YN2 Chelsea M. Powell, U.S. Navy
YN2(AW) Chelsea Powell, a twenty-five year old local from Quincy, Massachusetts entered into the United States Navy in March 2013 out of Boston, Massachusetts. Coming from a broken family she and her brother were raised by her mother and grandparents. Growing up was difficult coming from an abusive father and attending reoccurring court hearing for various reasons mostly pertaining to child support. Growing up to escape the everyday stresses of my family situation, I found enjoyment with surrounding myself amongst friends and in the company of any and all animals. I also enjoyed your everyday typical girl activities to incl ude: shopping, make-up, movies, dress-up, salon days you name it. l always loved school and kept myself through high school on the honor/high honor roll and upon graduation I attended some courses at a nearby community college.
Upon attending community college and having financial support of one parent, I attended part time college while working two jobs to pay for my student loans and courses. Life stressors began to play a heavy role and I needed to find an escape goat so to speak and this led me to enlisting into the military. My initial idea was join the military and get help with an education funded by the government however; my view of just obtaining an education seemed to grow to a whole lot more.
My first duty station after attending Boot camp in Great Lakes, Chicago and then on to Meridian, Mississippi was VP-16 out of Jacksonville, Florida. This command was the First P-8A Poseidon deployable unit and also a command that was both a challenge and a learning curve. Looking back this was a drastic command in shaping the Yeoman I am today and the better part of myself that I strive to be each and every day. When you join the military regardless what branch throughout your tour you will learn the difference between being a “leader” and what it means to be a “boss”. In VP-16 I got to see majority of bosses and a few leaders. A boss expects the team to “GO” and to have their team pull them to the finish line. A leader will sacrifice whatever it takes to get their team to the finish-line and assist in the entire process. Being in the military your world is opened to a vast spectrum of people from all different lifestyles, religions, and ethnicities. Every individual has their priorities and sometimes this can be for the better of the team or it can be solely to better the individual. The challenge in the military is to develop how to adapt to different types of bosses and leaders and learn how to cope with individuals and work to better a command and the overall mission even when differences begin to develop within the unit. During my tour with VP-16 I deployed twice to Okinawa, Japan and have also was on two different detachments to Busan, Korea and Perth, Australia and now currently on shore duty with the USCENTCOM, Tampa, Florida.
My detachment to Busan, Korea along with the Boston bombing changed my overall view on being an American. Today the generation in America is drawn too making political stands with the kneeling of the National Flag and the whose lives matter protests. I think the majority of the Nation lacks the mindset and views that we are blessed with the country we have and the opportunities we as Americans are provided. In Busan, Korea all males have to serve the Military for a specific time period before they can choose otherwise to get out of the service or go onto school. Other third world countries live in mass poverty and the rich stay rich and the poor will forever be poor. In America, you choose who you want to be and regardless where you started out one day you can play National Football league, be a celebrity, or have your PHD as a medical doctor, or be the MCPON of the United States Navy. The ultimate choice is up to each individual. The Boston bombing just as 9/11 brought a Nation once more together. This gave me pride that regardless who and how it happened, American’s came together to conquer a threat and make a stand to find a terrorist. An American should protect and be proud of their country and that’s how I feel every day that I serve America. We have Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines supporting the fight across the nation for America to sleep at peace at night in just in that alone makes me proud I’m among those in Combat supporting the mission even though I can’t be side by side those men and woman serving on my current shore tour.
The skills I have learned through my experience within the military and especially with being a Yeoman is regardless how small or non high tempo your MOS or rating is you are a part of the functioning wheel that makes the Navy effective on a daily mission. As a Yeoman, your job is based on laymen terms as administrative work. As a Yeoman you will provide customer service to Sailors distributed all over the world to provide any and all assistance within the members career and personal life. Without the administrative rates, Sailors wouldn’t be taken care of, making boards, promotions, being provided entitlements, pay and updated records, that could potentially affect the members career. A Sailor whose focus is based on the mission because they know there being taken care of is a clear minded Sailor ready for whatever the day will bring. This is what any Yeoman strives to do, take care of Sailors and assist with any and all situations we can partake in. I’m a proud Yeoman and I would like to be remembered as the Yeoman who helped Captain Blank retire or Petty Officer First Class Blank to be promoted. Days where you can look back regardless if you were thanked or not is a good feeling because at the end of the day I made a difference in someone’s career.