Honoring Those Who Served: Clara Staton
May is National Military Appreciation Month in the United States. MSCI will celebrate by featuring member company employees — our MSCI Metals Veterans — who have served their country in uniform. If you are veteran or member of the military and would like to share your story, fill out this questionnaire. Readers: we hope you will honor these courageous individuals by sharing their stories on social media using #MSCIMetalVets and tagging MSCI.
Name: Clara E. Staton
Company: SSAB Enterprises
City and State: Axis, Ala.
Current Position/Job Title: IT support specialist
Education: University of Southern Mississippi, Slidell Vocational Technical
Military Branch: U.S. Navy
Years of Service: 1978-1983
Job/MOS in the military: BT2, Boiler Technician Petty Officer Second Class
Unit and where you were stationed: Navy Recruit Training Command Company 3062, Orlando Fla.; U.S. Naval Training Command BTA School and Tomich 1200 PSI Steam Plant, Great Lakes, Ill.; SIMA NAVAIRLANT, Norfolk, Va.; SIMA Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Va.; COMNAVAIRLANT, Norfolk, Va.
What memorable phrase or word will never be the same now that you served? “You can’t do that because you’re a girl!”
What is something new you learned about yourself from serving? We are in this together, each of us a cog in the wheel, and must sync to succeed.
How have you applied lessons in the military to your job/career? Do the job right and to the best of your ability. Pitch in to get the job done, even if it is not your job. That also was the way I was raised.
Do you have a favorite quote, mantra, or personal motto? Trust and love God. Be patriotic. Never give up.
How can the metals industry do a better job connecting with veterans? Continue with the great work and steel integrity for military applications, keeping the metals industry in their thoughts.
Anything else that you would like to share regarding your experience? I am honored and proud to have served in the U.S. Navy. In the late 1970s I was one of only 12 women to enter the Boiler Technician rating, which was previously men only, and the only enlisted female assigned to work at the U.S. Naval Training School Tomich 1200 PSI Steam Plant Training Facility in Great Lakes, Ill.
I had the opportunity to do in-rate work: repairing valves; punching mud drum tubes; disassembling parts inside a steam drum; assisting students in locating various types of piping, lines, and equipment for training; serving as “Messenger of the Watch,” reporting hourly readings from equipment machinery gauges remote of the engineering operating station throughout various plant levels accessed by ladder; and other duties.
Thank you for your service, Clara! Click here to read other profiles in this series and join the Military Appreciation Month conversation on MSCI’s Community Forum.