After boot camp, Hall reported to Motor Lifeboat Station Barnegat Light, in New Jersey. She excelled on the water, quickly becoming a senior heavy weather boat crew member. When it came time to choose an A School, however, she once again followed a sidelong interest, telling her chief that she wanted to become a health services technician. “I told him I had an interest in medicine, and that I wanted to help people directly,” said Hall. But more words of wisdom ushered her toward an inevitable future. Choose that rate and you might not find yourself back on a boat, her chief told her. Instead, she completed the striker program for boatswain’s mate, which allowed her to become frocked as a BM3 by demonstrating on-the-job expertise in lieu of “A” School. “I was one of the last people to complete the striker program,” said Hall. During Hall’s four years of active service, she never took her eyes off a career in medicine. While stationed in New Jersey, she received a Paramedic certificate and began volunteering at her local fire station to sharpen her skills as a lifesaver. She regularly found herself using her background in medicine during her Coast Guard activities. She remembers one search- and-rescue case involving a man who had fallen off a dinghy while transporting supplies to and from his sailboat. “It was 20 or 30 degrees outside,” said Hall, “and this man swam to an island to await rescue. He buried himself in the sand, covered himself with tree branches. Anything to keep warm.” Fortunately, it was Hall’s boat that got to him first. Quickly briefing the situation, her training kicked in. “I could tell he was in the early stages of hypothermia,” she said, “and I could tell that both of his feet were broken, even though he insisted they weren’t. But his legs were so numb that he couldn’t feel any pain in his feet.” Hall treated his condition and transported him to the hospital. Sure enough, he was hypothermic and had suffered two broken feet. Without Hall’s early identification and treatment of those symptoms, the outcome could have been vastly different. After separating from active-duty, Hall became a reservist in her native Georgetown, South Carolina, where she continued to tug the threads of Coast Guard life and a career in medicine. She entered a program to earn her associate degree in nursing and began as a trauma nurse at a local hospital. She also got married to her husband, Bobby, who found out early on that Coast Guard Reserve life is full of unpredictable ups and downs. “Hurricane Matthew was my first deployment as a Reservist,” said Hall. “We were married on a Tuesday and the next Monday I was on a boat doing search and rescue.’” Of course, Hall was able to masterfully adapt to Reserve life, owing to her faith in herself and the support of her family, friends, and shipmates. Today, she serves as the Section Leader for the Reserve Duty Station at Georgetown, and volunteers as coxswain for active-duty crews whenever she can. In his REPOY endorsement packet, Master Chief Aaron Zimmer, former Command Master Chief for the Seventh District, noted that Hall was instrumental as the coxswain responding to a 20- foot commercial shrimping vessel in distress that ran aground near South Island Ferry, South Carolina. “While on a training mission, Hall observed the vessel aground and the operator in need of assistance. Hall immediately navigated through shoal water to query the vessel. While on scene, the boat crew was met by the son of the operator who stated his father’s medical history and that he was currently experiencing a stroke. The son was able to unground the vessel and Hall provided an escort to the emergency medical services waiting at the pier.” Hall also leverages her experience as a trauma nurse to provide training and qualifications for first aid and CPR to reservists at her unit. A natural leader, she identified several other training gaps at her reserve unit and developed plans to maintain reserve qualifications. “Her dedication led to 10 new reserve certifications in 2022, ranging from Incident Command Structure, boat crew, law enforcement and RBS-II Trailer Operator,” wrote Master Chief Zimmer. In both her civilian life and her Coast Guard life, Hall is adamant about what she finds most rewarding: connection. Connection to her country, connection to her crewmates, and connection to the people she serves. Connection, she says, is what separates good teams from great teams. It is also what gives any mission its sense of purpose. “The most rewarding thing for me as a nurse is to see a patient come back to the hospital,” she said. “A lot of critical patients don’t get to meet the team that saves their lives, to see the teamwork that goes into it. Mentally, it closes the loop for them and promotes healing. Knowing that people cared for you that much is so important for these patients emotionally.” Nurse Hannah Hall, with a cowarker pose for photo in a supply closet. Photo courtesy of Senior Chief Petty Officer Hannah J. Hall (L. to R.) Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Reseve Timothy Beard, Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan, Senior Chief Petty Officer Hannah Hall, Enlisted Person of the Year – Active Component Petty Officer 2nd Class James King, and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Heath Jones. Photo by Chief Petty Officer Jetta H. Disco. Issue 3 • 2023 Issue 3 • 2023 . Reservist 17 Celebrating Celebrating 70 70 years of the Reservist years of the Reservist
