PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
The following Reflection represents AE2 LaTonya Davison’s legacy of their military service from 1996 to 2010. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life.
In what ways has serving in the military influenced the way you have approached your subsequent life and career?:
My 14 years in the Navy afforded me travel to 22 countries and engagement with countless people from all walks of life.
I was an aircraft mechanic/electrician pushed beyond fear and doubt that I could do things I’d never done before or do things that a woman is told she can’t do. This picture is from a deployment to Atsugi, Japan, in 2004, when the airplane engine stranded us on the island for 3 days. I was the most junior enlisted on an “all khaki” or E-7 and above detachment, and as the electrician, I was tasked to help the engine mechanic get the bird back in the sky. We made it happen, and I was awarded a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medal for my contribution to getting the mission back home. That experience, and so many others during enlistment, contributed to the self-confidence I have today.
Since service, I attained two master’s degrees, one in social work and one in sociology. I am now working as a social work mental health therapist in the behavioral health industry. In 2021, I did my first tandem skydive, and in 2022 went on to complete 4 instructor-led, solo jumps towards skydive licensure. Every day when I get up to work with clients, engage in my hobbies, or just face the world, my military career is the driving force for overcoming fear and lack of confidence in any endeavor.
It took courage to enlist, but every assigned task, every country visited, and every new duty assignment facilitated the discovery of unknown parts of myself. There was no time for fear to grow, so every circumstance had to be faced. I apply that principle to every facet of life today, and it has contributed to an equally rewarding career helping people overcome their fears. I don’t just talk the talk; rather, I can tell them from real-world experience that there is absolutely nothing you can’t face inside or outside of you. The benefit if you take the leap is a rich life path and ongoing exploration of who and what you can become beyond your perceived limitations. I believe that military service helped me achieve the highest, most fearless version of myself in this lifetime.
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Nice. What a seamless portrayal of past, present, and the projection of pre-set principles that will lay the groundwork for this woman’s future endeavors.
US Army
Retired E7