Ronan graduate earns sailor award
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POINT MUGU, CALIFORNIA — Amra Dempsey, a 2001 graduate of Ronan High School, was selected as Junior Sailor of the Quarter for the Fleet Readiness Center, Southwest Detachment Point Mugu Sea, for the first quarter of fiscal year 2015.
Dempsey, an Aviation Electronic Technician Third Class Petty Officer, repairs communication and navigation instruments primarily on the E2C Hawkeye plane — “anything electronic,” Dempsey said.
She was recognized for “going above and beyond,” and chosen because she is a self-starter. For instance, she asked to become a Collateral Duty Inspector and then completed rigorous training for the supervisory role, “to make sure a piece of gear is running well,” she explained. “That’s very rare for a third class petty officer to get a CDI title.”
She’s also applied for officer training and had a nursing internship, with an ultimate goal to serve in the Navy Nurse Corps.
Volunteerism played a role in her award as well. Dempsey serves at the Ventura County Rescue Mission, where homeless people get free lunches and dinners, and access to an addiction program.
“I don’t just show up and go home,” she said.
Dempsey had been out of high school for 11 years when she joined the Navy, “late in life,” she said.
After a divorce from her husband, who had served a year in Iraq, she wasn’t sure what to do.
“The catalyst was my mother,” she said, who urged her daughter to contact the Navy recruiter. “My mother kept asking, ‘Did you call them today? Did you call them today?’ Finally, I said, ‘Fine, I’ll call them right now.’”
The choice was the right one for the strong Montanan.
“Adventure, travel, education — I can get all those things done at once,” she said —without having to pay out of pocket.
She chose the Navy because of the locations of the bases.
“Most are next to the ocean, and I won’t get stuck in Oklahoma,” Dempsey said. “I love the ocean, and I’ll always be someplace pretty — hopefully.”
When she heard she was selected for the Junior Sailor award, Dempsey brushed it off — until her face showed up on Montana news stations and Facebook.
“It wasn’t really exciting until my family and friends got excited. Their kindness and joy got me excited, and then I got proud of myself. They really made me feel like it was an honor,” she said.
Her co-workers are teasing her about being a superstar, while a sailor from Chicago won a different award yet heard nothing from his hometown, she said.
“It really makes you appreciate where you come from. People really care,” Dempsey said. “That’s how Montana is. That’s how we do it.”
