Believe In Yourself vBy Brandi Bue Debra Bodenstedt grew up on a farm outside of Wayne, Nebraska where she was taught the merit of hard work by helping her dad with daily chores. It was during these days that Deb started gaining traits that would help her later in life. She learned her work ethic as well as responsibility, flexibility, critical thinking, perseverance, team work, respect, and humility. Deb only had her brother and going to a rural school, her playmates were boys. “It was a natural thing to play with the boys.” Deb never felt out of place in a “boy’s world.” Right after college, Deb taught high school for 3 years. It was a natural stepping stone as both her grandmother and mother were teachers but it wasn’t what she wanted to do. At this time, doors were opening up for women in nontraditional roles and this interested her. Being a pilot is what first set Deb on her journey. She visited the Air Force first, took their exam and test flight, and was found fit and ready. But they couldn’t get her into a program for 2 years. She then went to the Navy. She tested and did a test flight, was found fit and ready, and they could take her sooner but it would still be nearly a year. However, the recruiter told her there was a new program he believed she could do. He called her after a week and told her about the diver program. Deb signed up and went to Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island. The path was set, when she would graduate; she would become an officer in the specialty she trained for. In Deb’s case, her specialty was diving and surface warfare. Typically in this program, the men attend diving school second but Deb was sent in reverse. A way to make sure she could handle the physical part before the officer training. Deb saw this as motivation. At this time, not many ships took women and being on the ship was what she really wanted. Deb was Seattle Salvage Operations for a WWII sea plane in an inland lake. Deb is wearing a hot water suit for use with MK 1 helmet. The water was 45 degrees. the only 6vHERVOICEvMARCH/APRIL 2019 woman in dive school in a class of 32. Deb saw this as a challenge but a “challenge I wasn’t afraid of.” She didn’t want anyone to think she got through just because so she made sure she earned it by merit and talent. A year after Deb was sworn in, she reported to her first ship in Germany. For this first rotation she spent her time in Norway, the Netherlands, and England. Throughout her impressive 28 years she visited roughly 23 countries. In Deb’s early years, there still were not a lot of senior officers who had worked closely with women; she was a novelty in this case. There were also still many ships that women weren’t allowed on so it was different for the men Deb worked with. Most of them accepted it but there were some who didn’t accept it as well, thinking she wasn’t capable. Deb found she hard to work harder to be accepted and to be successful. When you graduate from Officer Candidate School you leave at a level of O1. Deb’s goal was to make it to O5 because she’d be a Commander and she’d have at least a 20-year career but Deb ended her 28 year career as an O6 which is Captain. “I never dreamed I’d end up with that rank.” The best part of Deb’s job was the people. No matter where she was, there were good people from different backgrounds and every state that volunteered their time. On a more operational front, Deb found being on the ship as an exciting time. She would go to exciting places to do exciting jobs. One of her most memorable jobs was one of the first big jobs she had as a diver. Deb was on the team that was sent to salvage pieces from the Challenger. Deb feels like every job was exciting though as each one challenged her in a different way. There were times where she’d lead teams that were doing underwater repair on a large ship such as finding a tiny hole to plug up. Another memorable job was on the USS Monitor. USS Monitor is a Civil War vessel that had been underwater since the Civil War. After it was found, there were two summers of work preserving the ship. This was Deb’s deepest dive at 240 feet. It was so deep that she had to use helium oxygen mix to breathe instead of just oxygen. It was an exciting job where Deb’s team worked on removing the engine of the ship. She got to work an underwater jackhammer. They couldn’t stay down long but it was exciting to say she had been part of that job. Overall, Deb’s time with the Navy was rewarding and memorable. Because there were no female divers on her teams, a “major thing was to be decisive in my direction. Be out there supporting them.” One of the largest jobs Deb worked on was removing propellers from an aircraft carrier. One propeller weighs 30,000 pounds. It was a big job and Deb was in charge. She had to make sure her team had everything they would need and had to be supportive. Deb’s last job was as a commanding officer stationed in Pearl Harbor. They were responsible for all of the