Patching through calls to the President of the United States, early morning wakeups, and staffing high-profile events are all in a day’s work for Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor DeHoratiis.
She’s being recognized for her exemplary performance by Today’s Military, an interactive website published by the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) Joint Advertising, Market Research and Studies (JAMRS). It supports the All-Volunteer Force with educational resources for young adults, parents, and educators who are interested in learning more about military service.
As if the honor itself weren’t enough of a testament to DeHoratiis’s character, she was selected from a large pool of outstanding candidates from across the Armed Forces, even though the Coast Guard is housed under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rather than the DOD.
She was thrilled to receive the news of the honor. “It just felt really good” to represent the U.S. military, she told MyCG. “I feel like I’m making an impact through my work, and it’s being noticed at such high levels.”
Working in the White House wasn’t a part of DeHoratiis’s career plan until last year, when she read about a special assignment in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center and applied soon after. In her first interview for the detail, she learned that she was being considered for a role in the Situation Room at the White House.
The Situation Room, she said, “is the heartbeat of the White House.” All critical information flows through that secure space. The White House is a special place, DeHoratiis added, that demands constant excellence and creativity. There's no room for error when she is handling calls to and for the President. She also is tapped to resolve network issues and fill the White House’s travel and administrative needs. “There are many working parts in the Situation Room,” she explained. The fact that shifts often last well over 12 hours doesn’t make it any easier.
But her work’s impact, DeHoratiis emphasized, far outweighs its difficulty. Working in the White House is an “out of this world” opportunity for which she is deeply grateful. One year into her assignment, she is still amazed to be in the room with President Joe Biden and to see Vice President Kamala Harris around the West Wing. “I’ve learned a lot and grown a lot and met so many amazing people,” she reflected. “It’s the coolest job I’ll ever look back on.”
DeHoratiis loves a challenge. While excelling in a job that requires her best work — and can’t afford anything less — she’s pursuing a degree from American Military University in exercise science and is graduating next year.
Even after the long shifts at work and hours in online classes, she still lights up when talking about the Coast Guard. Growing up in Cape May, New Jersey, exposed her to the service early. “It was basically in my backyard,” she recalled. You might even say a career in the Coast Guard was written in the stars. “My birthday is on Coast Guard Day, and I grew up on the water,” DeHoratiis said. “I felt like it was my calling.”
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