Mikie Sherrill: From Naval Aviator to being elected New Jersey's next Governor

Summary

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WETSU: A Battleship New Jersey Podcast

Episode: Mikie Sherrill—From Naval Aviator to Being Elected New Jersey's Next Governor

Date: November 12, 2025
Host: Marshall Spevak, CEO Battleship New Jersey
Guest: Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Marshall Spevak welcomes Congresswoman and Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, the soon-to-be 57th Governor of New Jersey and the nation's first female military veteran elected governor. The conversation explores Sherrill’s path from naval aviator to public servant; her priorities for veterans and military families as she takes office; the importance of preserving military history; the rewards and challenges of leadership; and candid reflections on her “WETSU” (We Eat This Stuff Up) moments in both the Navy and on the campaign trail.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Mikie Sherrill’s Path to Service & Inspiration

• Family Legacy and Childhood Aspirations
  • Inspired to service by her grandfather’s WWII experiences as a pilot, including being shot down over France and rescued ([02:20]).
  • From fifth grade, was determined to become an aviator, despite her father’s uncertainty about women’s eligibility for military academies.
  • Sherrill graduated with the first class of women eligible for combat aboard ships and aircraft ([02:20–03:21]).

"Growing up in this country with that sense of opportunity and that you could build something different in your future was something that everyone from my parents to my teachers...I knew I could do that."
— Mikie Sherrill, [02:38]

Veteran Support & Advocacy

• Philosophy and Legislative Achievements
  • Emphasizes a “deeply held belief” in America’s obligation to all who serve, particularly after their service ([03:34]).
  • Cites her work passing the Blue Water Navy Veterans Act (for Agent Orange exposure) and burn pit legislation, expressing frustration at the delay in federal action ([03:34–05:30]).
  • Plans as governor: ensure well-managed veterans’ homes, increase access to housing for homeless vets, improve the transmission of information about VA services ([03:34–05:38]).

"I was really proud to pass that, but really pretty disgusted that it had taken our country about 30 years to do that. So...I swore I was not going to allow that to happen again."
— Mikie Sherrill, [04:21]

"In too many cases, the VA has these wonderful services and veterans have no idea that they're eligible for them."
— Mikie Sherrill, [05:18]

• Outreach and Access
  • Stresses the need for better outreach: "putting out the billboards...if you need help and you’re a veteran, here’s what you do" ([05:31]).

Preserving Military History & Its Relevance

• Educational Value and Personal Impact
  • Advocates for connecting young people with history to foster appreciation for liberty’s sacrifices ([07:24]).
  • Shares her experience meeting Paul Robbins, a “plank owner” (original crew member) of the Battleship New Jersey, and the impact of hearing firsthand accounts of World War II ([07:42]).

"It's easy to forget the actual sacrifices of people and what it takes to ensure that success, what it takes to ensure liberty and how precious it is and how important it is that we preserve it."
— Mikie Sherrill, [08:14]

Leadership: A Philosophy of Service

• Advice to Young People, Especially Women and Girls
  • Centers leadership on service to others, beyond personal glory or power ([08:56]).
  • As a leader in the Navy, prioritized the well-being of those she led ("if somebody was overseas and their pay got messed up and their spouse couldn't make rent, then it was up to me to help figure that out") ([09:22]).
  • Intends to bring “servant leadership” to the governor’s office.

"At its best, leadership is about service. It's about what you can do to make the outcome better for the people you lead, about how you protect them."
— Mikie Sherrill, [09:00]

• Memorable Message From Host
  • Host Marshall Spevak references his two daughters and asks for guidance to inspire the next generation, underscoring the personal impact of Sherrill’s story ([08:44]).

WETSU Moments: Grit and Resilience

• Most Challenging Yet Rewarding Experiences
  • Reminisces about Navy training (the "helicopter dunker," parachuting), despite a dislike of heights ([10:29]).
  • Reflects humorously and honestly on the grind and unpredictability of her recent campaign—long days, erratic eating, but deeply inspiring interactions across New Jersey ([10:29–11:37]).

"It was grilling 14 hour days, you know, with a bunch of people trying to not eat crap, failing miserably...But man, it was grilling 14 hour days...So it was really rewarding, like I said, which is why it feels like a real wet zoo moment."
— Mikie Sherrill, [10:40]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Service and Opportunity:
  "I knew I could do that. And sure enough, by the time I graduated from the Naval Academy, I graduated with the first class of women eligible for combat on ships and aircraft."
  — Mikie Sherrill, [03:10]

• On Passing the Blue Water Navy Veterans Act:
  "I was really proud to pass that, but really pretty disgusted that it had taken our country about 30 years to do that."
  — Mikie Sherrill, [04:21]

• On Leadership and Service:
  "The very best of leadership is servant leadership, and it's incredibly rewarding and something that I will certainly be doing as governor."
  — Mikie Sherrill, [09:38]

• On Preserving History:
  "It's easy to forget the actual sacrifices of people...and how precious it is, and how important it is that we preserve it."
  — Mikie Sherrill, [08:14]

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• [02:20] Sherrill’s motivation for military service, family influence, and childhood dreams
• [03:34] Vision for supporting veterans as governor; legislative track record
• [07:24] Importance of preserving military history and youth education
• [08:56] Leadership philosophy; message to young women and aspiring leaders
• [10:29] Most memorable, grueling (“WETSU”) moments in her Navy and campaign experience
• [11:37] Closing thanks and farewell

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Episode Tone

The conversation is warm, candid, and inspiring, blending nostalgia with a forward-looking optimism. Governor-elect Sherrill shares with humility, authenticity, and humor, making the discussion both accessible and compelling for audiences interested in leadership, service, history, and the enduring relevance of military values in public life.

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Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Quarters. All hands, man your battle stations. Welcome to Wetsuit, a Battleship New Jersey podcast. I'm your host, Marshall Spivak, CEO of the Battleship New Jersey Museum of Memorial. Today's episode is brought to you by elac825, whose skilled members play a critical role in the 2024 dry docking of the Battleship New Jersey. It's an extraordinary honor to welcome to the podcast the soon to be 57th governor of the great state of New Jersey, Congresswoman and Governor elect Mikey Sherrill. Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few months, you'll know that Governor Elect Sherrill is a proud graduate of the United States Naval Academy. Class of 2004, 1994.

[A]

No, I. I like that.

[B]

The first class in which women were eligible for combat assignments aboard ships and aircraft. Following her commission, she was served as a naval aviator, piloting Sea King helicopters and leading missions across Europe and the Middle East. She later served as on the battle watch for of European theater during the Iraq war, as a flag aide to the deputy commander of U.S. atlantic Fleet and as a Russian policy officer. After completing her military service, she earned her law degree and served in the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey. In 2018, she was elected to the United States House of Representatives, representing parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic county in New Jersey's 11th congressional district. Re elected four times, she later became a leading voice for veterans and active duty personnel on the House Armed Services Committee. Last week, she was decisively elected the 57th governor of New Jersey, making her the second woman in history to serve as governor and the first female military veteran ever elected governor in the entire United States. Governor Lex Shelton, honored to welcome you to WETSU and welcome you back, albeit virtually this morning, to the deck of America's most decorated battleship. Thank you.

[A]

Well, it's of course an honor to.

[B]

Be here on this podcast. We have a tradition of asking all our active and retired sailors, why'd you join the Navy?

[A]

Well, my grandfather was a pilot in World War II, and I grew up hearing stories about that he was actually shot down over occupied France and rescued by the Free French. And hearing those stories and his pride and what he had done made me want to serve something larger than myself. I also inherited his love of aviation, so I wanted to be a. So in about the fifth grade, I told my dad that's what I wanted to do. You know, I've told this story many times. He said he didn't know if the Naval Academy took women. He didn't know if women could be pilots in the Navy, but I knew I could do it. You know, I just. Growing up in this country with that sense of opportunity and that you could build something different in your future was something that everyone from my parents to my teachers and, you know, Schoolhouse Rock on Saturday morning cartoons, I knew that I could do that. And sure enough, by the time I graduated from the Naval Academy, I graduated with the first class of women eligible for combat on ships and aircraft.

[B]

As you prepare to take office as New Jersey's 57th governor and of course Veterans Days tomorrow, how do you envision your administration strengthening the support network for veterans and of course, our military families?

[A]

Well, I deeply believe that our commitment as a country to you, if you've chosen to serve and all that that entails is a commitment to make sure that not only are we appreciating you as you're serving, but certainly making sure that you have all that you need after you serve. So whether it's medical support, mental health support, housing support, et cetera, and in too many cases, our country has fallen short. One of the first things I did in Congress was passed the Blue Water Navy Veterans act. And that was to help ensure Blue Water Navy veterans who'd been exposed to Agent Orange had access to the medical care they needed. Was really proud to pass that, but really pretty disgusted that it had taken our country about 30 years to do that. So actually over 50. So at that point I swore, you know, I was not going to allow that to happen again. So we got to work right away when we began receiving information about Burn Pits, for example, and pass that legislation. And now as governor, I'm going to make sure that we're taking care of our vets, that we're ensuring that our veterans homes are run well, that people are really well cared for at the end of their lives and are retiring with dignity. I've been working hard to get federal resources in and bring attention to and now I'll enact it as governor on making sure veterans have access to housing. Our homeless vets have access to housing. And I know our VFWs and legions are doing a lot of work in this space and I'll help with that housing trust fund so that we can ensure that that gets fully funded and build out the housing we need across the state as well as Demava is being separated and making sure that as that happens, we are providing those pathways so that veterans have access to the VA and can get the services that they need and, and ensuring that the VA itself is Pushing out information on the services. In too many cases, the VA has these wonderful services and veterans have no idea that they're eligible for them.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

So part of it's the advertising too, like just putting out the billboards and stuff to say, hey, if you need help, here's, you know, and you're a veteran, here's what you do.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

Operating engineers are the men and women that move mountains. And the engineers labor employer cooperative ELEC puts them to work. They create opportunities for the men, women and union signatory contractors of Local 825 repaving our roads, keeping our homes bright and warm, and even building our favorite team stadium. We understand infrastructure. That's why ELAC and Local 825 are ready to get to work.

[B]

As we talked about just before we started filming a few weeks ago, you visited us on the battleship New Jersey celebrate the Navy's 250th birthday. Today, of course, November 10th is the 250th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. And tomorrow is Veterans Day. It was, it was a bit of a crazy day, but you got to come on board and visit us and our new friends on the USS Billings. The battleship continues to stand as a powerful symbol of American strength and sacrifice. Over 100,000 visitors a year were one of the state's largest tourist attractions and destinations, of course, for the official stateship of New Jersey. And we're very proud that the state of New Jersey has been so supportive of the battleship. We've actually been funded at various levels in every state budget except for one, the last 25 years. And as you prepare to take the helm of our great state, the Marine Corps birthday today, the upcoming semi coincentennial, can you tell us a little bit about why it's important to you to preserve our history, our military history, museums, like the battleship, and other great attractions that we have around the state.

[A]

I think it's really important that young people understand the sacrifices that people have made throughout our nation's history to ensure their freedom, to ensure all of the blessings of liberty that they enjoy today. And that can get lost if we aren't ensuring we're having school kids go on battleship tours, et cetera. For me, it was really amazing, as I was expressing to you earlier, to meet Paul Robbins, to hear from someone who was in the Navy what we'd call a plank owner, the first member of the first crew of the battleship New Jersey, and to hear about his experiences and the battles he went through. And it was shocking to hear how many people were dying around him as he was serving on the battleship and what that experience was like. Sometimes it's easy to forget when we think of World War II and how wonderful it was that we had such success. It's easy to forget the actual sacrifices of people and what it takes to ensure that success, what it takes to ensure liberty and how precious it is and how important it is that we preserve it.

[B]

Yeah. You've lived a life defined by service. From the Navy to Congress, now to the governor's office. What message would you share with young people, especially young women and girls? I've got two little girls age five going on 15 and two going on 12. And what. What message do you have to continue to aspire to lead and those who want to have a similar experience to you. And how does that advice sort of shape your own leadership style as you come into office?

[A]

I think the best thing I can express to people about leadership is that it's about service. A lot of people look at leadership about the glory or, you know, how it would impact them or the power they might individually have. But it's. It's really at its best, and this is something the military trains so many of us in. At its best, leadership is about service. It's about what you can do to make the outcome better for the people you lead, about how you protect them. I often tell people, when I was in leadership in the Navy, if somebody was overseas and their pay got messed up and their spouse couldn't make rent, then it was up to me to help figure that out. Or if their child was in the hospital, it was up to me to take care of that until they could get back to the beach. So in all of these ways, the very best of leadership is servant leadership, and it's incredibly rewarding and something that I will certainly be doing as governor.

[B]

Absolutely. I've got two more questions for you.

[A]

I think I've got about one more minute for. Sorry about that. We got a packed back to back schedule, but I'm. But if you can say them both quickly, I'll try to answer them both.

[B]

I'll give you just one more. So this is the Wetsuit podcast. It stands for we eat this stuff up or something A little slightly more than that. But it really means doing grueling work with a smile on your face. And that was the motto of our last crew, our last stipper, and on our last battle flag. That's replica is behind me. And we always ask all of our guests, are there any particular Western moments that stand out to you from your time in the Navy or your time in public service?

[A]

Well, as there were, as you can imagine, a lot from my time in the Navy, whether it was the helicopter dunker, which I hated, getting strapped in and blindfolded and flipped upside down underwater to escape that for helicopter training, or any number of different training exercises, parachuting out, you know, down and stuff like that. I, I'm not a big heights person, so all of that certainly comes to mind. But most recently it was this campaign, it was rewarding, the results were great, I'm really proud of it. But man, it was grilling 14 hour days, you know, with a bunch of people trying to not eat crap, failing miserably. So eating a lot of fruit and nuts and then McDonald's big maps. Really, really great to get to see so many people across the state and to hear exactly about what it's going to take to make them successful and their kids. So it was really rewarding, like I said, which is why it feels like a real wet zoo moment. So I really appreciate it and thanks so much for having me today. Thanks.

[B]

Thanks so much, Gov. Like Sherrill, thank you for joining us today, sharing your journey and we hope to see you back on board the Battleship New Jersey very soon.

[A]

That sounds great. Thanks again. Have a good one, skipper.

[C]

Operating engineers are the men and women that move mountains. And the engineers labor employer cooperative ELEC puts them to work. They create opportunities for the men, women and union signatory contractors of Local 825 repaving our roads, keeping our homes bright and warm, and even building our favorite team stadium. We understand infrastructure. That's why ELAC and Local 825 are ready to get to work.