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Jason Bennett, "Crossing the Military-Civilian Divide," by Gabrielle Wells

1 Jason Bennett, "Crossing the Military-Civilian Divide" interviewed by Gabrielle Wells, on August 5, 2022 in Williamsburg, VA. This project is part of a 4-VA Collaborative research project led by Dr. Jason A. Higgins, postdoctoral fellow in digital humanities at Virginia Tech, and Andre Taylor, oral historian at the College of William and Mary. Gabrielle Wells, a research assistant and undergraduate student at Virginia Tech, conducted this interview and processed the collection.

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Jason Bennett

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Jason Bennett
Jason Bennett was born in Boise, Idaho in 1975. He is an U.S. Navy Veteran who served from March 21, 1994 to March 31, 2014. He worked as an Electronics Technician through the Navy Nuclear Power Program and spent most of his service working in the Reactor Department of various aircraft carriers. During his time in the Navy, he earned the rank of an E-7 Chief Petty Officer, as well as a Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service and Expeditionary Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, and the Navy Commendation Medal. He retired from the Navy and now works as a nuclear instructor and a mechanical instructor at the Dominion Surry Power Station.

When Jason first went into bootcamp, he had already been preparing for the physical aspects of it. However, one thing he could not anticipate was being away from family for the first time in his life. In this clip he talks about his struggle with that fight between knowing that people are supportive but not being able to see that firsthand, and the relief that comes from finally connecting back up.

"But the first time I made the phone call, yep, I still remember it to this day. It's the greatest thing ever."

Onboard aircraft carriers, the routine is so structured and the machine is so well-oiled it can lead to a repetitive routine. The consequence of that is when one is on a boat for months at time, the only things people can do is eat, work and sleep. In this clip, Jason talks about his daily routine on the job and how one can get isolated from the outside world.

"I think I went about two and a half almost three weeks one point in time, without ever seeing the sunlight on the ship."

The military is so divided in terms of the different jobs people do, that it can get easy to stick to your group and dismiss everyone outside of it. However, when things actually come to a head, everyone has a role to play that will impact everyone else. In this clip, Jason speaks on both sides of that dichotomy, and gives respect where it is deserved.

"Those guys saved the ship. They saved a lot of bad things from happening that day."

9/11 was a turning point for everyone in the United States, but especially for the military. And while many things changed, the one that is most directly impactful to everyone was that there was no guarantee when one would stop work and be able to return home. Jason Bennet talks about that shift, why it happens, and the impacts it has on people both in an outside the military.

"Jackie, my wife, remembers it vidily. She goes about the time we got home, she was about at her wits' end..."

After a moderately long and successful career in the military, it would have been easy to stay stagnant and continue doing so for upwards of another 10 years. However the time Jason spent was just long enough, and after 20 years he retired from service. In this clip, he talks the multiple reasons and deciding factors about why he retired.

"Just wanted my twenty and I was done. Thirty if you love it, twenty if you don't."

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In the full interview, Jason Bennett talks in depth about his life growing up in Boise Idaho and following in his family’s footsteps by serving in the military. He talked about his journey from boot camp to the Navy Nuke program, to eventually working on an aircraft carrier. Jason goes more in depth on spending nearly two years learning and completing the Navy Nuke program before he was assigned to the USS Enterprise. It was on one of his deployments on the USS Enterprise that Jason learned about 9/11 and from that point he discusses what it was like to be out at sea when the attacks happened. Moving on from the discussion on 9/11, he talked about the re-qualification process for his position when he was assigned to a new aircraft carrier. As the interview came to a close, Jason talked about some of his favorite memories during his time in the Navy and explained what led to his decision to retire from the Navy.