Friday, July 9, 2004
OU alumna named Detroit Reserve Sailor of the Year
By Dawn Pauli, contributing writer
Lucy Quinn, OU alumna (CAS ’81) and Navy Petty Officer (journalist) 1st Class, recently was named the Reserve Sailor of the Year by the Naval Reserve Center Detroit as well as the Sailor of the Year by the Naval Reserve Program 35 (Naval Reserve Public Affairs).
Quinn, from St. Clair Shores, is stationed at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
She was surprised and honored to receive the awards.
“To get the Reserve Sailor Award from Detroit was very much an honor, there are a lot of fantastic people there, but to get the public affairs sailor of the year award was humbling because those are my peers,” she said.
The awards are based on goals set for each unit. Quinn’s awards are for exceptional skill and service far beyond the required qualifications of her rating and for enthusiasm and ingenuity that have materially benefited the Navy and Naval Reserve.
September marks Quinn’s 11th year in the reserves. She is required to serve one weekend a month and perform two weeks of active duty a year. While her primary job is a navy journalist, she also worked in security for five years.
“After 9/11, I was activated immediately for force protection homeland defense,” she said. “I did a year of active duty at the Great Lakes Naval Station, which is north of Chicago.”
In addition to her duties in the reserve, Quinn stays busy with several other jobs, which include being a freelance writer, an auxiliary public safety officer for the city of Grosse Pointe Woods, a Tae Kwon Do instructor and a housewife.
Quinn’s husband, OU alumnus John Klink, is her biggest supporter. “I would not be able to do this without the support of my husband, 100 percent behind me.”