The Portraits

Arabia Shanklin

U.S. Navy • Lieutenant

Lt. Arabia Shanklin is from Steubenville, OH. She earned her commission from the United States Naval Academy in 2013. While at the Naval Academy, she lettered four years in women’s track and field, and she holds an all-time record in the 400-meter dash. After graduation, Shanklin’s first tour of duty was aboard the USS Simpson where she was the First Lieutenant and Main Propulsion Assistant followed by a tour aboard the USS Whidbey Island, where she served as the Command Training Officer and Legal Officer. Shanklin’s first shore duty assignment was at Camp Pendleton, CA and her most recent assignment is as aide-de-camp to the Commander of Expeditionary Strike Group Three, based out of San Diego, CA. Shanklin was featured in Vogue magazine as one of this generation’s trailblazing black servicewomen and most recently, she appears as a main character in the pilot for the television series “The Mayflower.” She is the co-founder of the United States Naval Academy Minority Association and serves on the executive board of MENTORCH, a social development network for mentorship. Lt. Shanklin lives in California her husband, Marine Corps Captain Gerrico Shanklin.

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