Navy Recruiting Region West held a change of command ceremony on June 8, 2011 at the Memphis, Tennessee National Civil Rights Museum.

During the ceremony, Capt. Voresa Booker, a member of the Lane College Class of 1981, relieved Capt. Yolanda Y. Reagans in a historic diversity moment: two female African-American Navy captains exchanging command.

Booker assumed command of Navy Recruiting Region West on June 9, 2011. The United States is divided into two Regions. Each region (East and West) comprises 13 recruiting districts. As Commodore (her new title of command) of Region West, Booker is responsible for the 13 Navy Recruiting Districts west of the Mississippi River. Her area of responsibility encompasses 28 western states, including Alaska and Hawaii and the Pacific Territories–Guam and Japan. She supervises over 3,500 military and civilian personnel who are responsible for over half of the men and women who join the Navy each year as enlisted and officer candidates.

Booker described some of the challenges she has faced in the past and her excitement in becoming Navy Recruiting Region West’s commodore.

“Being an African-American in a predominately male environment has always been somewhat of a challenge,” said Booker. “One of the things I’ve always felt is that I always have to prove myself, and a lot of times I was the only one or one of few African-American female officers, but I always rolled up my sleeves and got the job done. When I got promoted, there were 26 African-American female captains in the entire Navy with roughly 320,000 people,” said Booker. “I really felt like I joined an elite group of women. Now, to be relieving a fellow Navy captain, who is also an African-American female, is a historic moment. I believe this is the first time this has happened in a Navy Recruiting Region.”

Booker, a native of Jackson, Tennessee, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at Lane. After enlisting in the Navy in February 1983 and following Recruit Training and Personnelman “A” school, she was assigned to the Personnel Support Detachment at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. During her first enlistment, Captain Booker was selected for Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island and was commissioned in March 1985.

In April 1985, Captain Booker reported to Training Squadron 10 in Pensacola, Fla., where she served as both the Legal Officer and Admin Officer. After completion of the Navy’s Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counselor School, Captain Booker reported to Naval Base Seattle in February 1987 and served as the Drug and Alcohol Abuse Regional Coordinator for the Northwest Region (Washington, Oregon and Alaska). During this tour, she also served as the Command Managed Equal Opportunity Program Officer and the Total Quality Leadership Training Officer.

In May 1991, Captain Booker reported to Navy Recruiting District Seattle as the Officer Programs Department Head. Following her Department Head tour, Captain Booker served on the staff of Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command as a manpower analyst and performed a split-tour to complete her second Department Head tour as Officer in Charge, Personnel Support Detachment Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.

Captain Booker then attended the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and earned a Masters Degree in Systems Management. Following Postgraduate School, she assumed command of the Military Entrance Processing Station in Tampa, Fla. In August 2002, she transferred to Special Operations Command where she served as the Chief of Navy and Marine Corps Personnel and Navy Element Commander.

In April 2005, Captain Booker reported for duty as the Executive Officer of Navy Recruiting District Nashville and assumed command July 2006. Captain Booker relinquished command in April 2008 and reported to Navy Recruiting Command as the Director of Human Resources and Logistics. In June 2009, Captain Booker reported to Navy Personnel Command where she served as the Human Resources Officer Head Detailer.

“I am ready to take command of Region West,” said Booker. “As a commodore responsible for roughly half of the nation’s recruiting force, I find it to be a challenge that I am up to. With each job I have undertaken, my responsibilities have grown larger and larger culminating in this challenging assignment. In my past experiences, I was a commanding officer of a Navy Recruiting District, moving on to Millington as the director of human resources and then detailing. Now, I’m coming back to recruiting. I’m happy to be here and happy to join Team West.”

With 70 percent of the world covered in ocean, 80 percent of the world’s population living near coasts and 90 percent of the world’s commerce traveling by water, America’s Navy is very much a global force for good. NRC’s mission is to recruit the best men and women for America’s Navy to accomplish today’s missions and meet tomorrow’s challenges.

Referenced article at Lane College

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