Building a better life.

“I saw my dad do great things with very little,” says Tina. “He was paralyzed, but that didn’t stop him from living life to the fullest. It is because of my dad that I have always looked at obstacles as opportunities.”

It was this can-do, self-reliant attitude that first attracted Tina to the Navy. “I grew up in a really small town, and I always saw the same people doing all the same things,” Tina recalls. “For me, I just wanted more. I wanted to do something different. I wanted to be independent, and I was looking for a challenge. So that’s why I joined the Navy while still in high school on the Delayed Entry Program.”

In Boot Camp, Tina soon learned about the Seabees (the fighting men and women of the Navy’s Construction Battalion) and the more she learned, the more she knew that she wanted to become one. “Growing up, I had always had an interest in construction and architecture,” she explains. “And in high school, I had even taken a few drafting classes.”

So, now determined to become a Seabee, Tina asked for and was granted special permission to cross-train into the Seabees. After meeting all the necessary requirements, Tina soon became an Engineering Aide and the only woman in her unit.

“I think that as a Seabee, I got to do more and experience more than women in other ratings at that time,” Tina says. “The construction field is definitely a male-dominated field, and Seabees, in general, are a real tight-knit group. So once I became one of them, I was learning so much from everybody and doing things I would have never imagined I could or would do.”

After 12 years, Tina decided to transition Active Duty. “I had learned so much in the Seabees, but there came a point when I realized that my career would be best served by getting a civilian job.” So, with 12 years of Seabee training and experience on her resumé, Tina left the Navy and obtained a position as a project manager in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry.

Though not on Active Duty anymore, Tina says she still considers the military as a major part of her life and career. This is because Tina is once again a Seabee, only now serving as a member of the Navy Reserve. “I find the structure, camaraderie and support system that the Navy Reserve provides to be invaluable to me, personally,” she says. “I’ve been in the military for 21 years, so I could easily retire, but I just can’t imagine not having the military and military people in my life. And I know my civilian employer appreciates all the leadership and problem-solving skills I continue to develop by being part of the Reserve.”

Since joining the Navy Reserve, Tina has been promoted to Engineering Assistant, 1st Class Petty Officer, and she was recently asked to assume a unique leadership role. “I was very proud of this, because I was told that they chose me because they knew I was very dependable and that I’d do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

In her spare time, Tina says she enjoys working out at the gym, listening to music and tending to her garden. She is also actively involved in doing volunteer work for the Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity.

Tina lives in the Southeast United States.