A hero’s welcome home

After nine weeks of Navy basic training, Remington “Remi” Thomas probably thought she knew something about marching in formation and military ceremony.
What the recent Wilmington High School graduate wasn’t prepared for was the formation waiting for her when she came home.
Thomas received a hero’s welcome Thursday afternoon as Wilmington emergency vehicles, members of American Legion Post 191 Riders and flag-waving residents escorted the new sailor through town and home to Willida Street.
Thomas and her parents, Kelly and Chuck Thomas, arrived at the north end of Wilmington around 2 p.m., where an escort of emergency vehicles and 10 motorcycles from the Legion Riders were waiting. With lights flashing and motorcycles in formation, the procession traveled through the community.
The welcome became even more personal when her father turned off Sunset Drive for the final block to the family’s Willida Street home.
Waiting along both sides of the street were volunteers holding American flags, creating a patriotic corridor for Thomas to pass through on the final few yards of her journey home.
For the young sailor, suddenly finding herself the center of so much attention was a little overwhelming.
She described herself as excited, but admitted there was also an “oh my God” feeling when she realized everyone was looking at her.
The homecoming marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of another for Thomas, who graduated from Wilmington High School on May 15 and headed almost immediately into military life. She left for Navy Recruit Training Command at Great Lakes Naval Station in North Chicago.
Basic training lasted nine weeks, with the first week devoted primarily to processing and the following eight weeks to training.
Thomas summed up the experience simply.
“It was fun. Okay, I guess,” she said.
There was certainly little time to be bored.
Thomas said recruits spent plenty of time marching across the sprawling Great Lakes base as they moved between training locations. Swimming, firefighting and medical requirements were among the activities that could take them from one part of the base to another. Live-fire training was spread across three days, while firefighting instruction also took place over several days and was followed later by an assessment.
Thomas had an additional responsibility during basic training as a member of a performance division. She participated in the final three graduation ceremonies leading up to her own, spending considerable time at the drill hall practicing and performing.
“We did a lot of marching,” she said, noting that her division also practiced cadences and traveled frequently across the base.
One of the most significant moments came Monday morning when Thomas and her fellow recruits completed Battle Stations, the culminating event of Navy boot camp.
For Thomas, that was the moment everything she had worked toward became official.
“That’s when I like officially became a sailor,” she said.
Thursday's homecoming gave her a short opportunity to enjoy that accomplishment with family, friends and her hometown before the Navy calls again.
Thomas was scheduled to return to Great Lakes Friday night and leave Saturday for Virginia, where she will begin “A” school, the Navy’s technical training for her rating.
Thomas said she is an IS, or intelligence specialist. Her initial schooling will teach the fundamentals of that work before she advances to “C” school for more specialized instruction.
Her A school is expected to continue through Dec. 17. Afterward, Thomas expects to attend approximately three additional months of C school.
Where the Navy ultimately takes her remains to be seen.
Thomas has a six-year commitment ahead of her and said her parents already predict she could make the Navy a career. She isn't ready to make that prediction herself. If she remains in the service, she hopes to advance through the ranks. If she leaves after her enlistment, she hopes the experience and intelligence training will lead to a career with the federal government.
Those decisions are still years away.
For now, Thomas has accomplished something much more immediate: The Wilmington High School graduate who left home as a Navy recruit came back Thursday as a United States sailor.