Petty Officer Chelsea Palmer was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. Her father formerly served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and she has two older sisters and one younger brother. Chelsea graduated from Riverwood High School in May 2011 and spent her freshman year of college attending Georgia Southern University. She would transfer to Georgia Military College while working as a kindergarten paraprofessional at a charter school in Atlanta. Searching for a way to make a greater impact on the world, Chelsea made the decision to enlist in the U.S. Navy and arrived at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois in September 2019. Chelsea met and married her husband, Erik, after joining the Navy, and they have been married for three happy years, along with two cats.
Petty Officer Palmer graduated from Recruit Training Command on November 4, 2019, and she went on to graduate from Defense Information School (DINFOS) in May 2020. As a Seaman Apprentice, Chelsea reported to her first command, at the Navy Public Affairs Support Element East in Norfolk, VA. During her three years while stationed at NPASE East, Petty Officer Palmer deployed with the USS Monterey as part of Carrier Strike Group 2 to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleets. While in Norfolk, Chelsea earned her first Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals for her timely response and effective coverage of a multi-branch operation to interdict thousands of illegal weapons in the Arabian Gulf. The performance and execution of Chelsea’s duties during her deployment earned her a second Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the title of Blue Jacket of the Year. Petty Officer Palmer would go on to deploy two more times on the USS Thomas Hudner and USS Farragut, earning two more Navy and Marine Corps Medals and a meritorious promotion to the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class.
Today, Petty Officer Palmer is a student in Syracuse University’s prestigious Millitary Visual Journalism Program in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
