Photo By Seaman Christian Lower | Petty Officer 2nd Class Sarah Brandon represents the Coast Guard Enlisted Association...... read more read more
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CAPE MAY, N.J. – With a smile on her face and a spring in her step, Petty Officer 2nd Class Sarah Brandon brings a liveliness like no other to Training Center Cape May. Here at the base, Brandon serves as a yeoman in the Recruit Servicing Personnel Office (RSPO), and works as the direct entry petty officer training (DEPOT) yeoman and discharge yeoman.
As the DEPOT yeoman, Brandon works with the recruits who are prior service from another military branch, or are joining the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves. Brandon’s job, during each DEPOT company’s 20-day training program, is to ensure each recruit completes all of the proper paper work so they can be shipped out into the fleet. Being the discharge yeoman, Brandon helps to process recruits out of the service who are leaving for different reasons, ranging from a medical discharge to failing to meet the physical fitness standards set during training.
People may think her job is easy, but in reality, working in the RSPO is no easy task. Brandon continuously works late, on weekends and on holidays, to ensure that recruits can make it out into the fleet without delay.
When Brandon joined the Coast Guard nine years ago with a desire to serve her country and help others, being a yeoman was not how she imagined she would be doing it. Brandon originally pictured herself as a boatswain’s mate, who would earn her surfman badge for being a qualified coxswain, able to operate small boats in heavy surf. Though, as we all know, with time comes change. So, when she met her husband, she realized she needed to choose a different rating to ensure that they would be able to co-locate as a family.
Brandon truly loves helping people. In the decision to choose yeoman as her new rating, her main goal was to find a job that exercised her passion to help others.
With her work taking up so much of Brandon’s time, one would think that she couldn’t have time for anything else, but she does much more than just work with recruits. Brandon volunteers a considerable amount of her time as the president of the local Coast Guard Enlisted Association, and she is a contributing member of the training center’s Leadership Diversity Advisory Council.
Despite all the work in front of her, Brandon still finds a way to live a fulfilling personal life with her daughter and husband. As a family, they relish riding their bicycles around the city of Cape May or going to the beach to enjoy the sand, the sun, and the sea. Brandon loves spending time with her daughter, taking her to the zoo or just staying home creating arts and crafts.
Brandon says her secret to enjoying her off time is when you’re off work, you’re off work, and you’re not thinking about work. This helps her really enjoy the family time she has on the weekends when she’s out of the office.
Brandon was selected as the training center’s Enlisted Person of the Quarter for the months of January through March 2021 because of her dedication to the mission and to people.
“After all the hard work and long hours and the extra weekends, getting recognized for all the work you put in truly felt great,” said Brandon. “You don’t do it to get Enlisted Person of the Quarter. You do it because you truly like your job, and you really want to help people. You really just want to go that extra mile. To get recognized for it is actually really cool.”
In the future, Brandon hopes to make petty officer first class and wants to become a recruiter for the Coast Guard. Her current job as a yeoman in the RSPO allows her to be one of the first Coast Guardsmen that recruits get to interact with, besides their company commanders.
Brandon said because recruits are so new to the Coast Guard they truly appreciate her being the first person to really help them. They look up to her because their company commanders are so hard on them. When recruits come to her, Brandon genuinely supports them and they love it.
Brandon wants to be even closer to the beginning of a recruit’s journey with the Coast Guard than she is now. As a recruiter, she would be the first person that can put a smiling face to the service and make a great first impression. She wants to help future recruits make one of the biggest decisions of their lives and ensure they are doing it right. For Brandon, a little smile can go a long way in changing someone’s life and perspective on service.
| Date Taken: | 07.12.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 07.12.2021 09:44 |
| Story ID: | 400709 |
| Location: | CAPE MAY, NJ, US |
| Web Views: | 187 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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