Marine Mother Serves Country, Mentors Junior Service Members
(March 15, 2011) |
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Chief Warrant Officer 2 Erin Patrick, combat cargo officer aboard the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), stands atop vehicles and equipment of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit March 11. As the CCO, Patrick coordinates the loading, storage, and offloading of all 31st MEU equipment on ship.
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USS HARPERS FERRY (MCN - 3/11/2011) — Chief Warrant
Officer 2 Erin Patrick, combat cargo officer aboard
the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), misses her husband
and four children back in North Carolina, but
doesn't let that stop her from getting the job done
far away at sea.
Patrick has been deployed
away from home 18 of the last 24 months, including a
year-long deployment to Afghanistan. And now she's
stationed on an often-deployed ship in the Pacific.
“I have four kids, ages nine, six, five and
two,” the 33-year-old Mesick, Mich. native said. “I
know my family will be ok back at home because my
husband is a strong man. But I miss them, and
knowing I am far away from them for quite a while is
difficult.”
As a combat cargo officer, her
duty involves coordinating the movement of all
vehicles, equipment, and personnel of the 31st
Marine Expeditionary Unit that moves on or off ship.
As the 31st MEU is the nation's force-in-readiness
in the Asia-Pacific region, and has conducted four
humanitarian assistance disaster relief operations
in the last two years, that can make her a busy
woman.
“My job is to keep the communication
going between the blue (Navy) side and the green
(Marine) side,” said Patrick. “Everything on this
ship that has wheels or is cargo, we control how it
comes on, goes off, and moves around. We stay busy
and I enjoy what I do, it is something new every
day. It is very different from the town with only
one flashing yellow light where I grew up.” |
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But that isn't her only job on ship. She takes time
to mentor junior service members aboard the ship. |
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“Yes, I'm the combat cargo officer, but my second job is to
mentor the junior Sailors and Marines and be someone they
can come talk to when they are in need,” Patrick said.
Her 14 years with the Marine Corps gives her experience
to help younger, less experienced Marines and Sailors.
“I like to mentor and take care of the junior service
members,” said Patrick. “And while on a ship, that means the
Sailors.”
Patrick started out in the Marine Corps as
a private first class, one of the first females introduced
to the landing support field in 1997, and says it was
difficult.
“You did not have anyone to vent to or to
connect to as a female when I first joined,” said Patrick.
“I want these junior service members to have someone for
them, unlike I did. There is always somebody they can talk
to.”
Sailors often stop by her office on ship to get
advice about career choices, decisions, advancement, and
even finances.
Seaman Ronika Peeples, 22, of New
Orleans, La., stopped by to ask about tax preparation and
filing instructions.
“She has been like a mother to
me,” said Peeples. “She gets on me about my advancement
tests, my career, doing my work during the day, every time
she sees me she asks if I'm getting something done.”
Patrick enjoys helping guide the younger generation and
feels as if many young service members could use strong,
healthy influences at the early stages of their professional
journey.
“She (CWO2 Patrick) is helping me out
picking a rate for my career. She is helping me decide if I
want to stay in the military,” said Peeples. “She is my
motivation for wanting to be here. Before I met her I was
willing to do anything to get off the ship, but every since
she's been here it has been a 360 degree turnaround. Now I
always see something positive. She's everything I could ever
ask for. And she helps me with my taxes.”
Patrick
explains that her strength and motivation comes from having
her priorities in order. “First we put all our trust in God
because without Him, nothing is possible,” she said. “Then
my strong husband is a mentor to our children. He takes care
of the kids, and works full time, coaches youth football,
and is also going to college.”
Patrick has a special
way to spend time with family even though she is far away.
“I call back to my family in the states, we rent the
same movie for a night, and we watch it together over the
phone. That is our family date night.”
It is evident
that Patrick's family extends beyond her husband and
children - it encompasses the junior service members that
she mentors daily.
“The Sailors just want someone to
talk to and share experiences with,” Patrick explains. “Some
of them come from difficult pasts, and they've never had a
strong female influence in life. I am looked at as a mother
figure here. That is my purpose. I am here to help those
that don't have anybody else to talk to.”
“She is
like a mother to us,” Peeples agreed. “I'd do anything for
her, and I'm so glad she is on this ship.”
Patrick
was selected as a 2010 recipient of the Women's History
Month Science, Technology, Engineering and Math role model
award.
Patrick is scheduled to be assigned to the USS
Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) for another year-and-a-half. She has
been selected for promotion to Chief Warrant Officer 3, and
plans on applying for the Marine Corps' limited duty officer
program. |
Article and photo by USMC Capt. Caleb D. Eames
31st MEU
Copyright 2011 | |
Reprinted from
Marine Corps News
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