Match to Serve is proudly sponsored by The Transcend Basis.
Many Individuals grew up understanding 5 branches of army service – Marines, Military, Navy, Air Power, and the Coast Guard. In 2019, a sixth department was added with the creation of the House Power, whose function is to safe the nation’s curiosity in, from, and to house.
There had been discussions about establishing a House department of the army going again to post-World Warfare II, however now it’s established and rising at a speedy tempo. Being a member of the House Power means to be part of American historical past as a result of the work they do now can affect generations to come back. That isn’t misplaced on USSF Lieutenant Natalie Nicks, who’s an lively Guardian for this new department.
“We’re constructing issues as we go alongside that work for us as a our on-line world unit,” Nicks defined. “We get to name the photographs, and nothing is about in stone for us. I really like that we’re capable of set the mould that shall be in service for years to come back. It’s very thrilling.”
Nicks grew up in Pensacola, Florida and had no earlier army connections earlier than she started her service, however she was an avid athlete who performed a number of sports activities. She excelled at basketball and within the classroom. Her objective was to be within the Air Power Academy. Each of her mother and father have been bold, and he or she inherited that present from each of them.
“From there, it was about staying sharp,” stated Nicks. “The requirements there are insane.”
After commencement, she discovered her solution to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Touring for faculty was not widespread in her household, and he or she was pleased with with the ability to say she may and did.
“The Academy modified the trajectory of my life.”
Health is a should to be a Guardian
Throughout her senior 12 months on the Academy, she and different cadets heard in regards to the House Power, which was creating at the moment. After performing some analysis on her personal, she utilized and was chosen to turn out to be a House Power Guardian. She is presently stationed at Patrick House Power Base in Melbourne, Florida.
Nicks and different Guardians are required to be in wonderful bodily form as all servicemembers in all branches are. A key distinction together with her department is that their health exercise may be tracked as a result of they put on Garmin smartwatches, that are getting used as a two-year examine to supplant bodily health assessments.
“It tracks all of our bodily exercise,” stated Nicks. The watches monitor each cardiorespiratory health and bodily exercise. The watches doc that exercise and verifies that the Guardian carrying it’s match for obligation.
“We don’t should take the health checks so long as we adjust to the watch’s surveys,” she stated. “This holds you accountable 24/7. I really like this.”
It could not be exhausting for Nicks to be constant as a result of health is one thing that she has a robust reference to personally.
“I can go hit the weights or go on a run, and it fills my cup.”
Guardian and GridIron
Nicks by no means gave up her athletic ardour, and he or she doesn’t solely have to take care of it throughout her profession. Whereas she was in Colorado, she found the Girls’s Nationwide Soccer Convention, a girls’s sort out soccer league. She stated she watched her brothers and cousins play and all the time wished to, understanding it was not possible at the moment. This league re-opened that door because of tryouts for the Denver Bandits, and he or she was glad to stroll by means of.
Nicks recalled, “I went to tryouts on a Saturday and fell in love.” She finally discovered her solution to Biloxi, Mississippi, the house of the Mississippi Panthers. Nicks performs exterior receiver for the Panthers, they usually concluded the 2024 season as league champions.
“We picked up the nationwide championship in June. Our receiving core is unbelievable.”
The 2025 season would be the league’s sixth, and the Panthers will go into that season because the hunted as an alternative of the hunters. Nicks isn’t apprehensive and appears ahead to being again on the sphere. Her coaching for the House Power will assist her keep sharp for subsequent season because of being part of the Guardian Resilience Workforce (GRT), an initiative targeted on establishing a Holistic Well being program for his or her department, much like the Holistic Well being and Health (H2F) program that the U.S. Military has.
“GRT crafts coaching and vitamin plans, they stretch us out, and our applications are far more purposeful,” she defined. A part of that coaching could embody sled pushes, squats, and different workout routines that each meet the factors for his or her watches and transfers to the soccer discipline.
“It’s superior as a result of they go hand-in-hand.”
A Completely different Sort of Service
Nicks is a constructive instance that exhibits folks with goals of athletics don’t should sacrifice them for service. You may be within the army and excel in sports activities at a excessive stage. She is pursuing a Grasp’s diploma as nicely. Nicks hopes that her instance exhibits youngsters that they don’t have to provide one up for the opposite, and they need to not put limitations on what they assume is feasible. Whether or not it’s by means of army service or neighborhood service, she hopes younger Individuals will do their greatest and provides their greatest when their turns arrive.
“I’m simply making an attempt to hook up with that younger neighborhood, pour into them, and allow them to know that there is no such thing as a restrict to what we will do,” she stated confidently. “There isn’t a cause why we will’t do something we set our minds to.”
Be taught extra in regards to the House Power click on right here.
Try the WNFC by logging on to.
M&F Senior Army Editor Rob Wilkins contributed to this text.
