JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ruby Richey choked-up as tears welled in her eyes when asked how she felt watching her son be commissioned as chief warrant officer in U.S. Navy on March 1.

She raised CWO2 Daniel Richey and his four siblings on her own in Aliceville, Alabama by working in factories and restaurants to make ends meet.

“I just did what I needed to do as a mother,” she said. “It’s a very proud moment for me.”

CWO2 Richey’s wife, daughter, son and brother were also on hand for the ceremony, along with detachment Mayport Sailors and officers in charge both past and present.

Cmdr. Claude Taylor, Richey’s former officer in charge at the detachment came to Mayport from his new command at Naval Air Station Patuxent River to be the guest speaker.

“He’s a man of the highest integrity and embodies the virtues of honor, integrity and commitment,” Taylor said of Richey. “He’s a godly man, and he walks that same walk whether he’s at work or at home.”

Richey joined the Navy out of high school in 1996, but left active duty in 1999 for the Navy Reserve. But by 2001, he wanted back in.

“I missed it, to be quite honest with you,” he said. “You get out, assuming the civilian world is just like the military, then you quickly realize it is not.

“I missed the camaraderie, and just missed the people.”

With a renewed focus, Richey threw himself into his work. Then an encounter with a division officer, who was a prior-enlisted Sailor and then warrant officer, planted a seed of ambition that grew to fruition with the ceremony Wednesday.

“It felt like he really understood the issues that junior sailors were facing,” he said. “The more I learned of what that position was about, it really made me want to become a warrant officer.

“I’ve been tracking ever since.”

Unfortunately for detachment Mayport, Richey’s promotion means he’ll be leaving for his new position with the “Skinny Dragons” of Patrol Squadron four at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington in June.

“I’ve valued PRC Richey’s leadership and assistance since I came to this detachment last year, and I’m sorry to see him go,” said detachment Mayport Officer in Charge Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Tindell. “But I know that CWO2 Richey will be a valuable asset for his new squadron and the United States Navy.”

The bittersweet emotions ran both ways.

“I love the Sailors, the leadership and the opportunities this command afforded me,” Richey said. “FRC detachment Mayport is the best command I’ve ever been a part of, hands down.”