LCDR Sawdy-Bowes teaches all Naval Science Classes as well as the SAT Prep Course.

NJRTOC Achievement Above All Award 2007-2008

Contact NJROTC - 623-915-8567

LCDR Paula F. Sawdy-Bowes, USN(Ret.) - Senior Naval Science Instructor

Lieutenant Commander Sawdy-Bowes was raised in Tempe, Arizona.  Following graduation from Tempe High School in 1983, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a Cryptologic Technician (T).  Following graduation from Class "A" School, she served tours in Diego Garcia and Guam.  While in Guam, she was selected for the Enlisted Education Advancement Program (EEAP) and earned an Associates Degree of Science from Pensacola Jr. College.  She then received a scholarship to the NROTC program at Jacksonville University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications.  Following graduation, she was commissioned as an Ensign in 1991. 

Upon completion of Surface Warfare Officer School, she was assigned to the USS NIAGARA FALLS (AFS 3), which was forward deployed out of Guam.  She was assigned as the Second Division Officer, then transferred as DIVO to the Replenishment at Sea (RASE) Division.  After earning her Surface Warfare Qualification as an Ensign and serving a deployment in the Persian Gulf in support of Southern Watch and Restore Hope Somalia, she was chosen as the ship's Navigator.  In 1994, she was detailed as the Auxiliaries Officer to the USS BARRY (DDG 52) as a member of the first group of women permanently assigned to combatant ships.  She was the first woman qualified as Officer of the Deck (OOD) Underway aboard an Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer.  She fleeted up as the Damage Control Assistant (DCA), where she was part of the BARRY crew that earned the prestigious Battenburg Cup as the best ship in the fleet.

She was then selected to participate in the Advancement Education Program (EAP), in which she attended Old Dominion University and earned a Masters Degree in International Relations.  In 1998, she took the lead as Surface Forces Atlantic Fleet (SURFLANT) Shipboard Requirements Manpower and Plans Officer.  After presenting many briefs to COMNAVSURFLANT, she was asked to interview for and was selected as Flag Secretary for Commander Naval Region Mid-Atlantic.  In 2002, she was detailed as the Officer in Charge of the Personnel Support Detachment (PSD), Balboa,  She then served as the Department Head for the Navy Advancement Center at the Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology (NETPDTC), Pensacola, FL and earned her MBA in Human Resources from Troy State University.  Her last tour on active duty was serving as the Executive Officer for the U.S. Naval Ceremonial Guard, in Washington, D.C.

Her decorations include one Meritorious Service Medal, five Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and various campaign and service awards.

She is married.  She and her husband, Steve, have two daughters.

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