AN UNEXPECTED TURN
BY SHANNON ROBINSON
The Story of Terry England - USN – E3
Like many young men, when Terry England embarked on his military career, he had no idea where it would lead him. He only knew that he wanted to travel and needed money for college.
In the summer of 1994, right after graduating high school, Terry shipped off to Recruit Training Command Orlando. As the second to last training group before the location was shut down, at the end of boot camp the new recruits broke down their beds and shut down the barracks the last night they were there.
He went into boot camp Undesignated. He had an interest in linguistics, but couldn’t join for a year and a half; he wanted to enter intelligence and considered nuke training, but he couldn’t study those and pursue SEAL training in the future. He came out of boot camp with an A-School Opportunity, so Terry went into Damage Control Training.
Damage Control ensures preventative maintenance for firefighting and systems on the ship, Terry trained in Chemical Biological Radiological (CBR) Detection and Decontamination. Running drills daily, much of Terry’s responsibilities included firefighting, fixing burst pipes, and plugging holes.
He remembers one night where he sat on a toilet for seven hours with a CO2 extinguisher and welding glasses, watching 2 crews replace a pipe in the pressurized fire suppression system, making sure nothing caught on fire and keeping people from using the bathroom—even when a CPO tried to shower.
Terry forbade him from entering, trying to explain the situation. To no surprise, standing in his tighty-whities, ditty bag in hand, the CPO chewed England out and threatened him within an inch of his life. Fortunate for Terry, his commanding officer, Chief Goans showed up and promptly put the CPO in his place, explaining the situation and ending with a stern “don’t bother my crew.”
Now, England believes that everything happens for a reason. Unfortunately, just before he deployed, he was running a Mass Conflag drill and carried a P-250 auxiliary pump up three decks. On the way back to his station, he fell down a ladder well. The fall revealed damage done to his knee during boot camp, and Terry was quickly diagnosed with PFS, or “runner’s knees” in laymen terms, due to overuse and “probably running too much in steel toed boots.” Surgery was an option—an option that came with a 6% chance of recovery and a 30% chance of making things much worse.
Terry was medically discharged later that year with disability.
TERRY ENGLAND - USN
He immediately entered physical rehabilitation for his knees and stuck with that for years. He was told he’d have to have his first knee replacement before he was 50 years old, but with grit and determination, he hopes he has reversed those odds.
After his time in the military, Terry worked several different jobs. He started selling vacuums with his uncle in Lawton, Oklahoma. When his uncle got out of the business, Terry didn’t feel any ties to the sales industry, so he left the business too. Next, he went into the restaurant industry, serving, bartending, and working his way up. However, he realized that working his way up in the restaurant industry still wasn’t his calling. So, he transferred again into the IT world.
At the Convergys call center, Terry earned several tech certifications. However, right as he was about to level-up in the tech industry, Compaq was bought out, and the market was soon flooded with supremely qualified call center reps. It became increasingly harder for Terry to advance in this career.
His mother is the one who talked Terry into nursing. A nurse herself, she encouraged him to pursue a BSN. However, Terry wasn’t sure he would receive any or enough VA benefits to afford a college education. In fact, Terry didn’t go to school for 10 years because he didn’t know he qualified for VA benefits.
He paid for his nursing pre-requisite courses and then applied for benefits through the GI Bill, expecting around $1600 dollars. He describes the day he found out he was going to receive 8-9,000 dollars. Shocked, surprised, and grateful, he enrolled in college and helped his parents close on a new home.
Terry received his BSN from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2013. Since then, he’s found that nursing fulfills him in a way no other career could. He “loves taking care of people and positively affecting people’s lives.” He passionately advocates for public knowledge on nutrition, lifestyles changes, and healthy habits to make lasting differences for individual lives.
As a traveling nurse, he lives his life “13 weeks at a time.” Nutrition—particularly focused on highlighting the staggering rates of childhood obesity—remains a key motivation in Terry’s nursing journey.
While his time in the military may have been brief, the Navy taught Terry that “teamwork is absolutely important when there’s something bigger than yourself” you’re fighting for. However, he realized that the most important lesson it taught him is that his limits are only in his brain.