By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kristen Yarber

SASEBO, Japan (March 10, 2025)—People often say there is no shame in failure, only in quitting. For one U.S. Navy Sailor, quitting was never an option.

Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Angelique Fulton, a military working dog (MWD) handler assigned to Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo (CFAS), refused to let obstacles—big or small—hold her back throughout her time in service. Fulton enlisted in September 2020, expressing a strong interest in the dog handler field. She was immediately met with resistance.

“The recruiter told me I had better odds of becoming an officer before I got to touch dogs,” said Fulton through a subtle smirk.

Undeterred by opposition, she used the discouragement to fuel her drive for getting the job she wanted. After a stringent interview process, she officially became a MWD handler. This career choice took her halfway across the world. Her first permanent duty station was CFAS where she quickly acclimated to the high-intensity nature of the job. Two months into her dream job, disaster struck while training a canine.

“I got the leash caught [around] my leg,” recalled Fulton. “I got my left leg out; I didn’t get my right leg out in time, and she threw me on my back.”

As a former roller derby enthusiast, Fulton was accustomed to a harsh fall. She and her coworkers laughed at first, not realizing the severity of the situation. A few moments later, the pain began.

“I had never had pain like it before,” she said. “It took the breath right out of me.”

Months after the incident, the pain refused to subside.

“I could feel it from my tailbone slicing through all the way down to my ankle,” she said.

“There would be times where from my pinky toe up, I would lose sensation.”

Additionally, Fulton suffered from “drop foot” where the front part of the foot loses function while walking. She walked constantly with a hunch. Even a simple sneeze caused immobilizing pain.

For the next three years, she did physical therapy twice a week. She also received a spinal injection in hopes of alleviating pressure on her sciatic nerve. While these treatments brought some relief, it did little to cure her condition.

Eventually, she was placed on a limited duty status with an ultimatum: get surgery and get better or get out of the Navy. So, she underwent two spinal surgeries, one following complications after the first. This multidisciplinary approach to the injury allowed her to continue working as a MWD handler.

“Don’t touch my job,” she said, recalling the hurdles she overcame to keep her career.

Despite treatment and surgeries, she still deals with side effects from the injury including losing nerve sensation, mobility issues, and periodic pain. She also endured ridicule from former coworkers. In response to her injury, one expressed, “that’s why women don’t belong in the Navy.”

Nevertheless, Fulton continues to excel in her career.

“She’s a phenomenal Sailor,” said Master-at-Arms 1st Class Brian Mitchell, the MWD kennel master at CFAS. “She sets the bar.”

Mitchell said Fulton was awarded “Top Dog” during the most recent biannual regional assessment, earning a perfect score on a 182-line-item inspection. During the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, she won junior Sailor of the quarter for CFAS. She also recently excelled as the primary drug custodian.

“[The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System] AFMES, which is the overall governing authority for the narcotics program in the entire DoD, came out and took some of her work to use as examples because her program was run so efficiently,” Mitchell said.

Fulton’s career has taken her on several high-profile jobs including deployments for the Secret Service and protections for the secretary of state and the president.

“This is the coolest part about our job,” she said about being a master-at-arms who also works as a MWD handler.

Fulton’s resilience and perseverance embody not only the Navy core values, but the CFAS guiding tenets of integrity and ownership. Her dedication serves as an example to all Sailors to keep pushing forward, no matter what.