Saugus woman graduates from Naval Academy

SAUGUS – Alaina DiBiasie comes from a long history of Naval service.Her Great Aunt Katherine served from 1944-1976, her father Paul served in the early 70s and her older sister Leia has been on active duty for 10 years and is currently stationed in Guam.Now, the 22-year-old Saugus native has joined the ranks of both her family and the Navy after graduating from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.”It was still kind of surreal,” said DiBiasie of the commissioning ceremony. “The best part of graduation definitely was when we threw our covers in the air and just being underneath the thousand or so caps flying through the air. That was a moment I knew I graduated the academy.”Women made up just 20 percent of this year’s graduating class of 1,006, but DiBiasie is used to the male-dominated world of the U.S. military and even blazed her own path as the first female graduate of Valley Forge Military College in Pennsylvania in 2006.”I think just the fact that most of my generation is used to men and women being treated equally that it really wasn’t (an issue),” said DiBiasie. “I was in classes where I was the only girl and it didn’t inhibit any discussion or promote any other discussion.”But it was the “West Point” of the U.S. Navy that DiBiasie said she’s had her eye on since she was in high school at Northeast Metro Tech in Wakefield.”Since I was about a sophomore in high school I wanted to go to the Naval Academy,” said DiBiasie. “My sister actually had the option to go to the Naval Academy after she was in for about four years, but she said she was having too much fun and didn’t want to go to college. That’s when she told me about the Naval Academy and what it was.”One of the highlights of the graduation was a speech by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who delivered his last address as Secretary of Defense.”What he had to say definitely had an impact,” said DiBiasie. “He talked about a day in the life of an ordinary person in the Navy or Marine Corps and what they have to do. I realized I’m going to have to do that. I chose to be one of those people willingly. It was kind of humbling.”Graduates are commissioned as officers for five years and DiBiasie will be heading to San Diego to serve as a Surface Warfare Officer onboard the 844-foot long U.S.S. Boxer, a WASP class amphibious assault ship that can transport up to 2,000 Marines along with helicopters and other landing crafts.It’s no wonder why DiBiasie’s parents can’t stop boasting about her.”I was beaming at the graduation,” said DiBiasie’s mom Debora. “But I marveled at what she’s accomplished over the past five years. It’s just awesome that she’s had these opportunities. She was the first woman to speak at her high school commencement as a student. That to me says so much. Young people can do it and she’s the image of that.”But even though DiBiasie will be stationed more than 3,000 miles away, Debora DiBiasie said she won’t miss her daughter. After all, there are worse places one can visit than the perpetually sunny shores of San Diego.”We’ll go travel and visit her,” she said. “That’s the thing that’s great about having the girls in the Navy we just go travel all the time. Skype is great, cell phones, e-mails. I think I talk to Leia three times a day when she’s in Guam. The technology is great.”When her service in the Navy comes to an end, DiBiasie will pursue her 10-year plan to become a dentist. And if the success she’s had at this stage in her life is any indicator, going from Ensign to D.D.S. should be a breeze.”That’s one thing that I’ve always done,” said DiBiasie. “If I have a goal, I work to it and then when I achieve it, I go to the next thing. I learned that at a young age.”