Area woman sees world from carrier deck

CINDY WOOD/independent feature writer

So what’s a small-town girl from Spencerville do to conquer her fear of water? Well, if you’re Miranda Barnes, you join the United States Navy.

The former Bearcat cheerleader left the small-town life behind for an adventure on the open seas, stationed aboard one of the Navy’s biggest ships: the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

It was culture shock, to say the least.

“It’s gigantic,” Barnes said of the size of the Navy aircraft carrier. “It’s pretty much like a small city. We have more people on the boat than I have in my hometown. With a full crew on board, we have over five thousand people.”

Currently docked in San Diego, California, Barnes serves as a fireman on the ship, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s putting out fires every day.

“We actually do maintenance on the equipment we have,” Barnes said, adding that her squad performs a variety of drills during the day, including fire drills, flooding drills and toxic gas drills.

“Basically, if the ship would ever go down, we have been trained to save the ship,” she said, adding, “I really do like what I’m doing. It’s interesting, and people don’t realize there’s so much more to firefighting than just putting water on a fire.”

And speaking of putting out fires, she had to do some of that with her parents when she dropped the bombshell that she was leaving The Ohio State University behind to join the Navy.

“My dad did a lot of talking to me then, and let me know that once I signed my name that there was no backing out,” she said. “I think he was a little upset to lose his baby girl.”

But any initial hesitations are now a distant memory, and she’s both happy and proud about her decision to serve her country.

“I’ll admit when I first got here, I wasn’t sure if I made the right choice,” she said. “It’s a completely different environment than what I was used to for sure.”

After a year and a half of college, Barnes wanted something different. She wasn’t sure what that meant at the time, but she knew she wanted to see the world. She’ll have plenty of opportunities to do just that when she sets sail for Hawaii later this year. Next year, she’ll travel even farther from home when the USS Reagan sets its anchor in Japan.

“We’ll be stationed there in 2015, and I’m really looking forward to that,” Barnes said.

Eighteen months into a four-year commitment, Barnes is unsure if she’ll make the U.S. Navy her career choice, but she’s happy to be gaining valuable life experiences she wouldn’t have had otherwise.

“I wasn’t looking to get away from Spencerville, but I was looking to see the world, and the Navy has given me those opportunities,” she said. “I’ve been able to work with people from different ethnicities and different backgrounds, and it’s been a real learning experience for me.”

As was the first time Barnes got “underway,” the term the Navy uses when a ship has pulled out of port and is out to sea. For Barnes, it was a moment to face a fear she’s had since she was a child.

“It sounds super weird, I know, but I had a really big fear of the water, so I knew I had to face my fears and overcome them,” Barnes said, adding that, while she was extremely anxious the first couple trips to sea, she’s now completely at ease when the ship pulls up anchor.

“I’ve probably been underway eight or nine times now, and you just get kind of used to it,” she noted. “It’s just so calm and peaceful when you’re out there. You can feel the ship rocking, but it’s just something you get accustomed to.”

During her first 18 months, Barnes was able to come home once, but those trips will become more difficult once she’s stationed in Japan. She’s not quite sure how she feels about that.

“It’s going to be a lot more expensive to come home, so I’m not sure how much I’ll get to do that once I’m over there,” she said, adding that it’s also something that weighs heavily on the minds of her parents, Tim and Stacie Barnes.

“Actually, my mom was okay when I joined; she wanted to join the military when she was younger but she ended up having kids,” Barnes explained. “My dad was more upset because I’m the youngest girl in the family, but they’re both extremely supportive of my decision.”

While in San Diego, Barnes stays in barracks located just 15 minutes from the ship. Although she hasn’t gotten to explore the city much, she’s looking forward to doing more of that.

“The beach is my favorite thing here,” she said, adding, “any time I have free time, that’s where I’m at.”

Free time, though, is hard to come by. When the ship is underway, Barnes works 15-to-16-hour days, seven days a week. It’s times like that, Barnes said, when she really has to dig in and think about why she’s there.

“I do miss home, but I’m getting used to it now,” she said. “But I knew I was jumping in with both feet, and I’m getting so many life experiences and it’s taught me the responsibilities of being an adult. I’m proud of what I do. I really am.”