Local Sailors affirm commitment onboard USS Portland (LPD-27)

PORTLAND, OR, UNITED STATES

05.07.2018

Story by Daniel Rachal 

Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Portland

In the summer of 1988, at five-years-old, ICC(SW/AW) James Wolfe went to the Portland Rose Festival for the first time. A native of Portland, OR, Chief Wolfe remembers seeing the grey-hulled ships and that played a part in his joining the Navy after graduating high school.
“The Sailors seemed like they were having a lot of fun,” Wolfe said. “The ships seemed really big and important.”
He has spent plenty of time in his hometown during his Navy career, first as a recruiter for Navy Recruiting District Portland from 2007-2010 and now back at Navy Talent Acquisition Group Portland since 2015 as the Marketing and Advertising Officer.
Childhood trips down to the Tom McCall Waterfront weren’t his only experiences with the Portland Rose Festival, either, as he was stationed on the USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) when they participated in the Portland Rose Festival in 2011.
With Navy ships and submarines being named after cities across the United States, Wolfe always hoped that his hometown would also receive such recognition one day.
“I’d always dreamed they’d name a ship after my home city,” he said.
On April 19, 2018, while the USS Portland (LPD-27) was in Portland, OR for their commissioning, Chief Wolfe stood on the flight deck, prepared to re-enlist in the Navy, which would take him to almost twenty years of honorable service. It was a moment he had been hoping for since the amphibious ship was named.
“It was an ideal culmination of Navy opportunities to capstone my career,” Wolfe said. “I’ve been thinking about the day, the possibility of it, for two years.”
One hour prior, on the same flight deck, Future Sailor Megan Schnell, a native of Portland, OR, was about to raise her right hand and take the Oath of Enlistment, part of a joint Navy & Marine ceremony held onboard the USS Portland (LPD-27).
When her recruiter contacted her about the opportunity to swear-in onboard the ship, she jumped at the chance.
“Absolutely, I wanna go,” she said. “It was in my hometown, named after my hometown.”
Schnell grew up in southeast Portland and lost her father when she was four and mother at sixteen. The future hospital corpsman is looking forward to starting anew, traveling to different counties and being a part of something bigger than her.
“Going into the Navy I’m going to be a part of something again,” she said. “When I’m in boot camp I’m not going to be alone. I’m gonna meet people that are a part of my life for the rest of it. “
The 22-year-old hasn’t left for basic training yet, but Naval career has already offered her a very unique experience not afforded to everyone.
“A lot of people they just swear in the regular way,” Schnell said. “But I got to do it, on a ship, on a beautiful day in Portland.”

• Date Taken: 05.07.2018
• Date Posted: 05.07.2018 15:11
• Story ID: 276008
• Location: PORTLAND, OR, US