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thedrifter
08-06-07, 09:32 AM
Aye, aye admiral

BY JOHN D. HOMAN, THE SOUTHERN

MARION - Vice Admiral Nancy Brown has not forgotten her roots.

Even though she is the highest-ranking female officer ever in the U.S. Navy and serves the Department of Defense as principal adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on all C4 (computer) systems, Brown, 54, is proud to call Marion her home.

"Marion is a wonderful place to grow up," Brown said. "I still consider it my home and love being there any chance I get."

The 1970 Marion High School graduate said she used to live near the high school on Hemlock Drive.

"I used to play the clarinet in the high school band and wasn't very good," Brown said, laughing. "I don't know that I could even get a note out of one now."

Brown said she enjoyed going to all the football and basketball games to watch the Wildcats play and spent many weekend hours at the youth center.

"I had some good friends when I was growing up," Brown said. "Unfortunately, I haven't been to any reunions over the years and wasn't able to stay in touch as much as I would have liked."

After high school, Brown enrolled in Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., and earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1973.

Unable to find a job right out of college, Brown took the advice of her father, Bill, to consider joining the military.

"Nobody in our family had ever been in the military, but I decided to talk to a Navy recruiter," Brown said. "When he told me the Navy would never take me because my degree was not in math or science, I decided I was going to pursue it, so I filled out an application, and they accepted me."

At the time she was accepted only about 3 percent of Navy personnel were women.

Brown said she was the first woman to work a number of assignments when scaling the career ladder.

"I've always been committed to my career," she said. "I devoted the time and effort I felt was needed in order to perform to the level I wanted and was expected to perform."

Brown said the military career was clearly her choice, but she is confident that her work ethic would have carried over into any field of occupation.

"I've pretty much done about all I can do with the Navy," she said. "It's been a challenging yet rewarding career, and I'm getting close to the time where I will be turning things over to younger folks."

Brown is the daughter of the late Bill and Altha Brown. She has two sisters, Kay, of Marion, and Martha, of Dallas, Texas.

Brown returns to Marion this week, where she attend a Southern Illinois Miners game Friday with her husband, Pete Hesser, a retired Marine colonel and chief financial officer with a non-profit group that provides financial assistance to sailors and Marines and their families.

Brown has been asked to throw out the first pitch.

"I'm extremely excited about that," she said. "I know everyone in the area's really been enjoying those Miners games, and I'm looking forward to being there."

john.homan@thesouthern.com

351-5805

Ellie