Jackie was born in Logansport, Indiana, a small town known for railroads and trucking. Jackie’s family is Italian, so holiday celebrations and Sunday dinners with homemade meals were treasured traditions. Her grandfather owned his own trucking business, and it operated locally for more than 85 years. Her father was a schoolteacher and trucker, and her mother was a chief pharmacist at the Logansport State Hospital for 50 years.

Jackie attended St. Vincent’s Catholic School for grades 1-5, the same family school her grandparents had attended. Jackie fondly remembers Miss Betty, the church organist who had also been her mother’s teacher. Miss Betty became a mentor figure, as Jackie would stay in during recess to help her in the church. Jackie enjoyed history and geography, especially as she had a desire to travel. She also loved playing sports from a young age and participated in swimming, flag football, softball, soccer, rugby, basketball, and volleyball from childhood to her adult years.

She went to St. Joseph’s for 6th and 7th grade, which eventually combined the local elementary and middle schools to form All Saints Catholic School. Jackie was in the first graduating class of 8th graders in 1981. (While the school has since closed, All Saints Catholic Church is still in Logansport.) From there, Jackie attended Logansport High School, an institution that all the local generations of her family had also attended.

During the summer of her junior year, Jackie’s aunt, Joann, asked if she wanted to move in to work with her for the summer. Jackie agreed and started at $4/hr working as a "gofer.” Her aunt taught her the expectations of a professional office role. Jackie was also supported by her uncle, affectionally nicknamed "Unc.” He grew to be like a father figure for her, as her parents had separated when she was nine years old. Throughout that summer at the Rickover Science Institute in McLean, she learned more about the math and science program (what we might consider a STEM program today) that her aunt directed as President. She used computers donated by the Digital Equipment Corporation, DECmate. This program was supported by Admiral Rickover, a four-star Naval officer considered to be the "Father of the Nuclear Navy” for the development and support of the first nuclear submarines.

As Jackie grew to love Virginia and living with her extended family throughout that summer, she asked to stay with them to complete high school. She worked hard on her grades, with her uncle helping her with math courses and her aunt providing advice in English. Jackie graduated from James Madison High School having earned a spot on the honor roll for her senior year.

After completing high school, Jackie continued working and started on some courses at NOVA with hopes of becoming a geologist. However, her father was killed in a motorcycle accident six days before she turned 19, and she was thrust into the role of tending to his affairs in Charlotte, NC. This loss and the challenging responsibilities that followed deeply impacted Jackie, so her aunt suggested that she travel to Israel to work on a kibbutz (a cooperative agricultural community), as she had connections with an exchange program through the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel. Not long after arriving, Jackie became homesick on the kibbutz and convinced the group to let her instead tour the country for the summer. This experience gave her a "new lease on life” and ignited her love for travel.

Upon returning home, Jackie dabbled in some college classes but eventually focused on full-time work. She settled into a role at Sport&Health. Since she had experience using computers from her aunt’s program, she took a position as a data entry clerk, which allowed her more experience using these computerized systems. She received a raise and was able to move out on her own.

One Saturday afternoon, Jackie had just celebrated a victory in a game of soccer. She’s not quite sure why, but it was in that moment that she decided she was in a rut and needed a challenge. She drove to her boss’s house and told her that she was going to join the Navy—before even talking to a recruiter! The next week, she signed up and moved everything into her aunt’s basement to prepare for the next chapter of her life.

In January of 1990, Jackie arrived in Orlando for a nine-week boot camp program with 82 other women. By the end of it, she was one of 40 who graduated. She started Seaman School as an E-1 and was promoted to E-2 when she finished at the top of her class. By the time she went to Norfolk to report to the USS Shenandoah (AD-44), she was an E-3. Despite scoring well in her classes, she felt unprepared at first, as she was surrounded by women who had been there for years. She was thankful that she made a few friends at boot camp to make her feel more at home.

Soon, it was Jackie’s turn for a rotation in the mess hall. She was placed in charge of the scullery but volunteered to take a position carrying food to the Chief Petty Officers’ Mess. Within a few days, she learned that there was an elevator used to transport food to the other mess hall area, so she made arrangements to use this elevator to help her. She enjoyed mess cooking, as she got to "make something out of nothing.” Even when she was asked to do repetitive tasks, like cleaning the deck, she made a game out of the experience to help make the work more enjoyable.

She continued to be trained as a Boatswain’s Mate, learning how to use the huge cranes, preparing for refueling at sea, driving the ship, and taking the watch on the bridge. Eventually, she grew bored of maintaining the contact board, and she wanted to strike out—taking on a role she had not been trained for yet—knowing that she would be completing the Radioman "A” School in a year. It was challenging to get the necessary paperwork in order, but she went before a review board and explained that she wanted to know more about the radio role before attending the school. She was approved and moved decks a week later. She started in this new role on their Mediterranean cruise during Desert Shield.

While they were in Turkey, Jackie received orders that she would be leaving for California for Radioman "A” School. After taking several flights, she arrived at the school for training. During the three-month program, they marched to school in the evening before being dismissed a little after midnight. They had PT at 6:00 AM and then spent the rest of the time studying or catching up on sleep. Jackie finished at the top of her class with a 98.9% average. Although she was already in line to be promoted, this secured her position as a petty officer third class.

Despite hoping to obtain orders to a new location, Jackie returned to the USS Shenandoah to work in the "radio shack” as a team lead. In 1993, the ship started on another cruise, this time for Desert Storm. They headed through the Suez Canal, a journey Jackie would end up making four times in her career.

In 1994, Jackie wanted to reenlist. She was originally told she could not do so due to just missing the ASVAB cutoff score for a meteorologist position. She told her mom and her aunt that she would be leaving the Navy.

However, as Jackie was checking out, she was told that orders came in and she should call the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) to select a location. She decided that she wanted to return to the DC area, so they gave Jackie the choices of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), or the presidential honor guard. She chose NCIS, reenlisted, and then waited for the official orders.

Upon her return, she moved back in with her aunt until she could find an apartment, as the barracks were full. She spent three years with NCIS and ended her time in the Navy in 1997. Jackie ended up visiting 22 countries in the Navy, including Italy, Turkey, Greece, Israel, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, the Azores in Portugal, and Jordan.