EDITOR’S NOTE: To suggest a veteran for this series, which runs weekly through Veterans Day, email Metro Editor Marly Reichert at mreichert@tribtoday.com or call her at 330-841-1737.

BOARDMAN — Lt. Florence M. Hosler feels good about the time she spent in the U.S. Navy. What originally was a plan to get out of the house turned into five years of dedicated and rewarding service.

Hosler is a 1972 graduate of the Morgan School, a high school in Clinton, Connecticut. She went on to attend the former Nasson College in Springvale, Maine, and graduated in 1976 with a degree in history.

“For two years, I lived with my parents,” she said. “We had moved from Connecticut to New Jersey because of a change in my father’s job.”

She said she didn’t want to continue living at home. She wanted to be on her own, but good jobs were hard to find and she was tired of teaching.

“I didn’t want to teach anymore, so I joined the Navy,” Hosler said. “And guess what, they made me a teacher.”

When she first joined, she was immediately flown to the Navy training center in Orlando, Florida. From basic training, she went to Newport, Rhode Island, to attend Officer Candidate School (OCS). In November 1978, she received her commission as an ensign and later rose to the rank of lieutenant.

“Basic training was tougher,” she said “OCS was more casual.”

Along with her commission, Holser was assigned to Dam Neck Naval Base at Virginia Beach, Virginia. That assignment began her Navy teaching career.

“While I was there, at Dam Neck, I taught two computer classes,” she said.

She said there were computer technicians who needed to be taught computer language. She taught assembler and compiler level code to those who were stationed at the Atlantic Fleet Combat Training Center.

“Our computer was NAUYK7, which was about the size of a refrigerator,” Hosler recalled. “At that time, we were still using punch cards and when I gave a test, my students wouldn’t get the results until the next day.”

She said the computers eventually were upgraded and the students were able to get instant test scores.

During her time in Virginia, Hosler met her husband Rod, who was serving in the Army and was stationed at Fort Bragg.

“I met Rod during a joint Navy-Army exercise at Little Creek Amphibious Base (in Virginia),” Hosler said. “We met at an Officer’s Club. I was still an ensign and wasn’t supposed to be there.”

She didn’t get caught and three weeks later was engaged to Rod. Three months after that, the couple tied the knot. Rod had then left the Army and returned as a civilian while serving in the Army Reserve.

In 1983, Florence Hosler retired prior to the birth of the couple’s daughter, Elizabeth. Rod re-enlisted in the Army and the couple moved many times. She said they went from Virginia to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, to Fort Richardson in Alaska, to Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts, and to Fort Gillam in Georgia. It was rough to raise a young girl and move around, but Hosler said she didn’t mind.

Rod finally retired from the Army in 1997, but wanted to stay involved. He decided to teach an ROTC program and looked around for openings. The choices came down to Arizona or Youngstown. The couple chose Youngstown.

Hosler said her husband began teaching an ROTC class at The Rayen School, but when a Youngstown State University opportunity arose, he quickly responded. He taught the YSU ROTC classes until approximately 2006.

After retiring from the ROTC, Rod joined the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA).

“He talked me into attending an MOAA meeting and that is how I got started,” Florence Hosler said.

The MOAA is a leading lobby group for military members and their families. The MOAA mainly deals with benefits and pay for veterans and their families.

In recent years, both Hosler and her husband have had leadership roles in the MOAA. Hosler was president, second vice president and Surviving Spouse Liaison Officer. She also serves as adjutant of American Legion Post 15 in Poland.

She said fighting for veterans and surviving widows’ rights was satisfying, knowing the fight was worth it to protect families and veterans.

When a young person asks Hosler about joining the Navy, she is quick to respond.

“I would ask the young person what they are good at and like to do,” Hosler said. “The military might lead you in a direction you want to go, if it suits their goals.”

She said any branch of the military is going to place a person where the needs are and where a recruit is believed to be best suited. In any case, she said the experience is worth it.

“The military teaches self-sufficiency, how to work as a team, how to take orders and gives young people an opportunity to find themselves,” Hosler said. “Military service is something you can look back on and say you are proud to have done it.”