THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610090149
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 50 lines
Capt. Sharon A. Peyronel's military career has involved a lot of travel, but she keeps coming back to Chesapeake.
The Sacramento, Calif., native, who is commanding officer at the Naval Security Group Activity Northwest, has been stationed here three times.
She was at NSGA Northwest from 1977 to 1979, when she was a junior officer. Then, when she was stationed at the NATO's SACLANT division in Norfolk, she made Chesapeake her home, living in a house in the Pines of Warwick section of Great Bridge. Now she's back from Panama, where she commanded a similar NSGA on Galeta Island.
``So far, I've been here 13 months,'' said Peyronel. ``Moving around is in my blood. My father was in the Air Force, and I went to high school in Japan. I've been overseas with the Navy at least four different times.''
Peyronel said the overseas NSGA she last commanded fell to the Pentagon's downsizing ax. But it's something that won't happen in Chesapeake.
She said Chesapeake's NSGA is a very important communications hub for the Navy. It has grown over the years and more expansion is planned.
``I've seen a lot of growth in Chesapeake,'' she said, ``especially in the Greenbrier area. I think the base and the city are growing together.''
Peyronel said the NSGA has undergone a lot of technical changes. She said with military downsizing going on all over the country and at overseas bases, the base's mission has changed to keep up with the march of technology and automation.
Peyronel, who recently celebrated 22 years in the Navy, took her training at the Officers' Candidate School in Newport, R.I. She said she got in just as the Navy was converting to an all-volunteer service, opening up leadership and advancement doors for women.
Now NSGA counts a female commanding officer, female senior chiefs, several female officers and is about to get an additional female commanding officer.
``Our own crew here is about 33 percent female, including our civilian staff,'' she said. ``It just reflects what's going on in the Navy.''
She said her biggest challenge will be to keep up a good working relationship with Chesapeake and the local community, stay on the cutting edge of communications technology and serve as an effective steward of the base's more than 3,000 acres of land and resources.
``We have a good future here in Chesapeake,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Capt. Sharon A. Peyronel, who recently celebrated 22 years in the
Navy, took her training at the Officers' Candidate School in
Newport, R.I. by CNB