When Ensign Erin Omberg reported to Officer Development School (ODS) in Newport, Rhode Island, earlier this year, King Hall may have seemed familiar to her. When she checked into Navy Reserve Center Minneapolis for her first drill weekend, she may have experienced some déjà vu as well. Both of these locations were places that her father, Cmdr. (Ret.) Clarence Omberg, had spoken about. At 38-years old, Omberg, a finance director in her civilian career, decided to apply for a commission in the Navy Supply Corps.
“I needed to find out if the Navy is for me, with no external pressures, so I just called an 800 number and talked to a recruiter while waiting for my commuter bus, Omberg said.”
After deciding that the Navy was, indeed, for her, Omberg attended ODS and was commissioned with her father administering the oath of service in early 2022. Omberg is now assigned to Navy Reserve Commander, Naval Forces Japan (NR CNFJ), based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “Military service has been a big part of my life,” Omberg said. “My dad, grandfather, great grandfather, uncles, aunts, have all served. I finally listened to that little voice in my head and joined the Navy.”
Omberg’s father served as a Surface Warfare Officer in Vietnam and also served at the same NR CNFH Minneapolis-based unit where she is stationed now. Her great grandfather was a World War I Army veteran. Her aunt was in the Navy Reserve’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) program during World War II. Her great uncle joined the Navy at 17-years old and died in the Philippines during World War II. This family legacy encouraged Omberg to submit a commissioning package.
Omberg holds a bachelor’s degree from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and an M.B.A. (Finance) from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Managing million-dollar budgets as the finance director of a Minneapolis-based marketing and advertising firm gives her a solid background to be a supply officer, but she acknowledges that Navy Supply and the corporate world do have some differences.
“The skillsets that qualified me for this job are my formal education, real world leadership and managerial experience,” Omberg said. “I know how to manage a budget and people. I just have to learn how to be a Sailor. I’m a student again. The problem solving certainly translates from civilian to service, but the processes are probably different, and I’ll learn those. I’m challenging myself and enjoying following in the footsteps of family.”
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