From Navy Vet to Electrician: Newella Rosemond’s Inspiring Journey

By Stephen Lynch

Newella Rosemond is proud of her life story, and she has every reason to be. The 35-year-old daughter of first-generation Americans has accomplished a lot since growing up in South Los Angeles.

The United States Navy vet has made a great life for herself working as an electrician for more than 25 years. Rosemond first started learning the trade when she joined the military soon after graduating from high school and is a member of IBEW Local 11.

Recently the Los Angeles Dodgers, who honor a military veteran every home game, chose Rosemond to be that person for their game on Union Night.

“It was a surprise,” Rosemond said of being chosen for the honor. “It kind of gave me anxiety. It was cool. It was nice. I enjoyed it but it was also scary at the same time.”

Rosemond’s parents immigrated to the United States nearly 50 years ago. Her dad is from St. Lucia and her mom is from Belize. They met when they got to Los Angeles and eventually got married and started a family. Rosemond was born and raised in South LA as the youngest of seven children.

After attending college for a semester Rosemond began her post-high school journey by joining the Navy in 2008.

There were multiple reasons for that decision.

“I wanted to leave LA and travel and get free education,” she said.

Rosemond’s service in the Navy began with weeks of classroom work, where she gained a lot of technical knowledge that has been the foundation for her career.

Working as an electrician’s mate, Rosemond spent four years in the Navy, doing mainly a lot of maintenance and repairs on a ship.

Despite gaining a lot of valuable experience, she decided to leave the military.

“I wanted to do something different,” Rosemond said. “I think four years was enough.”

Following her military service Rosemond lived for two years in Virginia, where she attended school at ITT Tech and worked at a shipyard as a deck electrician doing new construction on the U.S. Gerald Ford, the last Navy carrier to be commissioned.

Rosemond’s next move was to come back to LA and spend the next three years at jobs unrelated to electrical work.

But that lasted only so long before she decided to get back into the trade.

Rosemond joined IBEW Local Union 11 in 2018.

It’s a decision that she believes has been greatly beneficial for her.

“It gave me the opportunity to build on my skills that I already had from the military and the shipyard,” Rosemond said. “I learned a whole new set of electrical skills like working on a refinery, a water treatment plant and residential. I didn’t know how to do residential before.”

Rosemond, who is currently employed by SVE, credits working as a union electrician for allowing her to buy her first house and live a comfortable life.

Her current job entails both residential and commercial work. Part of the time she works on low-income housing running MC wires and putting in boxes. On the commercial side she works on large boxes, EMT Pipe ending, and installing supports.

Much of her work has her following drawings.

“I enjoy my job,” Rosemond said. “It allows me to have a blank space and then I use my skills to create the drawing on my own. I like doing that. It’s pretty cool.”

Rosemond is also happy and proud of what she has been able to do with her life.

“I think that it is a big accomplishment for me and my family,” Rosemond said. “It’s pretty fulfilling that they were able to come here and raise someone who can be a part of something so great.”