JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First Coast News is proud of everyone who wears the uniforms of our Armed Forces to protect and preserve our freedom. We're also happy to share the Stories of Service of some of those servicemembers who do jobs in the military that are far from the battlefield.
In this week's Stories of Service, we feature a sailor who works on the operations for all the Littoral Combat Ships at Mayport.
"My parents wanted something different for us and school was always a big thing," said Operation Specialist Tatitha Henderson-Coles, who is not alone in the plan to join the Navy to further her education.
"Originally I was going to do 4 years," said Henderson-Coles, "I was going to go to school and I was going to get out, that was the ultimate plan."
But plans changed, and 12 years later she's still in the Navy and still advancing her education.
"After joining the Navy I wanted to stay in the Navy because of the experience I have gotten," said Henderson-Coles.
The experience came from differing roles for Henderson-Coles depending on if she's on a ship or on shore.
"When you're on shore duty you're mostly helping the ships come in, you're making sure you're tracking schedule and stuff like that," said Henderson-Coles.
She's the first member of her family to join the Navy, and so far she's earned an associate's degree in nursing and is one year away from her bachelor's degree in finance with the hopes of doing something in the humanitarian field after Navy life.
"Me getting a degree was something to give me the knowledge so I could go push it out to others," said Henderson-Coles, who is proud to be a role model for her three young sons.
"That's why I went into finance, I enjoy math and enjoy money overall and I like learning about it, but I want to do it so I can help people," said Henderson-Coles.
If you have a Story of Service that you would like First Coast News to profile, send an email to storiesofservice@firstcoastnews.com.