Celebrating Military Family Month: Making Waves In The Navy

As we celebrate Military Family Month, we wanted to pass the mic to some of our team here at PalletOne with family members who serve. Today we celebrate Tammy Schmidt, from our location in Livermore Falls, Maine, and her daughter Nicole, who is making history in the Navy:

Although my daughter, Nicole Jordan, is not a Veteran yet. She is active Military. I would like to pay tribute to her. Her story proves that women can do anything they put their minds to.

She joined the Navy in 2009.?

After her Navy Recruit training at the?Naval Station Great Lakes,?North Chicago,?Illinois, she went for more specialized training at Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, Florida.

After completing her training in Florida, she was stationed on USS George Washington (CVN-73), the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be forward-deployed at naval base?Yokosuka,?Japan. She spent the next three years on this aircraft carrier honing her weapons skills.??

Her superior officers then asked her to go to Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, Africa, to get more weapons training in what is considered a combat zone. She spent the next 18 months there before returning to the USS George Washington.?

Once she returned to the George Washington, she was promoted to Petty Officer Second Class. She spent the next 18 months serving on the GW before returning stateside.

Once stateside, she was stationed on the USS George Bush (CVN 77) for three more years. During this tour, she was promoted again to Petty Officer First Class. Toward the end of this tour, she was one of the few women hand-picked to begin Submarine Training.

She completed her 8-week Submarine Training at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut. After training, she was stationed on the USS Florida Blue (SSGN-728), an Ohio-class cruise missile submarine. The Florida Blue was one of the US fleet's first women-manned submarines.?

Once this tour was complete, she was (and is still) stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. Last November, she became the first woman ever promoted to Chief Torpedoman.??

She is still creating waves for the women in the Navy. I am incredibly proud of all she has accomplished thus far.