THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506140058
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THUMBS UP
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
AS ANYONE in the Navy community could tell you, there are a lot of newly minted ensigns around this time of year. Fresh from their graduation and commissioning ceremonies, the single gold bars on their collars not yet dulled by time or salt, they're easy to spot.
Clear-eyed, physically fit and anxious to get their Navy careers off to a good start, they represent the best and the brightest of their generation. Ensign Amy Gravitt, Norfolk Academy class of '91, Duke University class of '95, is no exception.
But she is exceptional.
At a millimeter or two under 5 feet 3 inches and a few ounces over 100 pounds, she walked off the Duke campus last month with a 3.0 grade point average, a degree in political science, a Navy commission, the promise of a slot in the Navy's much sought-after Supply School and something else.
Eight varsity letters.
``I lettered in varsity track and cross-country in my freshman year,'' Gravitt said, ``and ended up lettering in both all four years.'' She is the first female graduate ever to do so while attending Duke on a Navy ROTC scholarship.
Although she comes from a Navy family (her dad, Pat, is a retired captain who currently flies for Federal Express, and her brother, Mike, is a Naval Academy graduate now in flight school at Pensacola), going into the Navy was definitely her own idea.
``Nobody put any pressure on me,'' she said. ``It was definitely my own decision.''
Nevertheless, it was a very proud moment for everyone when her father swore her in at a private ceremony attended by family and friends prior to commencement.
``It was the best part of the whole graduation for me,'' Amy Gravitt said. As payback for her NROTC scholarship, Gravitt will spend four years on active duty and an additional four years in the reserves.
The active-duty time, she said, will give her the opportunity to decide whether she wants to make the Navy a career.
``Right now I'm keeping an open mind about staying in,'' she said. ``I chose the Supply Corps because I think I'm most suited for that. I like the business opportunities.''
She'd also like to do something in the Navy that would allow her to use her political science background. The Office of Legislative Affairs, the interface between the Navy and Congress, is a possibility she hopes to explore.
First, however, she expects some sea duty. ``I think I'd prefer to go aboard a tender or something (else) smaller than a carrier. I think that's where I can get the best experience.''
Where she goes after Supply School will, to a certain extent, be determined by Gravitt herself. As is the custom in major Navy schools, graduating students get to choose from the list of available duty stations on the basis of their class standing.
Until she starts Supply School in October, Gravitt is assigned to temporary duty with Squadron VFC 12 at Oceana, giving her the chance to spend the summer with her parents (her mother, Suzanne, is a Realtor with Prudential Decker) in Virginia Beach.
The squadron is not exactly unfamiliar territory to the new ensign. Her father was its commanding officer a few years back.
``I come home and look at the seal every night,'' she said, laughing as she pointed to the squadron's logo embedded in the Lucite top of a hatch cover coffee table in the family room.
Like most women entering the service these days, she has given a lot of thought to what the future holds for females in the military. She documented her beliefs on the subject in a lengthy paper she wrote for a political science class.
``My personal opinion,'' she said, ``is that women can be successful but that the Department of Defense needs to make sure that a woman is in a position because she's qualified, not just because she's a woman.''
That said, she was quick to offer another opinion, a very positive one.
``Right now is the best time to be a woman in the military. There are so many opportunities. I say `be assertive and go for it.' '' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Ensign Amy Gravitt was sworn in by her father, a retired Navy
captain.
by CNB