Carson City Navy reservist Chelsea Milburn, who served in the Naval Junior Reserve Office Training Corps, takes part in her pinning ceremony as chief petty officer in 2022.
Courtesy
Story has been updated to clarify original post.
Carson City resident and Navy reservist Chelsea Milburn found her dream job last fall with the U.S. Department of Education as a public affairs specialist. She would write and edit in a team mostly consisting of other veterans serving the public in communications work.
But it came to a swift end after three months when President Donald Trump’s administration began firing probationary employees.
The terminations of thousands represented multiple federal agencies. Probationary workers were dismissed since they had fewer protections and could not appeal.
Milburn, who has a neurological disorder and has been working remotely from home, hopes she’ll be able to find support for herself and other veterans who were terminated.
“Even if someone thinks it may not be the worst idea to reduce government spending, there should be consideration about how those changes take place,” Milburn said. “But the silver lining in all of this for me is that my story draws attention to what happened.”
Milburn was born in Truckee and her family moved to Carson City when she was 3 months old. She graduated from Carson High School in 2008. She was active as company commander of the school’s Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps and captain of the varsity rifle team. She also took part in the Carson City Sheriff’s Office Explorer program.
She went to college and into the Navy, serving from 2014 through 2019 and returned to active duty as an activated reservist in 2020 through September. But during this time, Milburn was diagnosed with a neurological disorder, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), that affected her circulation and heart rate. She has difficulty standing or sitting up for long periods, during which gravity will cause blood to pool in her lower body.
Her condition prompted her to look for civil employment that would allow her to work remotely from home.
“After I got my diagnosis in January 2024, my Navy leadership let me know I wouldn’t be eligible to stay on another year,” Milburn said. “After that, I started a job search immediately.”
Her husband was injured while employed with the U.S. Postal Service and became unable to work. He is now in the appeal process to receive Social Security disability benefits, and Milburn said her only income was their only income as a result of his injury. Milburn applied for the position with the Department of Education.
She underwent two interviews and background check and was informed in August they wanted to move ahead with the hiring as soon as possible. She was hired with its Office of Communications and Outreach’s writing division and would be able to work remotely, and the couple returned to Carson City, where they felt was optimal to be close to friends and family.
“Even with the crazy political tension in this area, it has always been a community of support of people with military experience,” she said. “Almost 30% of civil servants are veterans.”
Milburn is a member of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing approximately 800,000 federal workers.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley on Feb. 14 said the Trump administration was “throwing away the very talent that agencies need to function effectively.”
“These firings are not about poor performance – there is no evidence these employees were anything but dedicated public servants” Kelley said. “They are about power. They are about gutting the federal government, silencing workers, and forcing agencies into submission to a radical agenda that prioritizes cronyism over competence.”
Milburn said notification began in January and that her union warned the administration might target employees.
“They told us make sure you download records because you may lose access quickly, and so I have been very on top of things,” Milburn said. “I’ve been glued to my computer to make sure if I did get terminated I would have a chance to download anything new, especially a termination letter.
“The last few weeks were just really stressful working there anyway because every day we were getting new agencywide emails. They were encouraging us to take the fork in the road as we were seeing people put on leave. It was just very tense.”
Milburn said she’s felt supported by others who have reached out hoping she finds new work and being aware of her POTS condition.
She hopes there will be reform in the future about mass reductions.
“It should be done through layoffs rather than individual, performance-based firings," she said. "The government has processes to do, and we would have 60 days to look for a new job and, most importantly, acknowledgment that these terminations weren't our fault. Private companies have to do that, too.
Kelley said in his AFGE statement the union intends to respond to the firings.
"AFGE will fight these firings every step of the way,” Kelley said in the statement. “We will stand with every impacted employee, pursue every legal challenge available, and hold this administration accountable for its reckless actions. Federal employees are not disposable, and we will not allow the government to treat them as such."