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By Ruby Woods- Robinson,
Louis Mojica
Diana was born in small town, Rockville, Connecticut in the fifties – you see Diana is our youngest female in Gulfport, therefore you will never know her birth date. She attended St Joseph Catholic School, from K-6th grade. She attended Sykes Junior High and then Enfield High School. After high school she married James Dopp and had three children, Heidi, James and Joan. Being young and deciding that perhaps James was not the one she would live with until death do us apart. She decided on another path, she worked to U. S. Technology Research Center where she soon discovered she needed a college degree. She was advised to go to Navy Reserves where she could obtain the G. I. bill to get a “free college education. Things unfortunately, did not go according to planned. Her entrance into the military was a storybook only entrance. She signed up on a Saturday to be a Reservist, in Data proceeding and was told that there was a year’s wait. Diana was already 32 years old and this was the last year she could enter the Military. So Diana was upset but being a lady with great faith, she went home with a positive attitude. Four days later the Recruiting Office called and said someone had become ill and would not be using her orders and she was signed up to be a Data Processor. She was offered this position. After going to pick up her orders she discovered the person not reporting would leave that Friday. What do you do with three children and an apartment in three days? Well only Diana, could do this; she sent furniture everywhere and the three children to their father and left for Boot Camp. More surprises at Boot Camp she discouraged she had a six year active duty commitment. IT1 Dopp reported for active duty in the United States Navy on August 13, 1982 and after completing basic training in Orlando, Florida, attended Data Processing ‘A’ school in San Diego, California. In January of 1983 she reported for duty Fleet Intelligence Center Europe and Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia. Receiving Sailor of the Quarter and Sailor of the Year and was nominated for Shore Sailor of the Year. In January 1989, the DP@ Dopp reported into Rota Spain for duty Fleet Ocean Surveillance Information Facility and was advanced to Data Processing First Class in June 1990. IT1 Dopp is a Gulf War Veteran who in 1992 was assigned to the USS Prairie AD-15 until it’s decommissioning and subsequently assigned to duty with USS Niagara Falls AFS-3 at Agana, Guam, completing two tours in the Arabian Gulf and Southeast Asia. Petty Officer First Class Dopp reported aboard USNS Niagara Falls (AFS-3) in September 1994, and transferred to her ultimate and final command, Joint Analysis Center Europe in March 1995. During IT1 Dopp's career she has earned the "Joint Service Commendation Medal", Joint Service Achievement Medal:, Achievement Medal with four gold stars, Joint Meritorious Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters, Navy Unit Commendation with one bronze star, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation with one bronze star, 2 Battle "E" Awards, Good Conduct Medal with 1 silver star, Navy Expeditionary Medal with bronze star, Nation Defense Service Medal with bronze star. Sea Service Ribbon with one bronze stars, Overseas Service Ribbon with two silver stars and four bronze stars, and the Kuwait Liberation Medial (Kuwait,). Well twenty years later she retired from the Military, but was so enthusiastic about government she became a Civil Servant for another ten years doing exactly what she did in the Military. Diana's field was Computer Security one of the few women n the field at the time – another trailblazer in her day. First Class Petty Officer Dopp has three married children, Heidi Meyers, James Dopp and Joan Saucier, and three grandchildren Stephen Meyers, Cameron James Dopp and Jacob Saucier. I would like to quote a few lines from, her Commanding Officer at her retirement party, "It is a high honor and privilege to be speaking at this Ceremony honoring Petty Officer Dopp is a reflection of the of the fact that in the real life struggles for respect and understanding, we too often forget not jus who we are but how life works and what people have accomplished. It is what she has stood for and achieved that makes her so special. I’ve know Diana Dopp since 1984 when I became Commanding Officer of the Fleet Intelligence Center Europe and Atlantic. For those of you not yet born in that year, let me assure you that there was one. Petty Officer Dopp was a key player in the fledging FICEURLANT ADP Branch which was struggling with the task of converting most of the command over to a near paperless environment. It necessitated the introduction of early desktop systems and the withdrawal of magnetic media typewriters. …We had to teach hundreds of personnel to utilize a classified database that was in perpetual design or repair, while keeping it operations so that we could support the fleet commanders and operating forces. By some miracle the person we placed out front to field database questions and individual support was Petty Officer Dopp. She bore the brunt of those who to this day have never given up their 3X% card databases. Given the disparity in rank, she was courteous, professional to fault and blessed with a patience that makes Job look like a seaman apprentice." Some of the residents at the Armed Forces Retirement – Gulfport, refer
to Diana as "Mother Theresa" and feels the same way about her as her commanding
officer.
 
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