired Senior Chief RDCs. They asked if she had ever thought about the Navy.
“I said, absolutely not. It never crossed my mind. But I was like, you know what, I'm going to give it a go.”
Gomez had always wanted to be a part of the military, she was extremely disappointed when she was not able to join the Marine Corps, but she still had the mindset of wanting to join the military.
“My mother always knew I was meant to be something, that I had that military mindset. I always had that, I guess.”
Gomez joined the Navy in 2016 at 29 years old. She went to “A” School in Mississippi and then was stationed in Okinawa, Japan with her husband on shore duty orders. Her husband then moved to Milwaukee and she was able to come here to Great Lakes.
Her husband is currently stationed in North Carolina. She is hoping that she and her three children (ages 7-11) will be able to move closer to him in either Jacksonville, Florida or Virginia.
Being duel military family has been challenging for her family.
“My success is a reflection of my husband and his career. He was always top notch, the go-to guy, so intelligent in his job. He helps me still to this day, I implement that whenever I put this uniform on.”
Gomez was determined to gain rank in boot camp, but after getting hurt she was not able to. Since then, she has put on 3rd Class and 2nd Class her first time up for advancement.
“Leadership has seasoned me. They put me up for boards. That says something about you, what your leadership sees in you. It's a reflection of them to any success that I have is also reflecting on my leadership. Lack of success is also a reflection of the leadership, it plays both ways.”
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2021 09:46 |
| Story ID: | 403415 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 554 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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