JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Misha Chalkley doesn’t think about the fact that when she graduates from Jacksonville University in April she will be the first woman from the school’s Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps to earn a post as a submarine warfare officer.
She thinks about her future and the people she will lead within the close submarine community, but she doesn’t think about her gender at all.
The submarine pipeline is a new challenge that will take her full dedication to complete, she said, and it’s hard enough for both men and women without worrying about being different.
Men were the only ones allowed to serve on Navy submarines for years until female officers joined them in 2011. Another major change came in 2016 when enlisted women joined the crew of the USS Michigan in Bangor, Wash.
More and more women are signing up to join men in the traditionally male culture of submariners, including at Southeast Georgia’s Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base where they are integrating the USS Florida.
Only 14 women from NROTC units were awarded positions in the submarine warfare program this year. The ones who make it all the way through will join just over 70 female officers who are serving in the submarine force, according to the Navy.
“I like that it’s really close-knit,” Chalkley said of the submarine community. “I like the fact that you can know everyone, and I think that helps make you an effective leader because you can really care about the people you are in charge of.”
She said she’s found out over the years that she can meet most challenges as long as she puts in the hard work that’s required. Like when she joined the NROTC unit in her freshman year at JU and found out how hard it was to meet the physical requirements. Chalkley played soccer and ran track and cross country at Jacksonville’s Stanton College Preparatory School, but that was nothing compared to joining the NROTC, she said.
“I never realized I was so bad at push-ups until I had two minutes to do as many as I could,” Chalkley said.
But she found out that once she got the technique down, it was easy to improve. She said she knows some things will be even more difficult in her Navy career, but they will only make her a better leader and a stronger person.
That career is getting closer every day.
A year of nuclear training will start once she’s commissioned this spring.
