Canton, Tx.
EARLY DAYS:
“I was born in 1971 in Teague, Texas. I had one brother who was five years younger than me. My dad, Willis Pickett, was a pipeliner in Mineral Wells, and my mom was a stay home mom. My dad was drafted into the Army and served In Korea, and two of my uncles served in Vietnam. My dad drove tanks in Korea. He was 6-foot, and I don’t know how he had leg room in that tank. My dad was the baby in the family, and he didn’t want to go to Korea, and when I went into the military, he told he, “don’t do it,” it’s different now, laughed Ginger.
“I do remember my dad telling me he got sent back when Martin Luther King was killed and that was the only time he got shot at. He was serving in Washington D.C., and he was shot at near a liquor store during the riots. He said I heard the bullet go zinging by my head,” laughed Pickett.
“I grew up in the country and was mostly a tomboy. I rode horses a lot and chasing cows. My grandparents had some property, and we lived out there for a while in a trailer. We then moved about six miles out in the country to Mexia, Texas. I mostly stayed out all day and came home when the porch lights came on. I was the only girl around and most of the boys I grew up with were my brother’s age.
I hunted, fished and team roped, and barrel raced. I did a lot with my dad growing up. Later, I got into singing and at that time I did not even know I could sing. I was also hurdling and high jumping in track, basketball and played tuba in the marching band in my Junior High thru my Freshman year in High School and then I quit all that. I then got into the Ag stuff. I did one semester training and breaking horses. My Ag teacher said, “I should do this for a living, you are good at it,” he said.
MILITARY DAYS: (1994-1998)
“In 1994, I volunteered for the Navy. I talked to some of my friends and most of them were stationed in one place and I really wanted to see the world. I was from central Texas, and I had not travelled very much.
I went to boot camp for about eight-weeks in Orlando. I was scared to death in boot camp. I had never been yelled at in my life,” laughed Ginger. “That was a big change for me, I was really upset, but I finally got used to all the yelling. My mom did not tell me, but my dad really got sick when I left home and joined the Navy. They gave him some penicillin and he had an allergic reaction. He was put into the hospital. They did not tell me any of that until I got out of boot camp. My dad and my whole family were very close.
After graduating from booth camp, I was assigned to a ship in San Diego, California, which at the time was still being built.
We stayed in San Diego for about six-months. The name of the ship was the USS Rainier (AOE-7). It was being built in the shipyards and we stayed on a barge while it was being worked on. I had orders to Washington state once the ship was completed. I had just purchased a truck, so I drove up to Washington State and waited for the ship to arrive. The Rainier was the only ship I was on in the Navy. We were docked in Bremerton Washington.
I went into MEPS. The Navy was looking for women to go into non-traditional jobs at the time.
INFO: MEPS stands for Military Entrance Processing Station, a join-service facility staffed by military ad civilian personnel. Its primary purpose is to evaluate whether applicants meet the medical, physical, mental and moral standards required by the Department of Defense (DOD) and individual service branches. MEPS ensures that recruits are capable of handling the physical and mental demands of military service without risk to themselves or others. Military.com
They gave me a choice of Medical or Engineering kind of jobs. They were pushing me into Engineering. In the Navy they have Strikers like Firemen or Seaman Apprentice and Airmen Apprentice. I started as a Fireman Apprentice. Once I got to the ship and the Chief likes you in these different sections you can go in there and see if you like working there. So, I went into the Electrical shop for about 6-8 months, mostly issuing out tools around the ship. I soon realized it wasn’t quite for me. It was time for me to choose a career I would be happy with.
I worked with a Chaplain for a while but unfortunately everyone wanted that job. One of the girls in the radio room said they needed help there and you get a $20,000 reenlistment bonus and if you pass the test. I gave it a shot and I went up to the radio room. So, I was now working on antennas on the ship and of course painting over the side. Seems like everyone was scared of heights except me.
WESTPAC TOUR: (1996-1998)
“I did one WESTPAC (Western Pacific) Tour while on the USS Rainier,” said Ginger.
INFO: A WESTPAC (Western Pacific) tour in the U.S. Navy refers to a deployment of U.S. Navy ships and units to the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans under the 7th Fleet, headquartered at Yokosuka, Japan. These deployments can last from a few weeks to over a year, depending on mission requirements.
A WESTPAC tour is a key part of the U.S. Navy’s Indo-Pacific presence, blending combat readiness, diplomacy, and humanitarian missions with a wide range of port visits. For sailors, it’s a chance to serve in a major fleet, engage with allies, and experience diverse cultures across the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
“I went to Hawaii and at the time I was doing mess deck so did not have much time to visit the island. After Hawaii we went to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bahrain and some Middle East countries like Kajari and the UAE (United Arab Emirates). We did get to visit some of these countries but most of the time we had shift work.
Once we left these countries we went to Australia for about 20-days. I took a lot of vacation time off when I was in Australia.
Australia was the nicest place I visited on my WESTPAC tour. I saw a lot of Kangaroos and went on a lot of the tourist trips. We were stationed off Melbourne and was able to ride the trains. The people were very friendly, and I thought their accents were cool.
It didn’t hurt that about this time I received my $20K bonus money for reupping for another four-years. I was a radioman E-4 at the time of reenlistment.
The only other travelling I did while in the military was some R&R in Canada and Mexico.
HANGING FROM A HELICOPTOR: (1997)
“After I reenlisted, I did get an opportunity to hang from a helicopter. I had done a three-year tour and reenlisted for another four years. We were in one of the Middle Eastern countries and someone told me about hanging from a copter when you reenlisted, so I said I want to do that,” laughed Ginger.
So, we are on this spy line on the helicopter, and I am clipped on and hanging there. This Doctor friend of mine is next to me, and we were hanging about 50-feet above the water. So, we are flying around all these other ships, and I am hanging from this chopper. It was a neat experience.
We left Australia and went back to Seattle where we had work done on the rutters of the ship. By the time they got out of drydock I was off the ship and doing shore duty. This was around 1998. My next set of orders was to Meridian, Mississippi. It was a Supply Depot for the Navy, and I worked for the Airwings (CTW1) part of the Base.
MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI:
“There were some Microsoft Window server classes I took for Information Technology (IT) and there were three contractors there who helped me learn a lot about computers. I was still an E-4 when I got there, and I was taking over an E-6s job. I was working for a pilot, who was also an IT guy, and I was kind of thrown into the job. The E-6 was leaving in about 3-weeks, so I had to learn fast. There were several buildings on the base and when one of the PC computers broke down, they would send me over to try and fix it. They had different planes and computers attached to each hanger and building. I didn’t work on the plane’s computers but on the desktops in their offices. So, I would go and help the pilots if they needed help on their computers. Most of the work I did was for server and desktop support, administration and passwords. They were real smart at flying but not so smart when it came to computers. I even helped the Commander of the base when he had computer issues. I got to be real good friends with the secretaries. They would call me all the time to come and fix their computers. I ended up spending three years in Meridian.
I made Sailor of the year in 1997, and they wanted me to stay in the military. I had spent four years on the ship, three years of shore duty and one year of reserves. It was time for me to move on and besides I did not want to go back out on another ship. I did learn a lot of responsibility and integrity in the military. I was challenged a lot in the IT field in the Navy. I did earn E-6 First Class while I was in the Reserves, but never got the chance to put it on my sleeve. But I learned a lot in the Navy. It molded me into who I am today.
The Navy gave me the opportunity to travel to a lot of places and meet some friends. We had a reunion recently in Dallas with some friends from the USS Rainier and some of my shipmates come thru Dallas and we will occasionally go out for dinner. Some of the best food I ate in the Military was on the ship. They fed us well and the worst was some of the food we ate in some of the Asian countries.
SINGING CAREER:
About this time, I was asked to sing the national anthems at many of our base events. I started singing when in the Navy I was singing Karaoke when I was stationed in Bremerton. When I got to Meridian, they asked me if I could sing the National Anthem and I said, I will give it a try. Then they started asking me if I could sing during the “Winging’s.” This is the ceremony when the pilots get their wings.
A guy from the local Meridian newspaper came out and wrote an article about me singing the National Anthem. That was pretty cool, it gave me chill bumps that someone would write about my singing.
Just before I left Meridian, I got involved with a rock band. We played in Meridian and all-around Alabama. The band’s name was “Four in The Corner.” We played blues and rock music.
I did mostly vocals with them and later I picked up a guitar. I never got into the Blues music until I got into that band. I have branched out some and today I play mostly Christian music. I like the Blues but feel like I need to sing for God more now, said Ginger.”
“She has also sung at several local military events like the Veterans Memorial and VFW Military Shows,” said Phil Smith, Chairman of the local VFW and Veteran Military Shows.
MERCHANT SHIPS AND MORE TRAVEL:
When I got out, I still had a year of Reserve training to do for the Navy and I went over to Diego Garcia. I went back to communications, on the island, as a contractor.
The Merchant ship guys would come in and I got to know the captains of these ships. Many started asking me if I wanted to come and work for them. I was doing some radio work again, so I got a chance to go over to Europe. We hit all the ports where the cruise ships were docked. We had a ship over in Guam and Saipan. I travelled more with the Merchant ships than I did in the military.
Between the Merchant ships I had an opportunity to do some backpacking trips in Europe. I took a Euro rail trip. Italy was my favorite as far as the people. Switzerland was beautiful as well. I paraglided off a mountain in the Alps in Interlachen. We stayed up in the air for about 45-minutes. We caught those thermals and really took a nice long glide. I also visited family and friends in Germany, France, Italy, Greece and met up with a friend for lunch in Amsterdam. A lot of travelling after the Navy.
I ended up working with the Merchant ships for a couple of years and ended up in Washington D.C. working for Homeland Security in IT where I got my Top-Secret clearance. I did that for three years and went back to San Antonio Texas, in 2010, working various contract security jobs, including in Lackland for three years. I ended up working at a Cloud Company for about ten-years and recently was laid off.
Later, when I was out of the military, I got involved with another band person, Mark Searcy, and we tried out for the Austin Blues Society Contest and won.
After that we got to play in Memphis for the International Blues Challenge. We didn’t win but I got an opportunity to play some instruments I had never played before. I played Bass more than guitar and really like the sound.
Ginger Pickett, thank you for your service to our country while serving in the United States Navy. Your dedication and sacrifices will not be forgotten.
NOTE: Meet other Veterans from around the country by going to the top of www.meetourveterans.com and click on Our Veterans. On the drop-down menu, click one of the (5) branches of services and read each of our veteran’s stories.
“Every Veteran has a story to tell.” Phil Smith
GOD BLESS OUR VETERANS AND GOD BLESS AMERICA
(Some Photos on this Website and Facebook page are ©2026, Phil Smith Productions. NO unauthorized use without permission) All Rights Reserved.
