This week we’re joined by Coast Guard Veteran, Yeoman First Class Tinunola Adelakin.

YN1 Adelakin enlisted in the USCG in 1999 after learning about the military’s GI Bill and how it could help her finish college.

There are not many E-3s (non-rates) who would volunteer for sea duty because at that rank it’s almost a sure way to get confined to being a mess cook. Tinunola didn’t mind. She was just glad for the change in atmosphere.

A few years after joining, the cutter she was assigned to pulled into a port and let everyone out for liberty…on the morning of September 11, 2001. Because of how quickly everyone was recalled, about 21 people were left behind. Not Tinunola. Her strong intuition is not only what kept her level-headed during her 20-year career, it’s also the reason she didn’t get left behind.

Tinunola’s Coast Guard career took her to Topeka, KS, Puerto Rico, New Orleans, LA, and Seattle WA, just to name a few places. So, she’s experienced every kind of climate (work AND weather-related, lol).

This week we’re joined by Coast Guard Veteran, Dr. Cynthia M. Morris.

Dr. Morris enlisted in the USCG in 1977 after leaving college as a Pre-Med major.

She served 20 years and received several awards along the way, including one that granted her the opportunity to meet Civil Rights Activist- Rosa Parks.

Service in the U.S. Coast Guard proved to be one uphill battle after another. But Dr. Morris is a fighter! Not only did she learn to speak up for herself, but she also made the time to help out other Coasties who were lower in rank than she was. She ended up becoming the advocate that she needed.

She may be the first woman in her family to join a branch of the armed services, but she’s far from the last. Most of her children have either served in the military or been in R.O.T.C.

Dr. Morris does NOT believe in being idle. She is a retired Corpsman turned Health Services Technician who started her Coast Guard career as a Rescue Swimmer. She is also a licensed therapist and former social worker who is now pursuing a career as an electrician.

This lady is BUSY!!

This week we’re joined by Staff Sergeant Natatera Green.

Staff Sergeant Green enlisted in the United States Air Force in 2001 after completing a degree in Pre-Med and English.

She decided that the Air Force was the best route to go, after catching recruiters from two other branches (Army and Marine Corps) in blatant lies.

Shortly after joining, she experienced a very memorable Basic Training graduation. She graduated from boot camp on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

Staff Sergeant Green went on to become a weapons troop, stationed in Utah, Korea, Japan, Iraq, and Ohio. Quite the PCS journey!

Staff Sergeant Green is also a record-setting Airman. This is one of the many reasons she was featured in an article in the 'Stars and Stripes' in April of 2007.

As a former weapons troop, Sergeant Green comes from a work family with the nickname: LoadToad.

This week we’re joined by retired Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Nicole Burgess.

LCDR Burgess enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1993 after being turned away from the Navy because get this - they had already met their quota for the year for women recruits.

As an enlistee, she was a storekeeper who wrote number 2 on the service-wide exam and ranked up twice in one year.

With a track record like that, it’s no wonder why she went on to become an officer.

She retired after over 26 years of service as an O-4 in 2020.

Since her retirement, she’s managed to stay busy by being an active member of the Order of the Eastern Star, Kappa Epsilon Psi, and being the eldest daughter in her family – which is enough to keep any woman busy for the rest of her life, lol.

Please enjoy this episode.

This week we’re joined by retired Army First Sergeant Shakara Debose

1SG Debose never considered a life in the military until she took her cousin to take the ASVAB and left as the only one of them to get recruited.

She went on to become a 42A, working in Human Resources for 23 years until she wrapped up her career in the Army as a MEPS First Sergeant.

1SG Debose is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated and since leaving the Army in September of 2023, she has become a mental health advocate. She works diligently to bring awareness to the importance of mental health and remove the stigma from the conversation around it.

During her 23-year-long career, 1SG Debose managed to collect 3 Article 15s before becoming an E-5 and STILL retired as an E-8. And if you’re familiar with how career-debilitating even 1 Article 15 can be then you can already see know how impressive she must be to have amassed 3 of them and still retire with honor.

1SG Shakara Debose is a Triple Threat!

This week we’re joined by retired Army Captain Crystal Hamiln-Tramack

Captain Tramack enlisted in the Army in 2001 as a former track star and graduate of St. Augustine University.

After 15 years of working in different variations of the Army’s medical field, she retired in 2016... by surprise.

Since her retirement, she’s managed to stay busy – Very busy!

When she’s not on volunteer orders for the Army because of a global pandemic, she’s busy coaching applicants on how to get better jobs with the federal government, coaching veterans on how to take advantage of their V.A. benefits, finishing up her Ph.D., and being an amazon best-selling author.

Captain Tramack is an airborne-qualified former executive officer and a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

Crystal has published two books, to date. Please follow these links to order her books, get a free gift, and keep in touch with her:

Six-Figure Federal Career Blueprint book preorder:

https://crystalshespeaks.systeme.io/crystalshespeaksbook

Free gift:

https://mailchi.mp/79b7a53a8407/freegiftcrystalshespeakscom

Social media handles:

https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/profile/in/crystal-tramack

Crystal She Speaks on Facebook

Crystal_she_speaks on IG & youtube

Crystalshespeaks TikTok

crystalshespeak Twitter

www.crystalshespeaks.com

This week we’re joined by retired Coast Guard Chief Tonia Tippins.

Chief Tippins joined the Coast Guard in 1988 as a young single mother of three.

She served 26 years as Food Service Specialist.

Her time enlisted did have it’s highlights, but it also proved to be one uphill battle after the next.

So many uphill battles, in fact, that one of them is still ongoing in the form of a lawsuit.

For every reason you can imagine, we did not go into the details of this lawsuit. In fact, we didn’t even mention it. However, she did tell me that I could attach a link to the court case in the bio of this post.

https://cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions-orders/22-1462.OPINION.3-1-2024_2278938.pdf

This week we’re joined by a Retired Air Force Captain.

Captain Ashunta Murphy enlisted in the U.S. Air Force right out of high school and never looked back.

Her career in the Air Force began as a cook/fitness center attendee and ended as a Sexual Assault Prevention Response Coordinator.

She went from enlisted to officer and from active duty to the guard. No shade to the active duty units, but she did seem to have a strong preference for the guard, lol.

Capt. Murphy may have retired from a busy life in the military, but she’s still busy being the founder and CEO of a delightful sweet treat company that makes all kinds of tasty desserts and ships them almost anywhere.

Her wide variety of desserts are in heavy demand. To find out why, go ahead and check out her website: Home | Bundles For You (bundles4you.com)

This week we're joined by another brilliant black lady in S.T.E.M.

In 1995 this Information Systems Technician joined the Coast Guard after having lost interest in high school to get her GED.

Later that year, she managed to score 100% on her military requirements test for E-3 and E-4. She, of course, quickly made rank and became a Company Commander a few years later in 1999.

Since then she's gone on to collect over 2 dozen medals and ribbons, a master's degree, and in 2017 she became the first black woman in her rate to achieve the rank of E-9.

Sgt. Ronnda Cooper joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1998 as the first woman in her family to enlist in the armed services. She did this with the discouragement of her grandmother: a college graduate and school teacher who wanted more for Ronnda than what she thought the military could offer.

As you can imagine, anyone who joined the Marine Corps in 1998 was likely still in the service following the attacks on September 11th. That’s exactly what happened. Ronnda ended up deploying and fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

After leaving the Marine Corps, she reenlisted in the Army in 2007

Since retiring from the Army, Ronnda has taken on the personal mission of attaining higher education and serving the black community in any way she can. An easy feat for a Master's Degree-holding member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. Needless to say, her grandmother is very proud of her.

Ronnda’s story is one of courage and tenacity. The courage to step into the unknown with no one to guide you. And the tenacity to keep going even when failure seemed inevitable.