Catching up with Julia Weber
Is it really that long ago that Julia Weber was a sixth grader at Washington Elementary School in Huntington Station? Well, enough time has passed for her to graduate high school and college, join the Navy, land a prestigious position at the White House Communications Agency in Washington, D.C. and become a newlywed this past August.
Ms. Weber was the salutatorian of Huntington High School’s Class of 1998 and one of its proudest graduates. She crammed so much into her four years there that it’s still dizzying to read about today. Many of the friendships forged during that time remain solid, such as the one she shares with Class of 1998 valedictorian Rachel Bikoff. The memories she has of former teachers are also vivid, including the exhortations of legendary math educator Judy Gleicher.
At the senior academic awards night in the Huntington auditorium, Ms. Weber was presented with the American Legion Music Award, National Orchestra Award, Navy ROTC scholarship, Award for Perfect Attendance, Robert J.R. Buchanan Award, Sons of Italy Award in Music and the Suffolk County High School Principal’s Association Leadership Award.
“There are some people who tell me that they disliked high school,” the Huntington alum said. “I’m one of those people who truly enjoyed high school. There were so many fun things to do, I couldn’t really make up my mind, and thus did everything. I played clarinet in the band. I ran track and cross country. I wrote, directed, produced, and acted in Playfest. I was editor of the yearbook senior year. I did cancer research at Cold Spring Harbor Lab and entered the Westinghouse Science Competition. I was in student government, National Honor Society, French Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society and Math Honor Society. It’s probably a wonder that I got any homework done.”
Ms. Weber married Navy Lt. Jason Chen on August 31. He’s currently stationed at the Pentagon and the couple recently purchased a home in Alexandria, VA. They are enjoying life together in the nation’s capital.
Following high school, the Huntington grad moved on to Rice University in Houston, TX. “It was a little difficult to go so far from home, but that experience definitely prepared me for what would come after college,” she said. “I joined the Navy ROTC, planning to become a doctor. However I decided my freshman year of college that I didn’t want to be a doctor. I decided to stick with ROTC since I wasn’t sure what to do. I majored in psychology and French studies. Spending the fall semester of my junior year in France was a great opportunity to meet up with Huntington High School friends who were studying all over Europe.”
At Rice she was active with the Student Admissions Council, which consisted of student volunteers working with the university’s admissions office, participated in various intramural sports and the Rice Program Council (planning formal dances and other student activities). She was also a member of her residential college’s bike team. Four years after entering Rice, she graduated in May 2002 and was simultaneously commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy.
That fall the Huntington alum reported to Surface Warfare Officer School in Newport, RI. “I spent eight months there before I reported to my first ship, the USS RUSSELL (DDG 59) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,” Lt. Chen said. “I was the fire control officer onboard, and we were a test platform for the Ballistic Missile Defense Program. It was amazing to be 23 years old, leading a division of 32 sailors, and carrying out a Presidential program. I qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer while onboard RUSSELL and deployed to the Western Pacific in 2004. We did a Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Deployment, working with foreign navies and building international friendships. On that deployment we pulled into Okinawa, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Australia, and American Samoa.”
What came next was déjà vu all over again. “In October 2004, I left for the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command in Charleston, SC,” Lt. Chen said. “I spent six months in ‘Nuke School.’ All of Mrs. Gleicher’s warnings that I’d better study back in BC Calculus senior year came back to haunt me. This time, though, I really did study! After Nuke School was six months on a prototype; a submarine moored in a river in Charleston. It was a long year of studying in Charleston, but I got through it. I know I thought more than once that Rachel Bikoff would be proud that I was actually studying.”
It was in Charleston that she “met a wonderful Navy lieutenant,” she said about her now-husband. “He was stationed on the USS KEY WEST, a submarine in Pearl Harbor while I was on the TRUMAN. So the last few years were difficult for us.” But now they are finally together, he at the Pentagon and she at the White House and enjoying their new home in Virginia.
In the fall of 2005, Lt. Chen reported to the USS HARRY S TRUMAN (CVN 75) for duty, spending the ensuing year “working to get through a shipyard period in drydock,” she said. “I was the reactor electrical officer and oversaw most of the electrical plant being redone, as well as installation of a new throttle control system for the ship. In 2007, TRUMAN did all of our work-ups for deployment with a battle group. I left for deployment with the ship in November 2007, but left from Italy a month later for shore duty.”
Today Lt. Chen is qualified as a presidential communications officer and she has traveled far and wide doing advance work for the Executive Office of the President. “After all these years at sea, it’s a little weird not to be on a ship everyday, and I really do miss the ocean,” she said. “It’s pretty cool to walk into the White House though; and after years of wearing steel-toed boots and coveralls, it’s nice to put on high heels and a suit. I’m really appreciative for my social studies teachers who took great pains to teach American History so thoroughly. It makes me appreciate the privilege to work at the White House.”
“Julia has always been an incredible person,” said Ms. Bikoff, who remains a good friend to this day. “In high school, I was continuously amazed by how many diverse activities she pursued and by her ability to excel at everything she attempted. Not only is she one of the brightest people I know, but she is also extremely down-to-earth. Even while she was completing her military duty and traveling the world, we still managed to stay in touch! We always used to joke that she could be the first female president of the United States. That's still a possibility. Julia already works at the White House!”
According to the website of the Defense Systems Information Agency, the forerunner of the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) debuted in March 1942. “The detachment was activated under the Military District of Washington to provide normal and emergency communications requirements in support of the President of the United States.” It initially provided “mobile radio, teletype, telephone, and cryptographic aids in the White House and at Shangri-La, now known as Camp David” and has “played silent, significant roles in many historical events to include World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Panama and Guatemala, Operation Just Cause, Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. WHCA was also a key player in documenting the assassination of President Kennedy and the attempt on the lives of Presidents Ford and Reagan.”
A hectic schedule and demanding job has left little time to maintain contact with former classmates and Huntington friends, but Lieutenant Chen has done her best and been surprisingly successful in many respects.
“Whenever my mother marvels at my accomplishments in the Navy, I tell her it’s really simple: I learned to sew in Girl Scouts, I learned to do my hair for ballet class, I learned to write thanks to some wonderful English teachers and I learned to march in the Huntington High School band,” Lt. Chen said. “I also shared four wonderful years at Huntington with a truly amazing group of people. My friends at Huntington taught me a great deal about friendship, leadership and humanity. I’ve learned just as much from the hundreds of soldiers and sailors I’ve worked with the past few years, many of whom are not much older than high school students.”
“I had Julia in SEARCH and Math Olympiad classes many years ago in Washington Elementary,” recalled Maryann Daly, a longtime SEARCH teacher who today also serves as the program’s chairperson. “I remember her as a very quiet but very serious student. Always listening and taking it all in.”
Her connection to her hometown and alma mater continues despite the many sacrifices Lt. Chen’s job demands. “With all of the traveling I’ve done, it’s been hard to keep in touch with friends from Huntington,” she said. “There are some that I’ve seen quite a lot of though, and others I hear from regularly. It’s always amazing to me what wonderful things people accomplish, and what truly incredible people I shared my school years with.”
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