51 year old Sandra Coast is not your average soccer mom - she is now a Sargent in the US Army after re-enlisting and graduating boot camp.
“A lot of people fell back, I did not fall back once during the 16 weeks.” Sargent Coast who served in the navy for more than a decade went with her 19 year old son Jeff to the Marine recruiters office and the urge to serve again hit her. So she walked into the Army Recruiters office and joined and next thing she knew she was in basic training.
16 weeks later she was trained and ready to go. She almost called it quits – not because she couldn’t do it but because she did not want to miss her sons Marine Corps graduation. With a few highly placed phones calls things worked out. Coast said training was tough. She prepared before going. She got up every morning at 4, went to bed by 9 and read a book on how to survive basic training all while working full time. She even lost 30 lbs. to qualify!
Even more impressive is she scored the highest PT score in the entire company. She is a prime example that age is just a number. She ran faster than soldiers young enough to be her kids.
Coast served in the Navy from 1982 to 1993, so she was allowed to enter military service at her age, whereas most civilians would not be eligible. "Everybody in the world thinks I am a total nutcase," she said "I just want to support our troops. I love all of them."
"I am thrilled to wear the title of sergeant in the U.S. Army, but the title that is also very near and dear to my heart is Marine mom, You can’t beat that.”
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