The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the September 2022 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of United States Navy Veteran, Chief Sheryl Meyer. The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program was privileged to interview Chief Sheryl Meyer at the VP-68 Alumni Association Reunion in the Fall of 2021.

Chief Meyer shared, "I wanted to go into the military right out of high school as a way to get out of the Midwest...I couldn’t wait to see the ocean.” In February of 1970, Meyer was sent to Bainbridge Maryland for basic training. Her class was one of the last to attend basic training in Bainbridge before the program was moved to Orlando Florida. Meyer recalled, “at that time we did physical training, some marching, we had to learn how to swim the length of the pool and back. It was a lot of reading and studying of policies and procedures. It was more or less just learning the administrative side of the Navy. I didn’t know what I wanted to do at the time, so it didn't bother me.” Upon graduating from basic training, Meyer was ordered to Naval Air Station Memphis to become an (AZ) Aviation Maintenance Administrationman.

After successfully completing the program, Meyer was sent to Naval Air Facility Washington, married and started a family. She shared, “I loved being there, I learned a lot about taking care of aircraft logbooks, speaking with the aircrews, and learning about what they did.” Everything would change after her superiors learned she was pregnant. Meyer recalled, “I didn’t finish my entire enlistment, I was discharged for being pregnant. I was devastated.”

After being discharged, Meyer began working in a law firm and thought her Navy days were behind her. In 1978, one of the lawyers she was working for encouraged her to explore the Navy Reserves as a legalmen. The Naval regulations had changed from 1970 to 1978 and the policies which forced her from the Navy were no more. She shared, “ 8 years later, everything had changed, I am now a single parent, but I can get into the reserve program as an advanced pay grade, because of my skills as a legal secretary.” Meyer was the second person to enlist as an LN in the leganmen program in the entire United States. From 1979 to 2000, Meyer traveled the world on different assignments ranging from Italy, Japan, Australia, and more while serving with Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Chief Sheryl Meyer’s inspiring story showcases strength through adversity, and her unwavering desire to serve in the United States Navy.

The United States Navy Memorial honors United States Navy Veteran, Chief Sheryl Meyer, featured within this series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at https://www.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service.