Crossroads
Family
I didn’t have a father. I became one in the Navy.
My folks divorced when I was young. My father got custody of my brothers, sisters and me, but he wasn’t around. The person who actually took care of us, Miss Martha Ella, was my father’s music teacher when he was a boy. She didn’t have much money, but Miss Martha Ella raised my three brothers and sisters and me by herself.
With a grant and some financial aid I was able go to college — I just couldn’t afford to eat. I dropped out the first semester. I had to do something, though. My sister had enlisted and had good things to say about the Navy. I figured that with the Navy tuition assistance programs, I could earn my degree and learn career skills.
Here I am, twenty-five years later, in the medical field, serving as a liaison for the Navy with the TRICARE Military Health System (the Department of Defense’s health-care program that covers active and retired military personnel and their dependents). I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Care Management and I’m only three courses away from completing my Master of Arts degree in Human Resources Management. When I retire from the Navy, I will have several employment options open to me.
A lot of good things have happened to me in the Navy. I’m especially proud of the people that worked under me in my last position as detailer (the person who determines where a Sailor will go and what he/she will do). My staff was younger. They were my extended family. My role was that of a father figure, helping mentor them. We worked very well together. Most, if not all of them, were promoted. I like to think that I helped them move ahead.
People ask me if I am proud of what I have done with myself, how I made it to Senior Chief, earned a degree and advanced myself professionally despite having nothing as I grew up. I don’t really think about all that. What I do think about is Miss Martha Ella and how proud she would be of me.
– Glenn Arrington
Senior Chief, Hospital Corpsman
