Life is full of accidental opportunities. Some help to shape you to become who you are, while others take you down a path you would not have gone down if given a different choice. Most people don’t recognize these accidents as blessings in disguise, but most people aren’t Capt. Patricia Hill.

Joining the Coast Guard in November of 1989 out of Daily City, Calif., Hill often jokes that she accidentally became a lifetime Coastie.

“Frequently, as I came into the Coast Guard, I was the person who was getting out next tour,” she lauged. But now, her outlook has changed. “I would characterize myself as a Coast Guard geek. I definitely drank the Kool-Aid.”

Now, at almost 22 years of service, she says the Coast Guard has provided her with many opportunities, and even some she didn’t expect.

Prior to joining the Coast Guard, Hill was a college graduate who was originally considering applying to the Peace Corps, but due to unforeseen circumstances she had to defer to take care of her grandmother. So, in keeping her options open she looked to the military. She said her sister, who served as a corpsman in the Navy, was her inspiration.

“I was always pretty enthralled with her whenever she came home. I was the geek who was putting her combination cover (uniform hat) on, so I thought, ‘Well maybe I’ll do the Navy,’” She said.

Being interested in aviation, she decided to look into the naval aviation officer candidate school. But later, as luck would have it, her sister would once again influence her into looking into something else.

“She went to a bar in Cherry Point, N.C., and met a group of Coast Guard aviators who were down there, and she starts talking to them saying, ‘Oh my sister is looking at Navy OCS’ and they were like, ‘No, no, no, don’t do it. Go Coast Guard.’ So my sister calls me up and she says, ‘Don’t join the Navy, join the Coast Guard, they’re so much fun,’” Hill said.

Intrigued, she began looking into the Coast Guard and what they stood for and found that the humanitarian aspect she was looking for in the Peace Corps she could also find in this service, so she submitted her application. But once again, her plans were delayed.

“When I initially applied for OCS I applied six months after I graduated college…I was ready for that next change in my life to begin,” she said.

The first class that Hill applied to was cancelled due to budget cuts, the second she missed by one slot.

“I was seriously considering if the Coast Guard was the way forward for me,” she said.

Finally, after the third try, her application was accepted. However, even after all the waiting, she found out she would not be able to go to flight school like she had planned because her recruiter forgot to include her qualifying flight test scores in her documents package. So, in a moment of desperation, Hill decided to retake the test, almost two years after the first time, in hopes that she retained some of the information so she could continue on toward flight school. Much to her dismay, she didn’t pass, being only a few points short. Once again, Hill was forced to make a hard decision: what now? She couldn’t go to flight school like she had planned, so now she had to choose another route.

“I was going to a ship. I could have taken that test another time but I never ended up taking it,” she said.

There she found a new passion she never thought she’d find, the sea.

“If I had known that you could go to back-to-back cutters like the amazing Master Chiefs here do I would have choosen that immediately. It’s just awesome what they get to do,” she said.

As Hill served aboard cutters and made her way up the ranks, she admits that it wasn’t always easy as she found her own obstacles to overcome, but by keeping at her determination to be a hard working member of the service, she was able to find her own strengths and weaknesses as well as helping others recognize theirs.

“If you want to come to work everyday and pick out what’s wrong about something or someone, that’s all you’re going to focus on. So, sometimes, recognizing the positives and the challenges makes it better.”

One thing Hill has learned in her career is the importance of education, especially for military members. She encourages maximizing the use of the tuition assistance and funded education programs available to every military member because it helps you to build a foundation for a life and passion both in and outside of your Coast Guard career. She said that since she was able to take advantage of the schooling opportunities provided by the Coast Guard, she put in for, and was selected to the funded law school program which opened up additional opportunities as a Coast Guard Judge Advocate General and allowed her to assist her service by providing guidance in matters of legality and justice. In turn, both her years as a Cutterman and a JAG officer, gave her the tools and leadership background to serve as the Deputy Commander of Coast Guard Sector San Diego.

“Many people say I’m a demanding boss, but I think that we frequently don’t recognize our own capacity. So my goal is to push people to their capacity and exceed it and watch them grow. That’s just what is amazing to me,” she said.

It’s safe to say that Hill has taken every accidental situation into stride and turned them into an opportunity to flourish. She discovered a new passion from switching from aviation to working on cutters and is aiding her country with her knowledge and skills that she likely may not have acquired had she not joined. She will admit it helps to surround herself with those who want to see her succeed.

With the constant support of her husband, who serves in the Marine Corps, and the support of her friends and family, leaves her feeling immensely blessed to have gotten this far.

“I’m fortunate to have a husband who understands the service and my passion for the Coast Guard…So he’s as excited about me being in the Coast Guard as I am.”

After almost 22 years of service, Hill is the perfect example of someone who, despite hurdles, barriers and unforeseen circumstances has come out on top.

SAN DIEGO – Capt. Patricia Hill sits in her office aboard U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego March 15, 2012. Hill serves as the Deputy Sector Commander where she is second in command. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Alexis Motley.

Peer pressure is something that every person struggles with. Are you cool enough? Will you be accepted into a certain group or 'clique'? Are you too skinny, too fat, too short, or too ugly? The desperation in the need to be accepted and liked is not just limited to people outside of the military, or just strictly to young women, but to both genders and in the service as well. For Chief Petty Officer Joan Tedeschi, her way of dealing with the pressures was to just be herself.

To Tedeschi, joining the Coast Guard was a no-brainer. In addition to her family owning and operating a small boat store, her grandfather was in the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

"I grew up in a family where we as kids would go out and flip the boat over and right it. And we would have all these drills," she said.

In addition to her family background Tedeschi worked different jobs, but as the years drew on, she knew that she had to make a change.

"I was a watch maker before I joined, and I enjoyed that, but I knew I was getting a little older and that I needed to decide soon whether to stay with that or switch over," she said.

So, in 1990, she enlisted in the Coast Guard and served as a seaman at Station Cape May, N.J., and from there she went on to class "A" school to become a Quarter Master. She was later assigned as a search and rescue responder in Cape Hatteras, N.C., served a tour a board the Coast Guard Cutter Rush out of Hawaii and was the first woman to report aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Tybee in 1997, a 110-foot cutter out of Point Loma, Calif.

When transferred to one of the many cutters she worked on, Tedeschi found herself at one point in a uniquely challenging position.

"When I was on the Tybee, I was the first woman to report. The poor crew had been beaten to death with training ahead of time and was almost afraid to even speak to me," she said with a laugh, "I had to tell them it was ok.”

She went on to explain that throughout her career she avoided most drama through maintaining a separation between work and home and not allowing the two to co-mingle, even if this meant not sharing simple details like people asking her what she did this weekend. She would just tell them respectfully that it wasn’t any of their business and that she was someone who liked to keep her private life private. Her direct approach, she found, tended to work to her advantage.

To other females, she advises that even though it is tempting to pretend to be like someone else to be liked, they should just be themselves instead.

“Try not to be one of the guys,” she said, “I don’t need to be one of them, I just need to be me. I find that for me, it’s worked that I’ve always shown people how I wanted to be treated.”

After serving nine years on active duty as a Quarter Master, instead of retiring, she joined the Coast Guard reserves as an Operations Specialist and got a job as a civilian in Sector San Diego’s Command center. Although her job outside the military is here in California, her job in the military is on the opposite coast.

“I get three weeks of extra leave a year to fly back east and drill, and I do that about six times a year,” she said.

But despite the distance between jobs and the traveling, she says she enjoys it. Not having the same chain of command in her civilian job as in the reserves allows her to meet new people and visit her family who live there. The change of scenery, she adds, is always nice as well.

Now, close to retirement, Tedeschi seems to be satisfied with the way her career has turned out. She’s happily married and enjoys hiking, camping and volunteers to raise puppies for Canine Companions for Independence, a non-profit agency that helps to raise dogs to assist disabled people.

“I’m fortunate that the command here lets me raise the dogs and bring them to work. We take on the puppies at two months old and give them back at 18 months. The agency trains them for another six and if they make it at two years old, they go to work and do one of four jobs: hearing dog, skill companion, a facility dog or a service dog. Two-thirds of the dogs don’t make it, so I’m fortunate that two out of the three I’ve trained have,” she said.

She said that one of the dogs she raised was given to help a disabled Navy veteran here in California while the other went to a man in Colorado. She often jokes that since she and her husband have no kids, raising and training the dogs has filled that spot.

Because Tedeschi stayed true to who she was throughout her career and her life, she was able to set an example for other young women coming in behind her to not allow the peer pressures of trying to fit in determine who they are so they can not only grow stronger as a member of the Coast Guard, but help others to do the same.

The world is full of people spewing from their mouths excuses or reasons why they or, someone else, can’t do something before they have even tried. It almost comes as a second nature, something that starts when we are young and grows more elaborate over time. For Seaman Erica Pranke, someone telling her she can’t and why, doesn’t stop her.

Three years ago if you had asked Pranke where she saw herself in two years, the military, much less the Coast Guard, would have been the furthest thing from her mind.

“I grew up with military parents,” she said. “My mom, my dad and my step-dad were all in the Air Force. I swore off the military because I didn’t want that life-style, or to move around all the time. My mom didn’t get to come see every single swim meet that I was at. She didn’t get to come see every school event.”

After graduating from Niceville Senior High School in Niceville, Fla., she worked at a taco shop across the street from the high school and enrolled in college, but for some reason none of it felt right. She never really enjoyed school, despite making passing grades, and she felt that college was just a repeat of high school since she was attending with all of the same people. She said that after talking to a friend of hers who was looking into joining the National Guard to help fund his way through medical school, she began to seriously look into other options. She sat down with her mother one night and brought up the idea of joining the Coast Guard. They went online, and the next day a recruiter contacted her.

She chose the Coast Guard out of her great respect for the ocean, but it wasn’t her only reason.

“Looking back on it, it was just something I wanted to do,” she said. “It wasn’t something that my mom pushed on me, it was my choice. It was never ever my mom saying, ‘Oh, you should do this.’ She never hinted at that. It was something I came to terms with for myself. I still think it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”

After going through the screening process, she left for basic training and eight weeks later on January 22, 2010, she graduated. Finally, she knew she was doing something that not only felt right, it was something both she and her mom could be proud of.

“I’ve never ever seen my mom cry. I think the Air Force made her as tough as rocks,” she laughs, “but, I remember graduating boot camp and seeing her come up, her face all red, tears pouring down her face, and she gave me the biggest hug and she just whispered to me, ‘I’m so proud.’”

With great respect for the ocean and her background in swimming she became interested in the role of an Aviation Survival Technician (AST) because she wanted to be directly involved in serving and protecting the community. She also jokes that watching the movie “The Guardian”, which centered on the job of an AST, may have been a bit of an influence on her as well.

However, after graduating from basic training, she was placed on the waiting list and spent the next 18 months working for the Master at Arms shop at U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego maintaining the base. She admitted that when she first came in, she had issues with adjusting to the military at times because of the way people are addressed outside the military and the way you address people in the military are vastly different. She found that she often had to rephrase her words or check her tone when she wanted or needed to express her views so that she wouldn’t come across disrespectful or rude.

“It’s hard when you have someone get on you about something you did wrong and then they would turn around and do the opposite of what they just told you. It makes you stop and say, ‘no, wait a minute,’” she said.

She went on to say that sometimes it’s hard to be able to take orders because you didn’t understand why you had to do it a certain way, but you just had to learn to trust that sometimes you weren’t going to understand everything and that sometimes you didn’t need to. This was a lesson that she later understood in full when she was the one placed in the position of authority.

“They made me leading seaman while I was over there and, at first, I didn’t really have an issue with it. The group that was there at the time … they were awesome.” she said.

She went on to explain that she could assign them to work on a project or do a certain job and they wouldn’t argue, they would just do it. But, when that group left and a new one came in, she was posed with a new challenge. The new group was fresh from basic training and some struggled with authority just as she had.

“I got people who thought they knew everything straight out of boot camp and that they knew exactly what they were doing,” she said. “Even if a supervisor assigned them to work with someone else, they would just go off with whomever they felt like working with and do the job and leave the other person there,” she said.

Because of these frustrations she had to learn to show patience as she taught and showed them the same things that she herself had to learn when she came into the Coast Guard. One valuable thing she says that she did take away is that even when she may have had a hard day, she didn’t let it follow her home to her personal life and vice versa.

“It’s like having a split personality. Outside of work you live your life, but the second you come on base you become stone faced,” she said.

She said that having that separation helped her to not complicate her work or home environment and allow a sort of release.

Despite her reservations about joining, conflicts with co-workers and authority, and her struggle finding her balance, she said that the most important thing she learned after her two years in the service is perseverance. It is always better than just giving up she says. By doing her job and doing it to the best of her ability, she was finally given an opportunity to work in aviation with the helicopters, something she had been working towards since she had joined.

Her struggles with being under authority as well as being the one in authority has made her skin a bit thicker and easier to let the mean or discouraging things people say roll off her back, such as people telling her that she would never make it as an AST, a job that requires a tremendous amount of not only physical strength, but mental and emotional as well. Not every applicant that goes to train as an AST is fully capable of this amount of strength resulting in many people dropping out.

“People have said to me that I won’t make it because they never see me in the gym working out. But I will become a swimmer if I have to go back two, three or four times. And if for some reason I really can’t do it, I’ll still be in a field that involves aviation,” she said.

Pranke has learned that as long as you believe in yourself and push through to reach your goals nothing can keep you from achieving your dreams and bettering yourself and your service.

	SAN DIEGO – Seaman Erica Pranke sits in the cockpit of an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter at U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego March 13, 2012. The sector’s airman program allows for non-rated members to get hands-on training on the inner workings of rates that involve aviation. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Alexis Motley.
	SAN DIEGO -- Seaman Erica Pranke preforms maintenance on the MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter as part of the airman Program at U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego March 13, 2012.  The sector's airman program allows for non-rated members to get hands-on training on the inner workings of rates that involve aviation. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Alexis Motley.

Strength. This word coupled with such words as bravery, hard working, mentor, and role model have been used to describe women who not only serve their country, but their families and loved ones as well. From Joan of Arc to Eleanor Roosevelt, women have been effectively changing the way the world views them and the roles they play. This is why in 1987 Woman’s History Month was introduced by the United States Congress as a month-long dedication of recognition to women, young and old, not only throughout history, but also to those who live their day-to-day lives as wives, mothers, and co-workers. The women of the United States Coast Guard are no exception to this.

Dating all the way back to the 1770s, women began as lighthouse keepers, often awarded the position full time after their husbands who operated them became ill or died, but they didn’t stop there.

In 1881, Ida Lewis became the first woman ever to be awarded a Gold Lifesaving Medal. In February of 1976 the Coast Guard Academy became the first service academy to offer entrance to women. In 1974, mixed-gender basic training began which made possible the first mixed-gender crew in October 1977 when 24 women reported aboard the Coast Guard Cutters Gallatin and Morgenthau. More recently, in March of 2011, Chief Petty Officer Kristin Werner became the first female to make Chief Gunner’s Mate ever in the Coast Guard.

Remarkable women live, serve, and breathe all around us. In recognition of this, a story will be released during each week of March honoring the Coast Guard women of San Diego that we serve and come in contact with every day.

In a juggler’s profession, the key to maintaining the awe of the crowd is the ability to keep the objects moving in a fluid, almost graceful, momentum. This takes precision, practice and quick thinking, because if one of the objects were to touch another, even barely, the whole act would fall apart. It’s all about focus. For the women of the Coast Guard who have families and lives outside of their career, trying to balance everything can become a juggling act.

Seaman Alyssia Veiga, like many others, did not join the Coast Guard right out of school.

“Because I’m 22, I’m still young,” she said, “I’m not fresh out of high school, but at the same time, I have experience in (the world). I was away from home and I didn’t join the Coast Guard right away.”

Veiga went on to explain that she decided on the Coast Guard because she wanted to help people and the Coast Guard seemed the most humanitarian out of all the services. Her face lit up as she talked about the possibilities and opportunities that the service has to offer her and laughed as she spoke about how she’d learned secrets of the trade that she can apply to her own life.

Originally placed on the Marine Science Technician “A” school list, she made the switch to Store Keeper and is working her way to becoming a petty officer through on the job training in Coast Guard Sector San Diego’s supply shop. In this position she still feels like she is able to help people and the role of customer service suits her.

“Even though I’m not like an AST (Aviation Survival Technician), jumping out of a plane and saving lives, I still get to help people,” she said.

On the role of being a woman and a future mother as well, she understands the struggle of trying to balance both, but it is just that, a balancing act. She explains that although she made a commitment to serve in the military, her budding family is very important to her as well.

“There has to be a balance,” she went on to explain, “There are some people who don’t know how to juggle at all. Basically, it’s a giant juggling act and I have to delegate time for my personal life and draw boundaries.”

Trying not to allow the lines to blend between life and work has been long struggle seen throughout the Coast Guard and other military services alike, but for women, it comes with its own set of unique pressures.

“It’s really hard, especially for women, even though guys have the same mindset. As women, we are supposed to be the head of the household and taking care of the kids, but at the same time, you are a career driven person as well, so you have to choose and (sometimes) decide between your family and work,” she said.

It’s common in this time to see women who are married member-to-member or service-to-service have to make that choice between their family and their careers, and for some who worked hard to get to the position that they have, it’s not an easy choice. For the women who decide to truck on through the struggles, Veiga said she has a great respect for their strength.

“I’m not ready to make that decision yet,” she said, “it makes you want to work that much harder. I have so much more respect for the people whose infant was keeping them up crying until 3 a.m., and they still came in on time.”

Besides being a future mother, there are other unique challenges of being a female in the service. Veiga, who was stationed on a 378-foot cutter prior to transferring to San Diego, said being a female amongst a sea of males isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

“You can’t just be one of the guys,” she said, “You can’t just be another worker.”

She explains that often times all it took was for one female to show up to quarters with scuffed boots or a wrinkly uniform for all the females to be lumped in as slackers. She said that sometimes you have to put in that extra effort to move past the ideas that people may have of you and how you work.

Although, sometimes things were rougher than others, overall she doesn’t seem to allow it to affect her or hinder her ability to advance forward. Instead, she moves toward a more positive outlook: setting as example as those before have. She said that often when people mention their boss out in the civilian world, people just assume that it is a man. This is precisely the reason why she loves the fact that at her job in the Coast Guard her shop supervisor is a woman.

“For me, I like having my chief be a female,” she said.

It was the first female supervisor she had since joining the Coast Guard and she said it makes her feel so good to know that one day she was going to be in a position of leadership like that.

She explained that the biggest thing she wants people to understand is that even though at times work can be hard, it’s always worth doing if you are willing to push on through.

So whether it is your Coast Guard family, your home family, your career or your life, finding the right balance and grace to allow them to flow in, around and over each other without it all falling on your head is the daily routine of a Coastie mother and worker.

SAN DIEGO – Seaman Alyssa Veiga files paperwork at U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego supply center Feb. 2, 2012. Veiga provides assistance to the various units within the sector’s area of responsibility by ordering and receiving supplies needed. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Alexis Motley.

A group of Coast Guardsmen at a Marine Corps Ball stick out like a handful of sore thumbs. However, this noticeable group was welcomed with a standing ovation and handshakes by the Marines of All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 121 during this year’s ball.

This year the squadron not only celebrated the 236th birthday of the Marine Corps and the 70th anniversary of the squadron being established, but they also welcomed two of their members back to the squadron who were injured when they ejected during a training flight over the Pacific Ocean in August.

That’s where the Coast Guard members come in. These particular Coast Guardsmen were members of a search and rescue crew from Air Station Sacramento who helped locate the downed aviators amid the debris of their plane 30 miles off the coast of Mexico, Aug. 10, 2011.The crew of the CG-1712, a C-130 Hercules airplane, was already airborne en route to a law enforcement patrol off the coast of southern California when they heard radio transmissions about lost communications with an F/A-18 Hornet from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

The Hercules crew immediately diverted to join Navy and Marine Corps crews searching for their downed comrades.

The CG-1712 coordinated with a Marine Corps C-130 crew that was also searching and spotted the men in the water. Once the survivors were sighted, the C-130 crew vectored in the other rescue crews to their location.

Thanks to the combined efforts of air and surface crews, as well as those working in command centers throughout California, the downed Marines were found after several hours in the 60-degree water. They were battered, but alive when they were hoisted from the water by a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and transported to Balboa Naval Medical Center in San Diego.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Conant, former 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Commanding General, and Sgt. Maj. Don Gallagher, former 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Sergeant Major, visited Coast Guard Sector San Diego in August to speak to the crews who helped in the search, but the squadron also wanted to thank the Sacramento crew.

“We all felt extremely fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to aid in the rescue of our downed aviator brothers,” said Lt. j.g. Jarret Stricker, one of the pilots of the CG-1712 and himself a prior Marine. “The display of teamwork between our sea-service partners was truly inspiring and to see the injured aircrew well on their way to recovery is a testament to this cooperation.”

Luckily, this cooperation and the quick actions of rescue crews gave the squadron something extra to celebrate at this year’s ball.

Losing 33 pounds while surviving on canned tuna for weeks sounds like something from the plot of a Hollywood survival movie, but for Tom Hussey it is part of his yearly ritual when preparing for a bodybuilding competition.

This year, Hussey competed at the national level for the first time in the National Physique Committee’s USA Bodybuilding Championship held in Las Vegas, July 29-30, against other top bodybuilders from around the country.

Hussey’s wife, Erykah, and daughters, Oliviah and Gloriah, braved the desert heat to be with him during the competition, which was held on the campus of University of Nevada Las Vegas.

To compete in the nationals, considered the major league of bodybuilding, competitors must win a state or regional qualifier. Only about 25 bodybuilders were able to compete in the middle weight class with Hussey.  Achieving this level of athleticism is demanding, but Hussey manages to balance bodybuilding with a full-time Coast Guard career and being a husband and father.

“Erykah probably thinks there’s something deeply psychologically wrong with me,” Hussey said. “But, the kids think it’s cool that their dad has big muscles. They’re probably my biggest fans.”

The preparation for Hussey’s first national-level competition began back in San Diego during the first week of June. This is when Hussey’s weight training increases in intensity.

This is also when the tuna comes into play.

“The most important part of this is diet,” he said, “I’d say it’s about 80 percent of being successful.”

Hussey explained that he has a zero carbohydrate diet during the weeks leading up to a show, relying on protein to provide his body with energy. He takes in approximately 400 grams of protein per day, usually in the form of a dozen cans of tuna seasoned with fat-free mayonnaise or mustard.

 “The idea is to lose weight while maintaining the muscle,” he said.

This accentuates the definition of the muscles, and makes the striations and vascularity more visible during judging.

The days are busy when Hussey is preparing for a competition. Starting at 6 a.m., he begins with a high-intensity cardio work out. Then, he goes to work at the San Diego recruiting office, where he specializes in recruiting for the Coast Guard Reserve. Next, it’s back to the gym for several hours of weight training. Then, it’s back home to the normal bustle of family life.

Instead of being overwhelmed by the demanding schedule, Hussey finds that he is able to thrive.

“There are a lot of rules you have to live by if you’re going to be a successful bodybuilder,” he said, “Rest, eat, manage your time, everything you do has to be by the clock. Having kids actually made me a much better bodybuilder.”

His daughters have picked up some of his passion for the sport.

“We went to one of Tom’s shows when Gloriah was about two,” Eyrykah said, “She was posing with Tom and yelling his name while he was on stage.”

Bodybuilding can seem like an unusual sport to take up. Hussey traces the origins of his passion for bodybuilding to his freshman year of high school, when his motivation to bulk up was self-preservation.

“I was a bully magnet. I was a good athlete, but I was a bully magnet,” Hussey said. “I was about 5 feet tall and 95 pounds, so I was a easy target for real ‘tough guys.’”

Hussey decided to get strong to give his tormentors some of their own medicine.

“We had an old weight set in the basement that my mom used to lift on. The book that I learned all the basic movements from was Weightlifting for Women,” he said. “It had all the standard stuff in there, but it was women from the 80’s in their leotards and fluffy socks.”

His determination was apparent, he put on 25 pounds of muscle in the first year of training.

“I never got to get my revenge on any bullies, though,” said Hussey,  “The funny thing is, bullies are cowards too, so nobody ever wants to fight you once you get big.“

Since that summer when Hussey decided to bulk up, he has come a long way. He entered his first contest in Arizona in 1999. Eventually, he began placing in the top five in every show he entered. In 2003, he enlisted in the Coast Guard and was stationed in Kodiak, Alaska, after attending boatswain’s mate Class “A” school.

After a disappointing loss in Alaska in 2004, Hussey decided to dedicate himself to bodybuilding 100 percent. Since then, he has not lost a competition that he entered. Among his accomplishments are several first place wins in the Alaska State Championships, first place in the Western All Forces Bodybuilding Championship and induction into the Alaska Bodybuilding Fitness and Figure Hall of Fame.

This year, Hussey decided it was time to compete at the next level and test himself against the best bodybuilders in the nation.

The audience crowded into the concert hall in the sweltering evening of July 29 for prejudging. The chatter of vendors in the foyer was drowned out by rock music on the speaker system and cheers from the crowd as the competitors took the stage.

Each bodybuilder took center stage individually to have their physiques scrutinized by the panel of judges.

“When I’m on stage I’m trying not to pass out,” said Hussey, “Dehydration, the heat of the stage lights, full physical exertion and the enormity of the moment all play a factor in how you look and present yourself. I concentrate on smiling and then constantly going through all body parts in my mind and ensuring that everything is staying flexed at all times.”

“In some shows you can find yourself on stage for 20 minutes straight,” he said, “That can really test your endurance and strength.”

Despite his best efforts, Hussey was not ranked in the top five of his weight class to continue into the finals the following evening.

 “This has been an education for me,” he said the next day. “I am disappointed because this is the best I have ever looked, this is my top conditioning and I didn’t crack the top ten.”

Though visibly exhausted, Hussey did not seem to have lost his spirit.

“Usually after a show I stay out of the gym for awhile to give me some clarity on what I need to do,” he said. “Every time I do a show I have to look at myself and reevaluate where I’m at.”

Hussey placed thirteenth in the middleweight division, however just competing at the national level was a valuable experience for him and his family.

“I like having the kids see me do it,” he said, “It gives them a sense of what it takes to be a champion; the kind of dedication that you have to put into anything in life. “

Story and photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry G. Dunphy.

Burial at sea is a tradition that can be traced back as long ago as people have gone to sea. During wartime, service members who died aboard ships were buried at sea out of necessity.  For one family, this age-old tradition was a way to honor their parents’ final wish and bring closure for themselves.

The ashes of retired Navy Chief Warrant Officer Milton Strouse, who passed away in 2003, and his wife Josephine, who passed away in April of this year, were reunited and scattered off the coast of San Diego during a ceremony aboard Coast Guard Cutter Petrel June 10, 2011.

“My father loved the sea and loved serving in the Navy,” said David Strouse, Milton’s son.  “He really had saltwater in his veins. It was always his wish to be buried at sea.”

Milton Strouse served as a shipfitter in the Navy from 1936 to 1958, achieving the rank of chief warrant officer. 

Not only did he serve bravely, he also suffered greatly. Early in World War II, Strouse’s ship, the U.S.S. Pope, was sunk during a battle in the Java Sea with 101 people aboard. After 59 hours in the water, 27 survivors were picked up by a Japanese destroyer. The American sailors were interned at a prisoner-of-war camp in the Dutch East Indies, where Strouse was made an example of by the guards. He was accused of smuggling a newspaper into the camp and subjected to solitary confinement in a 4-foot by four-foot cell and endured regular beatings with belts and clubs for seven days.

Strouse and the other prisoners were later moved to a work camp in Japan, where they were forced to labor in coal mines until the end of the war, more than 42 months later.

Despite these hardships, Strouse continued on in his military career after his release from the prison camp.

“He spoke often of his time in the Navy, but didn’t talk about being a POW until the last few years of his life,” Susan Seevers, one of Milton and Josephine's daughters.

Some of this love of sea-going life rubbed off on Strouse’s son, David, who served as a quartermaster in the Coast Guard from 1984 to 1988.

Milton met Josephine in Pensacola, Fla., where she was working as a telephone operator for the Navy. After a brief courtship, they were married Dec. 26, 1954. Seevers remembers her father telling a story about his wedding day in which he forgot to buy the cake until the day of the ceremony. He rushed to a local bakery and purchased a cake, but had to scrape the words “Happy Birthday” off the frosting.

Milton had been transferred to San Diego in 1954, and after the marriage returned to his duty station there. Josephine, along with her mother and sister, moved across the country so she could be with her new husband. They rented a series of houses in the San Diego area, and after Milton retired from the Navy, built their dream home on the side of Mount Helix in El Cajon, Calif.

“My parents were very much in love their whole lives,” said Seevers, “My mother adored my dad, and he lived for her.”

Seevers said her mother did not share her husband’s enthusiasm for the sea.

“The funny part of this is that my mother hated the water,” she said.  “She would go to the beach with my dad, but would not go near the water even though he loved it.”

Seevers, who helped care for her parents during the later part of their lives, said they were an extremely close family.  

“They were a big part of my life,” she said, “we [the Seevers family] had dinner with them every night.”

Milton Strouse passed away in 2003. As the family discussed the funeral arrangements for his burial at sea, Josephine decided that she wanted to wait until she passed away as well and have their ashes scattered together.  Milton’s remains were placed in a chest with intertwined wedding rings carved into the wood and the inscription “Until we meet again” to symbolize the strong religious belief that they both held, as well as being scattered together in their final resting place.

Josephine passed away in April, 2011, and the couple could be reunited.

David Strouse, who remembered performing burial at sea ceremonies while serving in the Coast Guard, contacted Sector San Diego with the request and the ceremony was planned for June 10, 2011.

"It's a privilege to honor those who have courageously served in times of war and grant them their last wish for a burial at sea," said Lt. j.g. Erin Slycord, one of the Coast Guard members who helped coordinate the ceremony.

The ceremony was held on the forecastle of the Petrel, under an overcast sky. Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Owens, the chaplain from Sector San Diego, offered remarks and a prayer. The ship’s crew snapped to attention and saluted as Master Chief Petty Officer Peter Desillier scattered Milton and Josephine Strouses’ ashes into the Pacific Ocean. Their three children, two grandchildren and two family friends who attended then placed yellow carnations in the water and paused to say farewell to their loved ones.

“It is beyond what you can comprehend how much this means to us,” David Strouse said. “To fulfill the final wish of our parents and be present for the ceremony was immensely important.”

“It was definitely her wish to have them together and her everlasting love for him that made her finally ‘get in’ the ocean,” Seevers said of her mother.

Story and photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry G. Dunphy

Petty Officer 2^nd Class Jonathan Raimey, a yeoman stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton, enlisted in the Coast Guard six years ago because he wanted to serve in the branch of the armed forces whose primary mission is saving lives.

Raimey, a San Diego native whose father and grandfather served in the Navy, had firsthand experience of military life.

“I grew up around the military and knew that someday I would join as well,” Raimey said. “I chose to join the Coast Guard because, out of the five armed forces, the Coast Guard was the only one with the mission to save lives and give second chances.”

Since joining the Coast Guard, Raimey has done a variety of jobs, including being a boarding team member for law enforcement missions, navigated ships, stood watch as an engineer and assisted in relief efforts during the Hurricane Katrina response.

Of the 19 possible enlisted job specialties, Raimey decided to be a yeoman, which is similar to human resources and administration in the civilian world. Part of a three-person department, he is responsible for pay, leave, transfers and arrivals for the approximately 160 crewmembers aboard the Hamilton.

“The most influential factor in choosing my career path was that I wanted to help people on a daily basis,” Raimey said. “It feels good to know that I take care of my shipmates.”

This passion for helping people is also apparent in Raimey’s life outside of work. He has volunteered countless hours mentoring at schools and working with Habitat for Humanity. This dedication was commended when Raimey received the Volunteer Service Medal while stationed at Coast Guard Sector Seattle.

“I want people to know that they can have a brighter future,” Raimey said. “That is what motivates me to volunteer in the community.”

Through his varied experiences, Raimey views the connections with people he works with as the best part of the job.

“The most rewarding aspect of working for the Coast Guard is the relationships I have built with my shipmates,” Raimey said. “I know that, just as I look after them, they look after me.”

For Raimey, Black History Month is an important time to look back at the perseverance of the generations of black Americans that have come before him.

“This is a time to teach and learn about how black people have endured oppression and the struggle to gain equality in America,” Raimey said. “It is important to remember the past. I think it is important to not dwell on the negative, but focus on the positive achievements that have come out of the struggle.”

Story, photos and video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry G. Dunphy

Petty Officer 2^nd Class Leon Ann’el, a gunner's mate serving in Coast Guard Sector San Diego's enforcement division, was born on Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and moved to California when he was 18.

“I’m an island boy, I feel like my self when I’m near water,” said Ann’el. “That’s one of the reasons I love the Coast Guard all the more.” 

After living in Long Beach, Calif., for several years, Ann’el decided to enlist in the Coast Guard as a way to become more stable and independent.

“I worked many years doing security, which were pretty much dead end jobs,” Ann’el said. “I wanted to be able to take care of myself and my family.”

As many people do, Ann’el also enlisted in the military to see the world and experience new things.

“I wanted to look back one day in life and say, ‘You know what? I lived life. I’ve experienced it, and not just by watching the geographic channel. I’ve been out there, and I’ve done it,’” he said.

Ann’el said it was challenging coming into the Coast Guard at 26, a later age than many people enlist, and giving up some of the autonomy that he enjoyed as a civilian. Many people his age were already further along in their Coast Guard careers. He said that by working hard and applying himself he was able to be promoted.

“Making 2^nd [Class Petty Officer] in under four years, I think that was pretty awesome,” Ann’el said. “That is my biggest accomplishment in the Coast Guard so far.”

Now, Ann’el is an integral part of Sector San Diego’s boarding team, serving as assistant training officer and as a boarding officer. His day-to-day duties include training other members of the boarding team on small arms use and law enforcement procedures and tactics, as well as conducting security boardings of vessels coming into port in San Diego.

Outside the Coast Guard, Ann’el finds enjoyment volunteering his talents as a graphic designer. There are even examples of his work at Sector San Diego, including the signage for Coastie Joe’s Coffee Shop and a logo redesign for the Area Maritime Security Committee. He is currently working on updating Sector’s logo as well.

“Graphic design is my passion, my sanity away from work. It’s what makes me happy,” Ann’el said.

 This passion for life is apparent when Ann’el talks about what Black History Month means to him.

“Black History Month for me is a time to reflect on who we are as a people. Looking at all our accomplishments and being grateful for what we have achieved so far in life,” he said.

 Through this inspiration and the challenges that he has already overcome, Ann’el sees the possibilities for his future as limitless.

“Where do I want to go? As far as I can go. They say the sky is the limit, but the sky has no limit. Then how far can you go?” he said. “That’s just my mindset.”

For information on the history of African Americans in the Coast Guard follow this link:

http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/h_Africanamericans.asp

Click the link below for video:

Petty Officer 3rd Class Desiree Gibbs, 24, is an electronics technician who has been assigned to Electronics Support Detachment (ESD), San Diego, for the past two and a half years, and is an example to every one she comes in contact with.

Gibbs, an Ewa Beach, Hawaii, native, comes from a military family. Her father served in the Navy, one of her uncles served in the Air Force, and she has cousins who serve in the Marine Corps. Gibbs joined the Coast Guard in the summer of 2008 when she decided she wanted to do something different, something worthwhile.

“I decided to join the Coast Guard because no one else in my family has been in the Coast Guard, and I wanted to do something positive that would impact the United States of America right then, right now,” Gibbs said.

As an electronics technician, it is Gibbs responsibility that everything from radios to RADARs aboard all of the cutters, boats and shoreside units in the San Diego area functions and runs properly.

“Becoming an [electronics technician] was the best decision I made,” Gibbs said. “It’s one of my passions, really, to work on electronics. I’ve been working on them all of my life. When I was small I took apart a TV. I think I was destined to play with electronics.”

One of the biggest accomplishments she said she has achieved in her three short years in the Coast Guard is when she and her shipsmates were able to figure out an important radio system that had given senior technicians a difficult time.

“This project was going for about three and a half years, and no one could figure out the circuit path of this radio. [Two other techs and I] were assigned to this project and it took us three months to actually understand what was going on with the radio, how it worked and actually correct it,” Gibbs said. “That was the biggest accomplishment ever because we needed that radio system to work properly so they could install Rescue 21.”

Rescue 21 is a system that has been created by the Coast Guard to better locate mariners in distress and save lives and property at sea. Sector San Diego officially accepted the system in October 2010.

While working full time Gibbs also attends Vicennes University taking classes to earn her associates of applied science in electronics. After she achieves her two-year degree, she plans to continue her education by transferring to the University of San Diego and working toward her Bachelor’s Degree in electronics engineering with a minor in biochemistry.

“When I grow up I want to become an electronic engineer. I actually want to build robots,” she said.

Gibbs is also the first woman to complete the Army Combatives Course at Sector San Diego that Command Master Chief Robert Berry organized for the members of the sector as a morale and fitness event. The course was a 35-hour course that culminated in a match Dec. 16, 2010 with local Marine Corps instructors who came to help the students graduate. Each student had to “submit” a Marine in four different rounds to complete the course.

“That has to be one of the hardest things for females. Fighting grown men, who [are] coming at you,” Gibbs said. But, she did it and successfully completed the course.

The 24-year-old believes that her competitive edge has made her successful not only in her Coast Guard duties, but in everything she has put her mind to. She is looking forward to taking the second class in the Army Combatives course as well as training for an upcoming marathon in San Diego while maintaining her college workload.

***EDITOR'S NOTE*** For media interested in talking with Petty Officer Gibbs, please call 619.278.7025.

SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 3rd Class Desiree Gibbs sits atop one of the 25-foot patrol boats at the Maritime Safety and Security (MSST) as she weatherproofs the antennae Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. She and the other members of the Electronics Support Detachment (ESD) San Diego also reprogrammed the radios to make sure all of the MSST’s boat radios are in proper working order. Coast Guard photo. Click on each each upper image for high resolution imagery. Click image at right for video of Petty Officer Desiree Gibbs.