Source: United States Navy
Wood is concluding her third set of orders in Lemoore. Over the past 28 years, she has seen medical at Naval Air Station Lemoore evolve from naval hospital to naval health clinic.
“In 2001, I started out as a young, motived hospital corpsman 2nd class working downstairs in patient care,” Wood said, “And now, I’m helping to develop this new generation of hospital corpsmen to rise in their ranks and become leaders.”
From humble beginnings, Wood grew up in a small agricultural community about 60 miles southeast of the naval air station in a town called Wasco, California. Onions, garlic, cotton, almonds, and roses make up most of its exports. According to the City of Wasco Festival of Roses website, about 50% of all the roses grown in the United States are grown in Wasco and surrounding communities.
“Growing up how I grew up, you just learned to piece things together like a puzzle to make it all work.” Wood said. “That’s the great thing about being a command master chief, you help fit people and teams together and you find leaders who really grow and come into their own as a hospital corpsman!”
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When working with the command’s young Sailors she was always encouraging and helped Sailors develop a good plan of action.
“CMC always encouraged me to have a good plan of action,” said Hospitalman Jamal Dase. “She also followed up with me to make sure I was accomplishing all my tasks. She also always volunteered her time to help with any diversity committee projects I was working on.”
Another junior Sailor at the command also appreciated her outlook on mentorship.
“CMC is a good beacon of representation,” said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Everett Arnett, “She is a Sailor first and her opinion on mentorship really made a lasting impression on me. She helped me figure out that I really needed to put in the effort to find the right person to mentor and help guide me through my career.”
Master Chief Petty Officer Wood is headed to Joint Base San Antonio – Fort Sam Houston, Texas to provide support for Navy Medicine Training Support Center. She will be guiding new Sailors at “A” school where they train for 14 weeks to learn the basic principles and techniques of patient care and first aid procedures to prepare them to become hospitalmen.
“I am excited about my next role at Navy Medicine Training Support Center in Texas,” said Wood. “I can’t wait to help make more hospital corpsmen for Navy Medicine so that we can send more corpsmen Lemoore’s way!”
The command will ring Command Master Chief Wood ashore on Friday, November 18, following Turkey Palooza, the clinic’s annual Thanksgiving holiday meal.
To find out more information about Naval Health Clinic Lemoore visit us online at https://lemoore.TRICARE.mil or https://www.facebook.com/NHCLemoore.