Stories of Honor: Flight Attendant Jamie Cecil, Navy

As part of our support of veterans during National Veterans and Military Families Month, we are publishing Stories of Honor in November. This post is from Jamie Cecil, a Flight Attendant based in Philadelphia, who served in the U.S. Navy where she found a love for aviation that led her to PSA.

After high school, I joined the Navy. I chose the Navy because growing up in Southern California and Hawaii, I wanted to be on the sea. But they had other plans for me, and I ended up in aviation. First, I studied to be an air-traffic controller, but decided to switch to intelligence. I was assigned to an anti-submarine warfare patrol squadron in Brunswick, Maine, where we flew P-3 Orions.

My two years in the Navy taught me many things, including how to develop a strong work ethic, adherence to policies and procedures, being early as opposed to just ‘on time,’ situational awareness, emergency response and pride in my appearance.

A few years after I got out of the Navy, my newfound love for aviation led me to a career as a flight attendant. The military and the airlines are very similar, so the transition was easy. I flew for United Airlines for 13 years, until I became a single mother with custody and I hung up my wings. But not forever! Now that my son is in college, I've returned to the skies. Flying for PSA has opened a new world - discovering smaller cities in America that otherwise I would never get a chance to see!

Keeping our troops in mind, I'm currently collecting toiletries and supplies in PHL for our local Air Force base. These will be distributed to Afghan refugees.