With a family of United States veterans, Cas Schley, Senior, has chosen to follow in her family’s footsteps. She explained to me that both her grandfathers were in military, but she “had no interest in the Army, and was not cut out to be a Marine.” Knowing this, she was left with the Air Force and the Navy. She chose the Navy because she felt that it ultimately had greater opportunities for her, such as world travel and better career options. With the knowledge of wanting to pursue a Naval Career, Schley chose Auburn as it is the only university in Alabama with an NROTC program.
In May, Schley will commission as a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO). She has chosen to go SWO due to its increased leadership opportunities compared to the other options. She says, “Members of the SWO community also learn a wider variety of skills, which makes them more marketable when they move to the civilian sector.” Ultimately she would like to do Intel, which means she would “specialize in learning about the enemy and use/disseminate that knowledge to the people who need it.” Schley describes this at “right up her alley,” as she is an anthropology major.
As an anthropology major, Schley would like to specialize in Marine Archaeology when she has completed her time in the US Navy. In order to make money she’d “like to work for gas companies to scout out future pipelines.” She hopes to have time for academic work as well, such as working in Egypt or Florida studying ancient civilizations, because many Native American sites are now submerged underwater.
Along with the NROTC, Schley spends much of her time with Sea and Anchor Society. Sea and Anchor is an SGA organization that is geared towards training future Surface Warfare Officers; Schley is the current President. This organization will do a variety of fundraisers to raise money to train these future Naval Officers. The most recent fundraiser was a car wash at Auto Zone this past weekend where the organization raised $400+.
Cas has a bright future ahead of her, and I would personally like to wish her luck as she soon begins her journey as a United States Naval Officer.