Debra Champion:
CLASS OF 1976
Chillicothe High SchoolClass of 1976
Chillicothe, OH
Debra's Story
After graduation I joined the U.S. Navy. Went to Boot Camp in Orlando, FL, and Hospital Corps School outside Chicago, IL (GOD it was cold) from Dec 76 to Apr 77. From there I was stationed at the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, VA. A girl I was in Hospital Corps school with married a guy from school. He went to NAS, Norfolk, Va, and she went to Naval Hospital Jacksonville, FL. She was pregant and we swapped duty stations in Oct 77. I played basketball and alot of softball on the Hospital team,and was married there in 1980. I made HM2 and then I had to tranfer. My choices were a ship in California or a ship in Pensacola, FL. I decided the USS Lexington (AVT-16) the Navy's aircraft carrier that trained pilots to land and take off of the carrier. I was with the first women put on board the carrier. Out of over 100+ women, there were two female officers, one was a doctor, no female chiefs, a couple of first class petty officers, a hand full of second class and third class petty officers. The rest of the women had pretty much just come out of school, No military bearing and didn't have a clue what was proper behavior ...Expand for more
on board a ship where we were 10% of the crew. The senior petty officers, which I was considered to be one, felt like we were "babysitting". I managed to get a nomination for Sailor of the Year. Lost out to the guy who kept the Command Officer's air conditioning working. We put together the first USS. Lexington women's softball team. We won most of our games, played the district matches and went on to the regionals took second that year and did it again the following year and took first in the regional play. After that most of the ball team transfered to other commands. I transfered after 18 months to the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory. I made HM1 there and separated from my husband. Besides playing ball I also tried playing volleyball (regulation). In 1985-86, I had an administratiive officer who had transfered from the Enlisted Personnel Management Command in New Orleans, LA. They were looking for someone to replace the female HM1 there. This is where my time spent on the Lexington came in handy. After looking at my service record I was chosen. In New Orleans. More later.....
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