Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Olympia Martin | Seaman Latoya Shannon, left, and her son Airman Apprentice Jasiah Greenwade pose for a...... read more read more
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When Seaman Latoya Shannon, from Columbia, South Carolina, was 20 years old, she brought her second son Jasiah Greenwade into the world. She would have two more children, and unbeknownst to her, 18 years later she would serve alongside her son Airman Apprentice Greenwade in the U.S. Navy.
“I’ve always wanted to join the military,” said Shannon. “My grandfather was in the Air Force and I have many family members that have served in the Army as well.”
Her dream of carrying on the family legacy were put on hold when she began a family and focused on raising her children instead. When her youngest child became a teenager, she felt the time was appropriate to start chasing that dream once again.
“My ultimate goal was to become a commissioned officer in the military,” said Shannon. “No matter what obstacles may come into your life, never give up on your goals.”
Shannon applied to commission as an officer, but after over a year of waiting for results her application was denied at that time. Determined to not give up, Shannon decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy and planned to resubmit an officer package. Shannon encouraged her son Jasiah, who was also interested in joining the military, to visit the enlisted recruiter with her.
“I was initially trying to join another branch,” said Greenwade. “My mother convinced me to go to a Navy recruiter with her. She told me to be open-minded, go in and see what the Navy has to offer. Needless to say, I enlisted in the Navy as an aviation ordnanceman.”
Four days after Greenwade enlisted, Shannon followed her son and swore in the Navy as a personnel specialist.
Greenwade shipped off to begin basic training at Recruit Training Command (RTC) and three weeks later Shannon would do the same.
“I’m a typical mom,” said Shannon. “When I arrived at RTC I immediately asked my RDCs [Recruit Division Commanders] about my son. I asked if it was possible to stay updated on my son’s progress and my RDCs said they would keep me updated while still upholding RTC policies.”
Originally in separate training groups, Greenwade unfortunately would be set back in training due to failing his Official Physical Fitness Assessment (OPFA) just days before his scheduled pass-in-review graduation ceremony. This failure meant that Greenwade would have to be placed into another training group with a later graduation date while he focused on passing his OPFA.
“My senior chief made me aware of the situation,” said Shannon. “We looked at the training schedule to see when my son could possibly graduate next and realized that he would be graduating on the same day as me if he got picked up in the soonest training group.”
Greenwade would be placed in Division 410. Shannon was in Division 412. Both recruits were now in the same training group and lived in the same ship, USS Chicago.
“When I got to Division 410 I was called down to the ship’s quarterdeck along with my mom,” said Greenwade. “The leadership explained to us that all of the rules of RTC including the Commanding Officer’s Top Six rules still applied to us.”
A crucial component of the Commanding Officer’s Top Six rules is no recruit-to-recruit contact, meaning that Shannon and Greenwade were not allowed to have any contact including physical contact while in recruit training status at RTC.
“I can’t wait to hug my son at graduation,” said Shannon.
The possibility of being reunited and embracing each other at graduation motivated both Shannon and Greenwade. Both recruits were determined to pass their OPFAs.
“The day of my OPFA my senior chief reminded me that if I could pass there was a chance I could graduate with my son,” said Shannon. “I knew I had to try my hardest. As much as I hoped for my son to pass his OPFA, I knew I had to lead by example as his mother.”
Shannon passed her OPFA.
“When I was cooling down after my run, my senior chief came up to me again,” said Shannon. “He told me that my son had also passed his OPFA and that we would be graduating boot camp together. I couldn’t help but jump for joy and thank Jesus.”
Shannon explained that throughout training she was trying to coordinate with her family how they would cover the cost of traveling to two graduation ceremonies and shared that her own mother had sent her a letter earlier in training that motivated her.
“My mother sent me some scripture,” said Shannon. “She reminded me of Zechariah 4:7, and told me that sometimes you don’t know why you’re going through a hardship but once you’re at the end of it you look back and realize why you had to endure it.”
With both recruits now on track to graduate on the same date, Greenwade called home to share the news.
“When I called my grandmother to tell her the news everyone went wild,” said Greenwade. “I could hear my sisters laughing and crying in the back. They were all so happy.”
“Everything happens for a reason,” said Greenwade. “My mom started this whole process in the Navy first. I went to boot camp before her but here we are graduating at the same time.”
As both recruits look forward to the next step in their Navy careers, and hugging at graduation, Greenwade is reminded of the maternal support he received his entire life to get to this point.
“My mother always supported my dreams,” said Greenwade, “When I was younger, she always inspired my siblings and I to never give up and always chase after our goals.”
Boot camp is approximately 10 weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy’s only boot camp.
For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/rtc
| Date Taken: | 11.18.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2022 14:21 |
| Story ID: | 433557 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 2,265 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Mother & Son: From First Steps to the Fleet, by PO2 Olympia Martin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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