Tanell Nedd, the younger of two daughters, comes from a military family.  Her mother served in the Navy for over 12 years, and her father spent time in the Army.  During High School, Tanell joined the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, (JROTC), where they prepared her for military service.  Her patriotic parents helped steer her towards the military too but, they wanted her to join the Navy or the Air Force.  After finishing high school, she visited the Navy and Air Force recruiters.  They told her she should join their respective branches because they thought she would not make it in the Marine Corps. Tanell wanted to prove them wrong.

That same day she marched over to the Marine Corps recruiter and enlisted.  Friends and family harassed her about her decision and her ability to become a Marine; this made Tanell more determined. “I wanted to prove I could do something challenging; that I could be something better.”  She loved the tradition, discipline, respect and pride offered by the Marine Corps.  Even Tanell’s sister teased Tanell by saying she would not make it through boot camp.

Membership in the JROTC program helped prepare Tanell for recruit training by teaching her many of the skills needed to be successful.  She loved participating with the rifle and drill teams and enjoyed the Physical Training (PT) sessions.  With her early instruction, she did not expect any problems in basic training.

Tanell and her friend Christine signed up for the DEP (Delayed Entry Program).  While waiting, they accompanied their recruiters during PT and other events until two spots opened up early.  During recruit training, Tanell became very sick with strep throat, tonsillitis, and pneumonia but sickness did not stop her from achieving her goal.  Tanell admitted the hardest part of boot camp for her was being separated from her parents.  “I’d never been away from my family, so it was more emotionally hard for me.”

However, she met that challenge with the help of her family and friends who wrote often.  Also, she had her Marine Corps buddy Christine.  “Just having her there gave me a lot of support.  I had somebody who knew me and understood. It was comforting.”

In their letters, Tanell’s parents expressed a desire to see her in uniform.  When graduation day came, she spotted her relatives in the bleachers.  As the country song, Proud to be an American, played over the loudspeakers she watched her dad wipe tears from his eyes.  When they dismissed the new Marines, she went to her family, and everyone was crying; they were so proud of her.

During her ten plus years in the Corps, Tanell received training in California then moved to duty stations in Okinawa, Japan; Cherry Point, North Carolina; Quantico, Virginia and Parris Island, South Carolina.  Tanell also served on deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It was during that time she hated being away from family the most.  “My grandmother began showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s and diabetes and ended up in a nursing home.”  Tanell thought if she were home things might have been different.

While working in the telecommunications field, Tanell faced particular challenges as a woman. Now and then someone thought she should sit behind a desk when she wanted to be out with the rest of the guys pulling cable and getting dirty.  “They opened up a manhole, and I jumped right into all that junk.”  Tanell said, “I love working, I love supporting.

I do not want any person to think that I can’t do something because I am a girl.  I can do anything they can do, but better.”  Tanell stayed true to herself and earned respect from her fellow Marines.  She thinks male/female working relationships are getting better in the Corps but, discrimination is never gone because people come from all walks of life. “… it always depends on how someone was raised and what they dealt with.  They are always going to see somebody as this or that until that person proves otherwise.”

Nowadays Tanell’s sister does not tease her.  She knows Tanell is the only Marine in the family, the one who became a Marine even though friends and family doubted she could do it.  Tanell wants other women to know they can become Marines too.  “Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do something.  Strive to be better; strive to do more.  They [the Marines] are a very respectful group of brothers and sisters; we are all together.  We are not going to let the next person fail at all.”  If a woman wants to join the Marine Corps Tanell says, “Do it!”

SSgt Tanell Nedd was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps.  She continues to work for the government in the telecommunications field.  Her next goal is to advance her expertise in photography.  You can find her photography on https://500px.com/tanellnedd1 or follow her on Instagram https://instagram.com/tanell85