Citizen Sailor.

“I’m not constantly jumping out of helicopters or airplanes. I’m just your neighbor. I’m the girl next door.” This is how Kelli describes herself, especially when she encounters someone who doesn’t know what it’s like to be in the Navy Reserve.

“Even when I was on Active Duty, I didn’t do all that action stuff,” Kelli states. “I was involved with Public Affairs as a Mass Communication Specialist, so I covered and publicized all the people doing the action stuff. That’s one of the great things about the Navy — it let me discover what I was interested in and then gave me the opportunity to do it.”

Kelli joined the Navy right out of high school. “I was a good student, but I wasn’t ready to go to college,” she says. “And I really wanted to travel and see the world — so that’s why I chose the Navy.” She spent time in such exotic locales as Italy, Spain and Morocco, and she even did a six-month tour in Antarctica.

After seven and a half years, Kelli decided to transition from Active Duty so she could spend more time with her children. “I really liked the Navy and I always thought I was going to do 20 years, but there came a point where I had to put my children first.”

Five years after transitioning, Kelli decided to reconnect with the Navy by joining the Navy Reserve. “I really missed the military,” she says. “There’s a level of camaraderie and certain kinds of friendships that you form that can only happen in the military. Also, I didn’t want the seven and a half years that I put in on the Active side to go to waste as far as retirement goes.”

Kelli was able to enter the Reserve with the rating she held in the Navy. Today, she is once again a Navy Mass Communication Specialist and attending college full-time to get her degree in journalism. Kelli is also raising three children (Chelsea, 10, Chloe, 8 and Bryce, 5) and working two part-time civilian jobs.

“A lot of people, especially women I think, look at my situation and say, why be in the Navy Reserve? They look at it as very male-dominated, very inflexible and a big inconvenience. Well, what they don’t realize is that it’s very flexible. Look at me — after a five-year layoff, I’m back in and working in journalism again.”

“As far as I’m concerned,” Kelli continues, “the benefits you get serving by far outweigh the negatives. In addition to the extra pay and the retirement and educational benefits, there’s also the travel. Hey, I went to Japan last year for my two weeks (of Annual Training).”

“Also, the time you serve really isn’t that big a sacrifice, especially when you consider you’re doing it for your country. Regardless if it’s in the military or not, I think giving back, whether it’s to your community or your country, is something everyone should do.”

Kelli lives and attends classes in the Western United States.