After a 25-year career, Master Chief Petty Officer Julia Grodski recently marked what will likely be her final re-enlistment with a ceremony that was every bit a reunion as it was a recommitment to the U.S. Navy.

A group of more than 25 people gathered in the atrium of the Rear Adm. William A. Moffett Building on June 26 to witness Grodski, who works as the Performance Improvement Branch Leading Chief Petty Officer in the Logistics and Industrial Operations Department (AIR-6.7) here, come full circle with her career.

That circle began 21 years ago in December 1991 when Grodski extended her first tour in the Navy, taking her re-enlistment oath at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, Calif., named after the admiral credited as the architect of naval aviation. The circle closed June 26 when Grodski chose Capt. Fred Hepler, the same officer who re-enlisted her in 1991, to preside over her ceremony.

MEETING A ROLE MODEL
Grodski and Hepler’s paths first crossed at Patrol Squadron 50, or (VP) 50, at Moffett Field when he was a lieutenant and her division officer and she worked as an aviation electronics technician at the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department.

“I was told that a Navy tradition was to ask an officer that you admired to administer your oath,” Grodski said. “I thought he [Hepler] was a great leader, role model and a good person, so, when the time came for me to re-enlist, I didn’t have to look any further than my division officer.”

Now the program manager for the Aviation Support Equipment Office, or PMA-260, at Pax River, Hepler met Grodski again while the two were prepping for their Navy Physical Fitness Assessment, or PFA, a few months before her re-enlistment ceremony.

“I recognized him right away; he hadn’t changed a bit.” Grodski said. “You never forget someone that influenced your early career and absolutely played a part in your decision to make the Navy a career.”

For Hepler, that meeting was more than chance.

“Master Chief Grodski asked me after the PFA if I would be available to re-enlist her on June 26,” Hepler said. “I enthusiastically, with fierce pride, said ‘yes’ to having this awesome opportunity to re-enlist her for the final time before she brings closure to her incredible career. It is surreal that Petty Officer Second Class Grodski re-enlisted the first time at Naval Air Station Moffett Field and her last re-enlistment took place at the Moffett Building at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.”

LEAVING HIS MARK
Hepler told the small crowd gathered to honor Grodski that they were “witnessing history.”

“My fingerprints were on her contract for her first six-year re-enlistment and my fingerprints will be on the next four,” Hepler said. “Master Chief Grodski grew up in New York and started her watch in the Navy just days before Christmas in 1987. Little did I know she would be here for the long haul.”

After leaving Moffett Field, Grodski set sail on a voyage that docked in many ports, offering her the opportunity achieve personal and professional milestones. While serving on a shore duty assignment at NAS Norfolk Va., she went to college at night and earned enough credits for an associate’s degree.

In 1996, she embarked on what would become one of her most satisfying assignments as she joined the crew of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).

“The Department of Defense’s Combat Exclusion Policy was lifted and, as a result, I was able to serve on an aircraft carrier and was on the shi