Armed Forces Day Feature

Heidi Mercado, US Navy avy

BY SUZIE WELLS

Armed Forces Day is May 20th, and I thought it appropriate to feature a few of our local veterans. I have several cousins who have proudly served our country in the various US military branches, including Heidi Mercado, a Stanley native. ough she didn’t necessarily have her sights set on military service all her life as some do/have, life took her on an around-the-world adventure with the Navy a er high school.

Heidi served three deployments in three years fresh out of boot camp. She served in the Persian Gulf, then at WestPac, Western Paci c, where she served mostly in the far east. Heidi’s third tour was a world tour, so it was “like three tours in one,” she says.

Heidi wanted to be a nurse corpsman but when there weren’t any slots for female corpsmen, she began her service as an operation specialist. She tracked radar and surface contacts and labeled them either friendly critical contact or critical contact of interest.

As she progressed in the Navy, Heidi served as the representative for her division for Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR). She explains, “Before we pulled into port, we would have lists of activities you could do and see, and I would report that back to my division and sign people up.” all contacts were properly labeled and identi ed. She oversaw the surface and air contact labeling and querying aircra that neared their airspace. rough all the challenges, though, Heidi appreciates her service in the Navy. ough she originally joined the military due to lack of funds for college, Heidi says the best part of serving was seeing the world. “Now I have the travel bug,” she says, “I was introduced to so many di erent cultures and di erent ways of thinking that I think I’m a better person now.” ank you for your service, Heidi! We are so proud of all you have accomplished over the years and look forward to greatness to come.

Most notable moments for Heidi were when she swam above the Mariana trench, as well as when her ship, the USS Higgins, was rst to arrive to assist in the catastrophic 2010 Haiti earthquake’s a ermath.

Heidi’s had lots of fun with her two best friends who always went on liberty together. She remembers a fancy dinner in Hong Kong and a bike ride execution in Singapore. She loved watching one of her best friends reenlist on the USS Missouri in Hawaii. And she says particularly memorable was when her Senior Chief deployed on the battleship where the Japanese signed the peace treaty in World War 2 and that was recommissioned for Desert Storm.

Heidi appreciates her Senior Chief Magnetta of the operational system support center, who helped her study for and pass her enlisted surface warfare specialist (ESWS) quali cation. With Magnetta’s help, Heidi was the youngest and most junior sailor (an e-2 at the time) to obtain this quali cation.

Heidi doesn’t sugar-coat the experience. She had some rough times in the Navy, mostly due to sexism and harassment she does not want to discuss. e US military has a long way to go toward equality and even appropriate treatment of women. Heidi says, “You have to work twice as hard to be seen as equal to men.” She credits her youth and naivete to a lot of the harassment she experienced simply going over her head at the time, but she admits it a ects her to this day.

By the end of her enlistment, Heidi was in charge of her division’s education and all personnel les. She was in charge of maintenance and destruction of all secret material. Heidi also served as tactical information coordinator (TIC), along with bringing up LINK, which helped ships in the strike group see the same picture. Heidi was also in charge of making sure

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