Command Senior Chief Petty Officer Brianna Ridlon, left, reenlists in the Navy standing atop one of the USS Ronald Reagan's anchors at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, April 1, 2024. (Evan Mueller/U.S. Navy)
Command Senior Chief Petty Officer Brianna Ridlon donned a harness, eye protection and a safety helmet earlier this month to reenlist on the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan.
Not so much aboard the carrier but while suspended on its starboard side anchor, which sports a fresh coat of gold paint.
“I think it makes it more memorable and adds more of a sense of heritage in the Navy as well as being connected to the Navy’s mission and what we’re doing and why we are serving,” Ridlon, of San Mateo, Calif., told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday.
The Ronald Reagan deck crew painted the ship’s two 30-ton anchors gold last month, signifying the crew’s achievement in reenlisting or retaining a significant number of sailors. Ridlon added a coda to the achievement by reenlisting shortly afterward, on April 1.
She joined the Navy in 2005 as an undesignated seaman in hopes of someday becoming a judge advocate general. She became a legalman in 2008 and has served two of her 18 years in the Navy aboard the Ronald Reagan.
For Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Crider, who also mounted the anchor to administer the oath, the opportunity was an honor and meaningful in many ways.
“A golden anchor has a great deal of significance and symbolizes many things to a chief petty officer, two of which are unity and service,” he said by email Friday.
“Conducting her reenlistment on the chief petty officer birthday on the largest golden anchor in the Fleet is very symbolic of unity, service, and the weight of responsibility chief petty officers share,” said Crider, of Utica, Mich., and head of the carrier’s deck department.
The chief petty officer rank was established 131 years ago on April 1, 1893.
Command Senior Chief Petty Officer Brianna Ridlon and Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Crider pose atop one of the USS Ronald Reagan's anchors at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, April 1, 2024. (Evan Mueller/U.S. Navy)
Ridlon said the anchor reenlistment idea came from Crider and the boatswain’s mate chiefs.
“This was the first time I have done something cool for a reenlistment,” she said. “All the other times I just wanted to, you know, do a quick ceremony and sign the papers.”
Ridlon said being on the anchor for her reenlistment wasn’t too scary.
“I think I was a little intimidated because the deck sailors that were helping us get up there were so comfortable moving around,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to embarrass myself if I fall or do something dumb,’ because all of the deck sailors were so comfortable up there.”
Ridlon celebrated the chief’s birthday by participating in a morning run and cake cutting before heading to the anchor.
“You see people reenlisting in some of the coolest places, in helicopters, aircraft and I’ve seen divers reenlist underwater,” she said. “It really just brings out that purpose in why we continue to serve.”
