Mt. Lebanon native promoted to rear admiral

Mt. Lebanon native Katie Bluemling Sheldon was recently promoted to rear admiral in the U.S. She currently serves as vice commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan, an hour-and-a-half south of Tokyo.
When promoted to rear admiral in October, Sheldon became just the third female admiral in the Navy Reserve’s surface warfare community.
“It’s very humbling,” Sheldon said. “To have the Navy recognize my hard work and leadership to promote me to that rank is very humbling because there’s not many people that make that rank. I’m honored to be able to serve in this capacity and have the responsibility that I now have as a rear admiral, leading the Navy and representing the Navy around the world.”
In a recent assignment, Sheldon represented the Navy as a rear admiral in Brunei at the 30th annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) maritime exercise.
“I was able to represent the U.S. Navy and command the U.S. Seventh Fleet during this exercise, which was pretty awesome and inspiring,” Sheldon said. “Being the senior ranking Navy officer there was pretty humbling.”
The 1995 graduate of Mt. Lebanon High School has an extensive military career.
She is a 1999 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, earning a Bachelor of Science in oceanography.
As a surface warfare officer, Sheldon completed three deployments to the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf as the damage control assistant on USS Fife (DD991). She also served as a staff watch officer on the Destroyer Squadron 9 and as the assistant first lieutenant on USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).
Ashore, Sheldon served as the U.S. Naval Academy Physical Education Department Logistics Officer from 2003-05.
Sheldon, 48, also has received many personal awards including the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Navy Female Athlete of the Year (volleyball) for 2001.
“I spent the first three-and-a-half years of my career on ships out of the Pacific Northwest,” Sheldon said. “Then I went back to the Naval Academy to coach volleyball and teach in the athletic department. At that point, I fulfilled my commitment and went to the reserves from there.”
Sheldon transitioned to the Navy Reserves in 2006, which led to numerous commanding assignments. She served as the Reserve Chief of Staff for the U.S. Third Fleet and now serves as the Vice Commander for the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
Sheldon’s interest in the military stems from her high school days when her father, Tom Bluemling, was the girls soccer coach at Mt. Lebanon. As the players moved on, they returned and shared their stories, intrigued Sheldon.
One player, Stephanie Jardine, eventually matriculated to the Air Force Academy.
“She would come back and talk about all of her adventures,” Sheldon recalled. “That kind of piqued my interest while I was in high school.”
Sheldon took part in a one-week summer program at the Coast Guard Academy and was hooked.
“That kind of solidified that this was something I might be interested in,” Sheldon said.
The transition to the Reserves has provided flexibility in Sheldon’s life as her husband, Vic, also a 1999 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, remains on active duty. It also has provided more stability for a family life. Sheldon returned to school, graduating from Grand Canyon University in 2017 with a master’s degree in education.
“I could be stationed and work where he was working,” she said. “I was able to be with reserve commands everywhere from Italy to Hawaii to Singapore to Japan, just all over the world. I’ve been able to stay in the Navy, but also have been able to pursue another career and was able to teach in California, Hawaii and Virginia. I was able to do that and raise three kids and coach their sports.”
As a reservist, Sheldon does not have to be in Japan full time, as she has a home in San Diego with her husband and their three children, Carson, 16; Kaitlyn, 15, and Kelsey, 12.
When Sheldon thinks about her achievements, she is quick to credit the females who have gone before her, including Amy Bauernschmidt, the first woman to serve as the executive officer and then commanding officer of a U.S. Navy aircraft when she assumed command of the USS Abraham Lincoln in August 2021.
“I think of the women that have gone before me that have made it so much easier for me in this role,” she said. “To think what she’s gone through and what she’s been able to achieve has opened up so many other doors. Being in a country like Japan and Korea or anywhere in the Asian countries, there’s not a lot of female admirals. Very frequently, I’m the only female at the table. It has made it so much easier for me to go into that role with the barriers she has broken and the doors she has opened up.”