Kim Mclaughlin USN

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In a military built on discipline, readiness, and global reach, it takes far more than rifles and aircraft to make the United States the greatest fighting force in the world. It takes teams—technicians, medics, logisticians, and specialists—working with absolute precision to keep the engine of national defense running at full speed. My sister was one of those professionals.

As a United States Navy Corpsman and Pharmacy Technician, she played a vital role in maintaining the health and readiness of the sailors and submariners who stood at the heart of America’s nuclear deterrent. Her work wasn’t performed in the headlines, but in the clinics, pharmacies, and medical bays that served as lifelines aboard warships and tenders. Her unit aboard the USS Frank Cable (AS-40) wasn’t ornamental—it was operational. The Frank Cable supported nuclear-powered submarines, the very vessels that enforced U.S. defense policy through stealth, reach, and relentless presence.

From 1988 through Operation Desert Storm, she was part of the team that kept those machines running and the crews inside them combat-ready. Her responsibilities included the preparation and management of controlled medications, patient triage, immunizations, and coordination with command medical staff. She stood watch in 24-hour clinics, responded to medical emergencies at sea, and ensured that the sailors operating billion-dollar submarines were physically and mentally fit to perform.

Her unit wasn’t called upon for public praise—it was called upon for results. And it delivered. Every prescription filled, every sailor treated, every record maintained was part of a larger mission: to project American power, enforce strategic stability, and protect the homeland through strength, readiness, and deterrence.

In 1988, she deployed aboard the USS Frank Cable (AS-40), a submarine tender based out of Charleston, South Carolina. This massive vessel served as a floating repair and supply depot for the Navy’s undersea fleet—nuclear-powered fast attack and ballistic missile submarines operating across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean.

She departed Charleston with her shipmates for a full deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, where the Frank Cable supported U.S. and NATO fleet operations. Her job wasn’t glamorous, but it was critical: she kept sailors healthy, medications accounted for, and medical systems operational in floating clinics hundreds of miles from the nearest hospital. From shipboard immunizations and triage to controlled substance inventory and pharmacy oversight, she was the backbone of medical readiness.

In 1990, as the world’s attention turned to the Persian Gulf, she remained aboard the Frank Cable. While thousands of troops deployed to Saudi Arabia, her ship and its support crews were rerouted to bolster U.S. naval operations in the region. The Frank Cable—already known for its reliability—became a behind-the-scenes powerhouse during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Though not on the front lines of combat, her role was no less essential. Her workspace was a tight medical bay, stocked with emergency supplies and reliant on total precision. She reviewed and dispensed prescriptions, managed supply logs, calibrated field medications, and ensured every sailor aboard remained combat ready. As combat submarines rotated through the fleet, many arrived wounded, ill, or in need of urgent treatment—her station was the first and often only line of care.

She helped support the unseen edge of the war: the sailors who ran the engines, guided the weapons, and carried the stress of operations that never made the front page.

In her nearly nine years of active duty, she embodied the best of Navy corpsman values. She supported everything from OB/GYN and ICU care to emergency field triage and off-ship patient evaluations. She treated psychiatric and geriatric patients, performed immunizations and minor surgeries, and handled high-volume 24-hour clinic rotations.

She received:

• National Defense Service Medal
   
• Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist
   
• Expert Rifle Medal
   
• Sea Service Deployment Ribbon
   
• Three Navy Battle “E” Awards
   
• Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbons
   

And was nominated for Junior Sailor of the Quarter, a rare and deeply earned honor.