PENSACOLA, Fla. — Sailors are highly-trained specialists performing the duties of hundreds of positions in today’s Navy. Whether they join the medical field to save lives or launch aircraft aboard ships, the Navy provides skilled service members with incredible opportunities to expand their interests.
Since 2019, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Patsy Erwin, from Anna, Texas, serves with a passion as a member of the All-Navy women’s softball team.
Sailors who possess the athletic skills to compete in team or individual sports have a chance to represent the Navy at high-level athletic competitions sponsored through the Navy Sports Program.
“Training can be a lot of work,” said Erwin. “I play a lot, which means I’m on the ball field most weekends when I’m not at the hospital or in the operating room.”
Erwin is currently assigned to Naval Hospital Pensacola (NHP) in Florida and serves as a surgical technologist and leading petty officer. On the ball field, she’s the team captain, learning to juggle her job and athletic training.
“She works closely with medical personnel and stays calm under intense pressures,” said Chief Hospital Corpsman Lisette Cadiente, NHP’s leading chief petty officer for Ancillary Services. “Similarly, on the softball field, she excels through coordination and support of her teammates, and Erwin meets this challenge with determination and athleticism to perform at the highest level in sports.”
Erwin discovered her love for the sport starting at the age of four and played softball in college. Before Erwin joined the Navy, she also played for the Women’s Professional Fastpitch softball league.
“Softball has been a huge part of my life, and I think the heart that I can bring is a big aspect,” Erwin said. “You can teach talent, but you can’t teach heart.”
Erwin said, she will continue to grow the program before retiring to build a championship environment with the support from her family and team members who have been her biggest supporters throughout this journey.
“I feel my decision to play has impacted my life in more ways than I can count,” said Erwin. “There’s no true way to explain what my military softball family means to me that I will forever cherish.”
During the 2024 season, Erwin and her Navy team competed in several tournaments earning a gold medal for the third straight year at the Armed Forces tournament hosted in Oklahoma City. Selected players, including Erwin, will represent the U. S. Armed Forces team to compete at the Amateur Softball Association National Championship.
“Hands down [softball has] been the highlight of my career,” Erwin said. “We fight on that field against each other. At the end of the day, it’s like we are all family.”
Established in 1826, NHP is one of the oldest military medical facilities in the United States. The hospital’s long service history has provided health care to military personnel and their families for nearly two centuries.
Today, NHP is an outpatient surgical center with 10 branch health clinics and annex, serving more than 150,000 beneficiaries with a staff of approximately 1,600 military and civilian personnel.
Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Pensacola and NHP deliver high-quality healthcare to warfighters and beneficiaries, ensuring a medically ready force through strategic integration, innovation, and well-trained personnel.
For more information, please visit us at: https://www.facebook.com/NavalHospPensacola/
| Date Taken: | 08.23.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.23.2024 12:49 |
| Story ID: | 479319 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | ANNA, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Corpsman on the Softball Field, by CPO Michael Lee, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
