Gray clouds overheard and rain on the horizon don’t deter her from running a few miles at Noland Park, in Newport News, Virginia. The rhythmic beat of feet pounding on the pavement can be heard as a lone Sailor, dedicated to achieving her personal and professional goals, adds more miles to the countless amount she has traveled to this point. This Sailor’s success is not only evident in the miles she routinely runs, but also by her achievements in the Navy.

For Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Cassidy Belcher, from Pleasant Hill, Iowa, running allowed her to accomplish goals that brought positive mental and physical change.

“Two years ago I couldn’t even run a 5K [5 kilometers]. I didn’t even like running. I was out of shape and I didn’t like my image,” said Belcher, the deck supervisor for deck department aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). “I set a goal for myself to get better at running. I started with just two miles, then three miles, and each week added a mile until I was ready to run my first half marathon, and I just realized that after I got better at it, then it became something I liked to do.”

She soon applied what she learned from running to her work in the Navy, which has helped her become a leader no matter what she faces.

“I will go from one thing to another and always have something else on my plate,” said Belcher. “I went from Surface Warfare to Air Warfare in six months of being in the Navy, and Information Warfare after that. I picked up BM3 [boatswain’s mate 3rd class] after a month of becoming a BM [boatswain’s mate]. I am always making sure that I’m not doing the bare minimum. I can’t do that. I make sure I’m doing the best at what I’m here to do, even if it’s not what I want to do because I still need to do my part for the Navy.”

Running great distances has trained Belcher to fight through pain and to remain positive no matter what she is going through.

“At some point, you know you’re going to feel pain when running,” said Belcher. “During my 50 miler, I started feeling pain around mile 27. I didn’t think I was going to make it because it hurt so badly, but then, at mile 31, I was talking to myself and reminding myself how far I have gone not just about running, but in life, and the adversities that I have overcome, and how I was going to overcome this one as well.”

Belcher applied this strategy of fighting through adversity to her Navy career early.

“I do remind myself where I started, as an undesignated seaman in deck department not knowing anything,” said Belcher. “ But I found out what needed to be done and took initiative, which helped bring myself up in deck department.”

No one knows the drive Belcher posesses better than the people in Belcher’s chain of command.

“She is hardworking, stays until the job is done, does not take no for an answer, and always finds a way to accomplish whatever needs to be done,” said Senior Chief Boatswain’s Mate Yucarlton Felton, leading chief petty officer for deck department aboard George Washington.

Because of the qualities Belcher has exhibited aboard George Washington, she was selected for the meritorious advancement program in March 2018, which authorized her to advance to boatswain’s mate 2nd class.

 “She is a leader, and that is what I look for in a boatswain’s mate,” said Felton. “Put her in a room of 10 people, 20 people, it doesn’t matter; she will take charge and lead. I see her picking up chief rather quickly and possibly a commission.”

 Just like when a runner crosses the finish line, Belcher’s time aboard George Washington will be coming to an end Nov. 2019. She will be taking her talents to a recruiting station in Jacksonville, Florida, where she will advise and inspire future Navy Sailors to achieve all of their goals as well.

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