A Mother’s Work

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Brooke Macchietto | 180507-N-JU894-0008 ATLANTIC OCEAN (May 7, 2018) Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Megan Miller, from Oakland, Illinois, briefs Sailors during sea and anchor detail on the fantail aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). The ship is underway in the Atlantic Ocean conducting carrier air wing exercises with the French navy to strengthen partnerships and deepen interoperability between the two nations' naval forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brooke Macchietto)  

ATLANTIC OCEAN

05.13.2018

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brooke Macchietto 

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brooke Macchietto, USS George H.W. Bush Public Affairs

ATLANTIC OCEAN (May 13, 2018) The alarm goes off. She is laying in the most incomprehensibly comfortable position, knowing she has to get up now. She flings the covers off and begins her morning routine. She gets dressed before she dresses her son, but they brush their teeth together. It’s one of the small moments of sharing something with him that gets her through the day. After getting her son breakfast, she drives him to preschool and makes her way to work. She arrives at the ship by 7:15 a.m.

Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Shatia Carroll, from Jackson, Tennessee, is a single mother to her three year-old son, Jayden. She is also a Sailor attached to the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). Since returning from a seven-month deployment, the ship has sustained a busy underway schedule, forcing Carroll to leave her son with her sister and mother while she is gone.

“The hardest part is being away from my son because he changes every day,” said Carroll. “Before I left for deployment, he was saying a couple words and then I came back home and he was saying whole sentences.”
These changes don’t slow down as kids get older. Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Megan Miller, a mother of three and from Oakland, Illinois, recalled striking memories of her children at a younger age.

“I just watched my oldest, Marcus, drive around the cul-de-sac in the car and I came to this thought of him doing it on his bike in the same exact cul-de-sac and just how fast time flies by,” said Miller.

Being a mother in the Navy is undeniably difficult, but it is also rewarding, particularly when mothers are able to get their kids involved in their job.

“They enjoy coming to the ship and seeing all the boats and anchor and everything in the fo’c’sle,” said Miller. “They like hearing my stories about being underway and some of the stuff we have done, so they definitely think it is pretty cool.”

Support from home is paramount to being a successful parent while in the military, but being a successful Sailor while raising children also requires support from work.

“You have to be open and communicate with your chain of command if you have issues, and not just keep it in, because how are we supposed to know?” said Miller.

With the right mentality and the right team, being a Sailor and a mom is far from impossible.

“Stay encouraged and keep a positive mindset because it’s easy to become stressed having to be away from your child,” said Carroll. “As long as you have support from your friends and family you can still be a mother in the Navy.”

The ship will be hosted a brunch on Mother’s Day to celebrate and give George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group moms support while they are away from their children, but that is not keeping them from counting down the minutes until they are with their kids again.

“I will call him and he will say, ‘Mommy, when are you coming to pick me up?’” said Carroll. “’As soon as I get back home, as soon as we pull in, I am coming to get you.’”

GHWBCSG is underway in the Atlantic Ocean conducting carrier air wing exercises with the French navy to strengthen partnerships and deepen interoperability between the two nations' naval forces. Interoperability allows combined forces to coherently and effectively achieve military objectives. By working together with allies and partners, we amass the greatest possible strength for the long-term advancement of our interests, maintaining favorable balance of power that deter aggression and support the stability that generates economic growth.

For more news from USS George H.W. Bush visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn77 or www.facebook.com/ussgeorgehwbush/.

• Date Taken: 05.13.2018
• Date Posted: 05.13.2018 22:50
• Story ID: 276866
• Location: ATLANTIC OCEAN
• Hometown: JACKSON, TN, US
• Hometown: OAKLAND, IL, US