From RN to SR, Chase Barnes Does an About Face to Enlist in the Navy

GREAT LAKES, IL, UNITED STATES

01.29.2021

Story by Susan Martin 

U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command

GREAT LAKES (NNS) — For the past 13 years, Chase Barnes has been an intensive care unit (ICU) registered nurse working as a traveling nurse and a charge nurse.

He also planned to cycle, a favorite activity of his, from Louisiana to Maine.

Instead, he put everything aside and enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

“One day I woke up at 37, kind of a midlife crisis sort of thing, just ready for a big change and new challenge. Someone mentioned their relative is in the Navy and how well they did, and they entered relatively late,” said Barnes. “I’ve always been good at nursing and critical care. After 13 years I was a charge nurse, which is the highest you can go in the realm, then I tried to keep things interesting so I don’t get bored and complacent, which is why I switched to different branches of ICU. While I’ve done it all, I felt myself getting complacent.”

The Navy raised its enlistment age limit from 34 to 39 in early 2018. Applicants must be able to ship to boot camp before their 40th birthday.
Barnes met with his recruiter Nov. 1, 2020, and quickly arrived at Recruit Training Command (RTC) two months later. While he does have an associate degree, he is still a few credits shy of completing his bachelor’s degree, which is required to join as an officer.

“I have my associate degree, that’s all I could afford. I have almost all of my credits required for a bachelor’s,” said Barnes. “I couldn’t afford university tuition so I went with my associate’s and never went back to get my bachelor’s. I just wanted a different avenue and I will say I’m glad I went this route because I don’t know anyone really in the armed forces in my family who would have been able to guide me.”

Barnes purposely chose not to enlist as a corpsman, and with the help of his recruiting office guiding him, he selected the rate of aviation electrician’s mate where he will acquire technical and electronics expertise and provide repairs and updates to aircraft. These skills also will easily translate to the civilian world.

Going from the top of the nursing hierarchy to Navy boot camp as a recruit, Barnes explained he felt confident and prepared.

“I was always super helpful with new young nurses coming in,” said Barnes. “To go straight from nursing student to ICU, that’s difficult, and a lot of the older nurses get complacent and jaded and they forget what it was like, but I’m always sympathetic. On my first day of boot camp, I just went with the flow. There was no time to think about much except follow instructions and you’ll be fine.”

He was quite humbled when he first arrived to RTC, where recruits make a quick stopover to be issued their ditty bags of uniform items and supplies before heading to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, for a required two-week quarantine. With just two months from the recruiting process to arriving to boot camp, it left him with little time to prepare. He was impressed by the knowledge of the younger recruits.

“When we first got to Fort McCoy, these 18- and 19-year-olds knew so much stuff, the ins- and-outs of everything and I asked them, ‘How did you know all of this?’ and they replied, ‘YouTube!’ I wished I would have known that because then I would have prepared better.”

His fellow recruits were quick to judge him by his age, but rapidly learned he was one to be looked up to and respected.

“Barnes has been very influential to me because ever since I met him at Fort McCoy, I thought he would be one of those types that would complain about everything because of his age,” said Seaman Recruit Michael Carneo, 20, of New York City. “I thought that if he couldn’t physically do an exercise he would probably blame it on his age as well as be a bit snobbish toward the younger recruits because he has his years built up. Instead, ‘Doc’ is really humble. His nickname is ‘Doc.’”
In addition to teaching Carneo how to do his income taxes, Barnes easily became a mentor to the younger recruits.

“He’s also a great listener. He’s quiet, he just looks you in the eye, and you get the feeling that he is actually paying attention and listening to your problems,” said Carneo, “It’s a really a good feeling and he’ll give you really good advice because he has his wisdom built up."

During his first week of training, Barnes’ Recruit Division Commanders (RDC) chose him as the division’s education petty officer (EPO), which proved to be influential on many recruits.

“I nominated him as the division’s EPO as he’s worked with numerous other people throughout his life and is able to adjust to different learning techniques to ensure each recruit is receiving and interpreting the lessons being taught well,” said Yeoman 1st Class Kerry Grove, an RDC for Barnes’ division. “Throughout boot camp, Barnes has been more than just a shipmate to many recruits, I would almost say he’s considered the ‘dad’ of the division. He’s been looked up to by many for his drive and determination to succeed. Being an older recruit is much harder both physically and mentally.”

Such is the case with Seaman Recruit Jonah Kuiocho, 19, of Sacramento, California.

“I look to him for a lot of guidance in life because of his age and he’s very easy to talk to. If I have problems, I go to him and he’ll talk to me and give me advice on how I should handle things,” said Kuiocho. “He’s also helped me in managing my time and being more aware of what I’m doing. He’s really helped with that.”

Barnes realized he needed to get into shape in order to be able to pass the Physical Fitness Assessment — which includes a 1.5-mile run, push-ups and plank — that all recruits must pass in order to graduate.

“I’ve made my mark on my running every time, and even shaved a couple minutes off so I’m well below my minimum requirements,” said Barnes. “With push-ups, I need to do 33 to pass and I could only do 12 or 15; it was really bad, and I had no idea my push-ups were so bad, but now I’m up to 50. I’m actually surpassing some of these younger recruits.”

While the other recruits were waiting to see how he would be able to do physically, he has surprised them with what he’s been able to accomplish thus far.

“Time and time again, Barnes has pushed through even the most strenuous of exercises, which in turn motivated the other recruits of a much younger age to push through and give it their all,” said Grove. “I can’t imagine living with 60-plus others that are up to 20 years younger than myself, but he handles it with ease.”

Sharing living quarters with that many recruits reminds Barnes of what used to be peace and quiet and being able to shut his door to go to bed whenever he wants. However, he has taken advantage of his life’s experiences and helps mentor the younger recruits with advice on how to best handle themselves while in the Navy.

“Barnes is an impressive recruit. He is very quiet and respectful of others’ opinions and space. His hidden talent of understanding others speaks louder than the words from his mouth,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Equipment 1st Class Rose-Laure Bazile, another of Barnes’ RDCs. “This is an example of a great leader. While his long-term goal is to continue higher education in the medical field after the Navy, the recruits that he inspires today are all grateful of the impact he has made in their lives.”

Though communication is limited between recruits and their families during boot camp, that hasn’t prevented Barnes’ mother, Robbie Weldon, of Carthage, Texas, from knowing the impact her son has had on his division.

“I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to learn and grow and do something different with his life when he first told me he was enlisting,” said Weldon. “I’ve heard from a couple of the other recruits’ parents that he’s been a real inspiration to their sons.”

Now that Barnes has completed boot camp, he’s looking forward to “A” School and completing requirements to finally earn his bachelor’s degree.

“I’m going to hit it hard, and it will look good on my résumé. I’m driven because my timeline is a little shortened compared to these 18-year-olds,” said Barnes. “I’m very motivated and driven. Plus, I want to be one of those Sailors that advances quicker.”

Once he has completed his five-year commitment to the Navy, Barnes plans to fulfill his cycling goal to help him decide which road to take next with his life’s journey.

“I want to do the Appalachian trail — which just under 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine,” he explained. “That will give me four or five months to figure out what I actually want to do: go back to school full time as a student, re-enlist, or go back to nursing.”

Boot camp is approximately eight weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy’s only boot camp.

For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/rtc

• Date Taken: 01.29.2021
• Date Posted: 12.27.2021 10:39
• Story ID: 411927
• Location: GREAT LAKES, IL, US