it's all about the challenge
There was this story making the rounds some years back about Ashley Taylor Gudknecht, a 2004 Collegiate graduate who at the time was a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy.
It was the summer of 2008, and she was at NAS Oceana for flight training before she returned to Annapolis for her senior year.
One by one, instructors took aspiring pilots for a foray off the Virginia coast in a T-34 aircraft to show them the ropes and prove that naval aviation was not for the faint of heart.
Ashley picks up the narrative from here.
“They’d taken up one midshipman before me and made her violently ill,” she recalled.
“I was next. It was kind of the feeling of, ‘Oh, here we have another girl. She’ll probably get sick too.’”
The pilot obviously did not know Ashley’s strong constitution.
“They did all these flips,” she continued. “It was like a roller coaster.
“I loved it. At the same time, I would never have gotten sick because the other girl before me had thrown up everywhere.
“That definitely wasn’t going to happen.”
When Ashley relates the incident, there’s no trace of braggadocio.
Instead, she conveys a refreshing air of confidence tinged with humility that speaks loudly to her wholehearted willingness to accept what some might consider daunting challenges with enthusiasm and resolve.
In fact, when she talks of her decision to seek an appointment to the Naval Academy, undertake the rigorous academic course load and physical demands, and later serve as a surface warfare officer, you hear the word “challenge” quite often.
“My dad (John Taylor) graduated from the Naval Academy in 1980,” she said.
“I didn’t grow up in a military family, but I always looked at what he did as admirable.
“I viewed it as a challenge…something I thought I could ultimately do but something that would be hard.”
Once she made her commitment, she never wavered.
“When you actually matriculate at the Naval Academy,” she continued, “you learn that all the pomp and circumstance, the shiny aspects that you saw as a high schooler, quickly fall away.
“It becomes a much more realistic experience because of the day-to-day, sometimes hour-to-hour challenge.
“In a lot of ways, it was harder than I originally thought, but I’d definitely do it over again.”
Once she graduated (B.S. in English), the newly commissioned ensign reported to the USS Sterett, a San Diego-based destroyer, for an intensive course in her field of endeavor.
“All your training is on-the-job, so it’s trial by fire,” she said.
“The first 18 months are spent qualifying, so you learn standard Navy weapons systems, weapons systems specific to your actual platform, and how to navigate and drive a warship.
“I liked the challenge.”
The Sterret undertook a western Pacific deployment from October 2010 through April 2011.
“Our main focus was assisting aircraft carriers in their day-to-day flight ops,” she said.
“Counter-piracy operations were our focus as well.
“We were charged with assisting the motor vessel Quest which was the American-flagged sailboat seized by Somalian pirates.
“We intercepted the Quest. Ultimately, the pirates murdered the four Americans aboard.”
The highlight of her initial deployment came as the Sterett entered the Straits of Morocco.
“It’s an incredibly busy shipping lane with contacts literally everywhere,” she said.
“You’re within 300 to 500 yards of small fishing vessels that may or may not have their lights on.
“It was at night, and my captain trusted me to be the officer of the deck, on the bridge without him up there, which was kind of the culmination of serving with him for almost 21 months.
“To recognize where I’d come from…graduating from the Academy, not even knowing all the equipment on the bridge, and then being trusted when the horizon was littered with contacts…that’s the best professional accomplishment that I’d had at that point.”
Ashley supervises 20 sailors, men and women ranging in experience from E-1’s just a few months into their careers to an E-7 with 18 years of service.
“The key is to recognize their expertise and understand what they can teach you,” she said. “Ask lots of questions. Be open to hearing about their life experiences.
“By respecting them and genuinely taking interest in what they do …the respect usually goes both ways.”
During her time in the Navy, Ashley has had numerous adrenaline-charged moments, dealt with the routine of life at sea, and experienced lands and cultures that she wouldn’t have otherwise seen.
“Mainly,” she said, “it comes back to the challenge aspect.
“Serving in the military has made me a better person. It’s definitely made me a stronger person. I’m thankful for that.”
