PEABODY — Billie J. Farrell, the first female commander of the USS Constitution, visited Camp Eastman at the Torigian Family YMCA to speak with kids about the Navy, American history, and her experience as commander of the warship.
Around 100 campers gathered outside to listen to Farrell as she taught them about the 224-year history of the USS Constitution. She detailed how it was built and launched, talked about the 76 commanders who came before her, and what the warship does now.
Farrell, originally from Kentucky, took command of the USS Constitution on Jan. 21 of this year and will serve until 2024. She spoke about her experience attending the Naval Academy at age 17 and all the steps it took to become a commander. Farrell also described her duties on the ship and encouraged the campers to visit Charlestown to see it.
After Farrell’s remarks, she took questions from the campers, who were eating red, white, and blue popsicles. They ranged from asking where she went to elementary school, if she sleeps on the ship, and if she always wears her 1812-esque uniform.
Farrell left the campers with a piece of sage advice.
“It’s really good to find good mentors to teach you and help you achieve whatever it is you want. It’s also really important to surround yourself with positive people that want you to do well because that’s what I’ve had and I feel really lucky [to have had] that,” she said.
Farrell said she valued the opportunity to speak to the campers.
“It’s so great. Obviously, I made the decision very young to join the Navy and so to be able to relate that to them at the age they are now and also to hear their questions — because they see the world in a different way, it challenges me to really stress my knowledge and see things from different perspectives as well,” she said.
As the first female commander of the USS Constitution, being able to speak with girls had even more of an impact, she said.
“The biggest thing with the Navy and this job specifically is that sometimes we forget that women have been in the Navy for a long time … the first woman took command of a ship in 1998,” Farrell said. “Now we have 30 women in command of ships, but a lot of people don’t see that, especially if you live somewhere where there’s not a Navy base. I really get to represent those women and show little girls they can do it.”
Emma Fringuelli can be reached at [email protected].
