It was Christmas 1987 when Chyress Woodson Brickler received some life-changing advice from a friend.
The friend was serving in the Navy at the time and encouraged her to join.
At the time, the Arnold City native and 1983 Belle Vernon Area High School graduate was working at the Charleroi Pizza Hut. She had previously attended Bradford School of Business and even applied for a position with the Central Intelligence Agency, only to be told she was too young.
"I was trying to find out who I was and who I wanted to be," Brickler said.
But, after contemplating the advice, Brickler decided to "give it a shot."
She joined the Navy on May 9, 1988. After attending boot camp at Orlando, Fla., she was stationed at Meridian, Miss. Brickler was made a yeoman, an administrative assistant position.
After eight weeks in Mississippi, Brickler received her first duty with a helicopter squadron at Mayport, Fla.
After four years there, Brickler changed her naval status, joining the Training and Administration of Reserve Program or TAR. The purpose of the TAR program is to manage, train and administer the Naval Reserve.
While still on activity duty, she was stationed at the Navy and Marines Corps Reserve Center in Buffalo, N.Y., where she would stay for three years.
Buffalo is considered a remote location for the Navy, Brickler said. Thus, having completed three years there, she was given her choice of locations and picked Texas, where she was assigned to the Navy Intelligence Command Station. Brickler also received a pay hike to E-6, making her a departmental head.
Her next move brought Brickler back home, assigned to the Navy and Marines Corps Reserve Center in North Versailles. She was there from 1998 to 2002.
Brickler was then attached to a squadron that flew F-18 fighter jets. In her first year in New Orleans, she worked with pilots, logging flight schedules.
Her last two years in New Orleans had Brickler on the move more than at any other time during her 20-year naval career.
For eight months out of each year, the squadron would go on a two-week detachment each month. During those detachments, the pilots would practice take offs and landings from such locations as Key West, Fla.; Reno, Nev., and Virginia Beach, Va.
Her parents have supported Brickler throughout her career. For example, they came and stayed with her daughter while the single mother was out on detachment.
She left New Orleans in May 2005, just three months before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Big Easy.
But Brickler was there when one previous hurricane threatened the Gulf. Her squadron was moved to Memphis, Tenn., for several days before being told it was safe to return.
Brickler finished her career at Fort Dix, N.J. While she handled the paperwork for many bound for Iraq, Brickler was pleased that all returned home safe.
In May, Brickler retired from the Navy.
She currently is taking some time off to spend with her daughter, who turned 15 this week.
In the fall, she will begin classes at Strayer University in North Carolina, where she resides.
Looking back, Brickler believes she made the right career decision.
"I wouldn't change it for anything in the world," she said.
