Homecoming of an officer and a lady
Males often look good in uniform. Mothers would love to see their sons in their boy scout uniforms. While ladies feel like a certain degree of femininity when among men in uniform.
Last Friday, Franicia Tomokane arrived at Saipan International Airport in her white blouse and skirt navy uniform. Although, she was complaining something about her made to order white pair of shoes, her uniform had the shoulder board and one diagonal stripe to signify that she has completed the first grueling year in the U.S. Naval Academy.
“I need a new pair of shoes,” she told her mother, former managing director of the defunct Marianas Visitors Bureau Anicia Tomokane, while we needed a fresh point view about women in military uniform.
With my strong Asian background, I equate the starched-white uniform with the medical profession. But times have changed.
For Saipan, Tomokane is probably the first woman to cross the line, but not through the usual military enlistment. She secured a scholarship grant to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
After more than a year in the academy and a bright future in the naval service awaits her, she remains the oldest child of the Tomokane brood and your former petite classmate and friend.
“It was never in my thoughts that I would be in uniform,” she said. When she learned that she qualified for the scholarship, to become a naval officer was far from her dreams.
But the discipline inside the academy is contagious. And the saccharine girl next door from Saipan also got the range and stamina. She survived the boot camp-like experience during her early stay in the academy after she made a frantic call for help to Saipan.
As she nears the day when she will earn the Naval Flight Officer title, guarding the world will keep her on call.
“We are in peace right now but we are always getting ready. Some naval graduates went directly to war. We really don’t know when it’s going to hit,” she said.
During her first year, she was taught how to fire a pistol and rifle. But as a naval flight officer, she will take responsibility over the aircraft on board the ship. And most likely, she will have men under her wings.
Tomokane may have recovered from her culture shock in joining the naval force, but she will need to learn more than just firing a pistol or a riffle. Although, she earned a ribbon for her good shooting range, she will also rely on her strong academic discipline to help her make the right decision.
“Everybody reacts in a different way. But as an officer, you need to make the right decision. You need to stay focus and ready,” she said.
While women worshipped the bravery of Meg Ryan in the movie “Courage Under Fire”, Tomokane does not entertain the illusion to star in her own war hero story.
“Women are still not allowed in combat and I agree with that. But most women in the academy feel the opposite. But I have a different set of beliefs,” she said.
If she will opt to stay while her female comrades are gearing to go where the action is, she takes another muscled-combat with physics, the specialization she will pursue. Only few would dare to tackle this subject using their bare hands. And just like other U.S. patriots, nobody could find fault of her loyalty.
