Meet Cathy Sleeth
Cathy Sleeth was born in 1955 in Colfax, Washington. She was then adopted by a family and they moved to Idaho and lived there until her 10th birthday. Soon after, her family decided to move to Mexico, so that is the country she grew up in and ultimately graduated from. Since she grew up in a foreign country, she wanted to know everything that was happening in the States. One of the teachers at her high school talked to her about future plans, and told her she should apply to Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. After she graduated from Guadalajara High School she applied and got in.
She went to college in Oregon to be a coach, and it was there that she found her calling. She began talking to the Navy recruiters and seeing what they had to offer. She continued with her schooling and finally got her degree in coaching. When she graduated from college, there weren’t many coaching positions available, so she decided she would join the Navy. She wanted to be in the Navy because her dad used to be in the Navy, and she didn’t particularly want to go into the army. At this time, the military had just begun letting women join the ROTC. The ways of the world were still changing: women could now join the military and be on board ships, planes and submarines. However, at the time of her service, women were not officially allowed in combat.
Mrs. Sleeth officially joined the Navy in July 1977. A month after she graduated college she began her officer training schooling. The Navy sent her to Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island for her masters. Mrs. Sleeth claims she had a great year there and had the opportunities to meet many different officers from around the world. She said, “Being there was wonderful, you get to meet many new people and experience things you aren’t able to normally.”
The gender spheres were very disparate at the time, but after awhile Mrs. Sleeth’s training squadron began to accept her as one of their own. She remembers when she first walked in to the camp, and everyone seemed dumbfounded. She only had brothers, so she was used to all of the different things that boys would do. She understood what was what quickly, and got along well with everyone. The senior officers were a little more blunt and claimed they had “been in the Navy longer than [she had] been breathing oxygen.” Nonetheless, she understood her role in her squadron and learned a lot from her time there.
After completing all of her schooling and training, she went on to acquire her first position in the state of Washington: she was assigned to a training squadron. She enjoyed working there for a substantial amount of time until her husband’s father began to have complications with his health. Shortly after, she requested to be stationed closer to her family so they transferred her over to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania to be in Navy Recruiting and MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station). She began to work her way through the ranks and became the commanding officer where she was stationed. “When I was the commanding officer of MEPS we did some great things and were the number 1 MEPS out of 68 in the county for awhile,” Mrs. Sleeth said.
Later, she transferred to Indianapolis and became the commander there as well. She was the commanding officer in Indianapolis during the First Gulf War, which started in 1991. She supported all the battle from there, because women weren’t allowed on the battlefield. The roles of women were changing, and she helped spearhead the transformation of women’s roles in the military. Her last tour of duty was at Purdue as the Associate Professor of Naval Science. She also taught ROTC at Purdue and has found it to be very rewarding to watch all of her mentees grow up and make a change in the world. She retired from the Navy in Oct. 1997, and stayed in her position at Purdue until 2015.
She is currently 64 years old and loves to spend time with her husband and daughter. She retired over 22 years ago, but she got bored fast. She now is a substitute at a high school in Washington state. She still keeps in touch with some of her old Navy friends, but when you transition from station to station you make friends everywhere you go. Mrs. Sleeth claims that Facebook is a big help in keeping up with folks and making sure to keep in contact.
When asked if she would do it all over again if she could, she said, “Absolutely. I think serving in the military gives you a different outlook, especially if you’ve served in different countries, on the opportunities we have here. I have had so many opportunities in life I wouldn’t have had if I was just a coach.” Being in the Navy for over 20 years is no easy task, but to Mrs. Sleeth, it was the perfect fit.
This Veterans Day, take the time to appreciate all that our veterans do for us. They protect our liberties, keep us safe, and sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice. To everyone who has served or will serve in the future: thank you for your service.
A special thank you to Cathy Sleeth for allowing us to interview her. She is a wonderful woman and we are thankful for her service to our country.