What a difference six years makes...
Every year on Father's Day, I think back to Father's Day 2009. My daughter, Audrey, left for Officer Development School the day before Father's Day that year (see the post several below this one to read about her history). Every year I think about posting an update here... but then time slips away and it doesn't happen. Well, perhaps this one will be different - at least I've started it.
At my last update, Audrey was one year into her professional development. She joined the Navy to serve but in a specific capacity - as a physician. She applied to, and was accepted to, the military's medical school at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. She left that day before Father's day in 2009 so she could report for duty the next day in Newport, RI. ODS is an abbreviated version for officers with specific professional skills of the Great Lakes experience that many of your sons and daughters experience as they begin their service in the US Navy.
In the intervening years, Audrey completed her first two years of study at USUHS in Bethesda (along with special medical triage training during the summers), and then finished two additional years on clinical rotations both in Bethesda and around the country - with rotations of about 4 - 6 weeks each in San Antonio, TX, San Diego, CA, West Point, NY, Bremerton, WA, Camp LeJeune, NC (not necessarily in that order, and possibly not an exhaustive list). We traveled back to see her in Bethesda several times (once for her "white coat" ceremony - a tradition in medical professions, as well as for holidays). We also visited her while on rotations in San Antonio (over one Thanksgiving holiday) and in San Diego (closer to our home in California's central valley).
She completed her M.D. degree (and promoted from ENS to LT) in May, 2013, graduating with about 165 of her peers in Constitution Hall across the street from the White House. She was assigned to NAS Jacksonville for internship beginning in June, 2013. The one-year internship also had one-month long rotations covering everything from pediatrics to surgery and OB/Gyn (she's focused on Family Medicine, which in the military means utilization throughout the range of medical care, from pediatrics for dependents, to geriatrics for retirees). In the fall of her internship, she decided to take a break from training and she signed up for a two-year deployment in the fleet, accepting a posting to a ship which is home-ported in Sasebo, Japan.
In July, 2014, I helped her drive across country from Jacksonville, FL to San Diego, CA. After a 3-week training at SWMIOC in San Diego, she reported for duty aboard the USS Green Bay (LPD20), which was just coming out of dry dock at the shipyards adjacent to Naval Base San Diego. Through the fall, the Green Bay engaged in field trials of its new systems, testing and fixing myriad elements of its components that had been upgraded, replaced or repaired while in port. Testing and certifications that would normally take 12-18 months were completed in just over 7 months with numerous 1-2 week trips to sail in circles off the California coast while testing. At the end of January this year, the ship left San Diego to transit the Pacific, stopping at (though not going into) Pearl Harbor to take on more inspectors to complete their certifications before arrival on station in Japan.
A two month "spring patrol" included joint exercises (that's her on the left) with sailors and marines from S. Korea and the Philippines. They are now somewhere in the vicinity of the Makassar Strait (Indonesia), as this news report on the navy.mil web site says: Green Bay Recovers Distressed Mariners in Makassar Strait. Audrey says the mariners they assisted were a father and two late-teen sons whose (fishing?) boat sank; she did the medical evaluations and they were in good shape.
Thank goodness for Facebook messenger... we get to have a bit of (texting-like) contact with her a few times a week. We (anonymously) hear about interesting cases (her mother and I are both in medicine) and sometimes provide information back about medical literature pertinent to a case. It's interesting to hear about life aboard ship and her experiences (always keeping operational security in mind). She recently agreed to a one-year extension of her originally two-year forward deployment to allow staggering of medical department leadership (she's been department head this year and will step down so the dental officer can assume that role next year; by extending her service aboard the Green Bay, she will remain and resume the department head role when a new dental officer rotates in next year). We're hoping to visit when the Green Bay is in port sometime next winter...
I've not posted here since 2010, but I appreciate the site being here (I sometimes look in on pictures/videos that you talented people post) and I appreciate the Facebook group and read postings there. I want to wish all Navy Dads a very happy Fathers' Day and thank your sons and daughters for their service to our great country.
John
PS: I'll leave you with a picture of Audrey on Graduation Day...
