CTRCM Rankin is the daughter of a United States Marine Master Sergeant and his high school sweetheart.  Master Chief Rankin graduated from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg with a duel Bachelors of Arts in Criminal Justice and Criminal Law in 2002.  She enlisted in the United States Navy in October 2004 and graduated Cryptologic Technician (Collections) (CTR) “A” school and CTR “C” school in June of 2005. Seaman Rankin reported to Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC), Hawaii in July 2005.

Master Chief’s tours of duty include:

  • NIOC Hawaii as Cryptologic Direct Support Supervisor where she served as an SSEE INC E Operator and Supervisor onboard USS BLUE RIDGE (LCC 19) and Cryptologic Analysis Support Element Battle Force Communications Analyst onboard USS TARAWA (LHA 1)
  • Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), Bahrain as Signals Intelligence Geospatial Analyst and where in 2010 she was selected for CTRC.
  • Navy Expeditionary Intelligence Command as Intelligence Exploitation Team (IET) Leading Chief Petty Officer (LCPO) leading two IETs on back-to-back deployments to Fifth Fleet for Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
  • USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) as Operations Department LCPO where she took the ship out of the yards, through full optimized fleet response plan, and a seven-month WESTPAC deployment and in 2014 she made CTRCS.
  • NIOC Texas as Training Department LCPO and 600 Cyber Mission Team LCPO, during her tour she had the honor of serving with the National Security Agency (NSA) Inspector General Team conducting five inspections across the NSA infrastructure.
  • COMFIFTHFLT Assistant Cryptologic Resource Coordinator (ACRC) and NAVCENT Command Senior Enlisted Leader (SEL) where she was involved in the stand-up of Combined Task Force 59 the Navy’s first Unmanned and Artificial Intelligence Task.  She served as NAVCENT Command SEL during Operation Allies Refuge aiding in oversite of over 7,700 Afghan evacuees through Bahrain.
  • COMSTRKGRU FOUR ACRC where she trained, mentored, and certified seven Carrier Strike Group and Amphibious Ready Group staffs, and 28 warships in the cryptologic warfare area. In 2022, she was selected for CTRCM.
  • She is currently serving at Navy Personnel Command as CTR Senior Detailer where she is responsible for the distribution, assignment, and training of over 4,200 Sailors across 20 Navy Enlisted Classification Codes and 400 Unit Identification Codes. 

Master Chief Rankin’s professional achievements include, a Meritorious Service Medal, five Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals, three Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals, various campaign and unit awards.  She is a graduate of the U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Academy, Class 224 where she was awarded the Chief Peter Tomich Leadership award.  She is a graduate of the Command Master Chief & Chief of the Boat Course #A-570-4500.

About the photos: The photo in helo gear is from 2008 onboard USS TARAWA (LHA-1), helo flight over the Northern Arabian Gulf. And the other photo was taken the day when Heidi was frocked to CTRCM in May 2022.