Photo By Dartanyan Ratley | 220322-N-LG886-004 PORT HUENEME, Calif. (March 22, 2022) Steelworker 2nd Class Liette...... read more read more
PORT HUENEME, Calif. – As of March 1987 the U.S. Congress passed Public Law 100-9, thereby recognizing March as Women’s History Month to honor, recognize and celebrate the struggles and achievements of American women throughout history. The women of the Seabees have added immensely to that rich history and continue to break glass barriers even to this day. Historically, Ensign Jeri Rigoulot reported to Officer Candidate School at Newport, R.I. in October 1972 and was commissioned as an ensign in the Civil Engineering Corps Naval Reserve, becoming the first first woman officer in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps. During that same summer, Constructionman Camella Jones became the first enlisted woman to serve in a naval construction battalion and the first to qualify as a heavy equipment operator.
The Seabees are one of the most distinctive communities within the United States Navy. They're a bunch that are tougher than any task assigned and they’ve never been afraid to get their hands dirty. Like many of the women who came up before them, Seabees assigned to Naval Construction Group (NCG) 1 and its component battalions all had a reason for why they decided to serve and a unique background that drew them to the force.
“My uncle was a block mason for the union for many years and when we were little we always joined in and helped him out so that's where I got a little bit of my construction background;” said CBCM Kristi Thrift, a Seabee Master Chief assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5. “I was in my senior year of high school when I decided to join the navy, they offered me construction mechanic, builder and another rate and when I read about the builder portion I thought that was right up my swim lane,” said Thrift.
“I was a single mom and at 27 I moved down to Pensacola and was dating a guy. We were at dinner one night and I was telling him about how I was thinking about joining the military out of high school but I got pregnant and everything changed. He said ‘why don't you join now?’ I thought I was way too old to join. He said ‘no you're not.’ The very next day I was in the recruiters office,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Michal Shafer, assistant training officer for NMCB 4
“I had no idea what an EO (Equipment Operator) was when I joined the navy,” said Chief Equipment Operator Renee Harrison, water-well assistant officer in charge assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5. “ Honestly joining the navy was kind of a whim, it was the exact opposite of what I was doing in my life and I said ‘I'll take it , I need to go’,” said Harrison.
The Seabees have always worked at a demanding operational tempo in order to execute construction and engineering projects for major combat operations, disaster response, and humanitarian assistance. This means overseas deployments, homeport field training exercises, never ending maintenance cycles and traditional instruction evolutions in order to be ready to fight at a moments notice. This drive is difficult for all sailors within the force but especially for female Seabees who face their own unique set of challenges.
“The biggest obstacle when i first came in (the Navy) was that although I was a mother, because my daughter was physically living with her father, I wasn't allowed to live off base, I had to live in the barracks, so any time my daughter came to visit me, she couldn't stay in the barracks so we would have to get an hotel room. That was really stressful and frustrating,” said Shafer. “ Then In 2005, my daughter was 13 at the time and had moved out to stay with me in January and I was deploying in March for Iraq. Right then I needed to find someone who could take care of her for six months. This is before they started the family care plans so you didn't already have everything set up like you do now. Trying to navigate that was very stressful. I don't think it's as bad now but one of the things that leaders failed to recognize then was that I was a single mom, I had nobody here, none of my family was here to help me with that backup support.” said Shafer.
“Deployments are hard for everybody,” said Steelworker 2nd Class Tabitha Mercker, echo company safety for NMCB 4. “ Being away from your kids, even leaving for deployment and watching your kids yell because you're leaving is pretty hard.”
The Navy is an inclusive and diverse organization and that diversity fuels innovation and the ability to adapt to change, and it has a significant and positive impact on the mission. Within the Seabees, that innovation is vital as the community relies heavily on each and every member to accomplish immense feats of engineering. It is essential to recognize the influence diversity has within the lives and careers of each sailor.
”The Navy is like a little slice of the United States, you've got people from everywhere and if you don't have representation from different upbringings, from different socio-economic statuses, if you only have one type of person you're only going to get one type of idea. If you get people from all over the place, then you have a diversity of ideas, you have better brainstorming capabilities and you have role models at all levels for junior sailors to look up to,” said Harrison.
“As a woman in the Seabees, I was very lucky when I came in, I had a female Senior Chief, but that was like running into a unicorn. It's definitely a different environment, I'm very strong and independent and have no problem standing up for myself but a lot of women weren't raised that way. Where I am now, I look at the females that work underneath me and I want to be that good role model for them.”
A career in the Navy can be life changing and extremely rewarding. For any prospective female thinking of joining the Seabees, the women of Naval Construction Group (NCG) 1 and its component battalions will leave you with a piece of advice.
“You have to be tough and you have to be resilient to survive in this field. There's tons of change all day, everyday and you just have to be ready at any time for something to come up. If you don’t mind change, you don't mind moving around and you love meeting new people, this is the job for you,” said Shafer.
“Know your stuff, especially if you're coming into the Seabees, know your rate, know what you're doing. Don't just take an admin job, we can do the construction and work hard and if you do work hard you will be seen as an equal just as much as anybody else,” said Mercker.
“The more you care and the more you put into people, the more they are going to put into this,” said Thrift. “If you're going to join the Seabees or the Navy in general. Have a plan and understand the expectations. It's going to be hard and if you're going to make this a career, have a long term plan with your family because this can be done if you have a plan.”
“Absolutely go for it if that's what you want to do," said Harrison. “Go for it but be tough, seek out a mentor and don't be afraid to stand up for yourself.”
NCG-1 is currently homeported out of Port Hueneme. They train on high-quality construction, expeditionary logistics, and combat operations to execute construction and engineering projects for major combat operations, disaster response, and humanitarian assistance.
| Date Taken: | 03.28.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.28.2022 18:59 |
| Story ID: | 417348 |
| Location: | PORT HUENEME, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,212 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, Seabees Share Their Story’s During Women's History Month, by Dartanyan Ratley, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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