thedrifter
06-27-09, 05:39 AM
Future sailors, Marines get hands-on training aboard Norfolk ship
03:50 PM EDT on Thursday, June 25, 2009
Reported by: Mike Gooding
Reported by: Mike Gooding
NORFOLK -- It’s like a working vacation for 69 college NROTC students, with the emphasis on working. The idea is to get the young people out of the classroom and aboard a working warship.
This week, the students from across the country are going through Career Orientation Training for Midshipmen aboard the Norfolk-based Navy guided missile destroyer USS Nitze.
The week-long visit is part of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps’ curriculum. So far, they've spent a couple of days out at sea. On Thursday, they were back in port at Naval Station Norfolk taking part in a number of competitive damage control drills. They practiced “soft-patching” leaky pipes, learned to use a compressor and the ship’s drainage system to withdraw sea-water and shoot it through a hose to fight a fire and how to quickly suit-up in firefighting gear to fight flames in a smoke-filled interior cabin space.
“They’re doing great,” said USS Nitze Executive Officer Sean Anderson. “They are our future leaders so we want to impart as much training on them as we can while also giving them a realistic snapshot of what it’s like to be a SWO (surface warfare officer), because we want them to be passionate if they should choose this great career path.”
The students have until the beginning of the sophomore years in college to commit to a military career. Then, at some point, they must pick a specific career path in the Navy or Marine Corps, be it in Surface Warfare, or Submarine Warfare, or Naval Aviation.
Midshipman 3rd Class Erika Schuler is a rising sophomore at Norwich University in Vermont. She’s on track for a Marine Corps commission.
“This week has really been definitely really interesting,” she said. “All in all, it’s been a really cool week. We’ve learned a lot of new stuff.”
The Naval Service Training Command, headquartered at Great Lakes, Illinois, oversees the NROTC program and colleges and universities in the U.S. The NROTC program has more than 4,000 students enrolled, and more than 1,000 new Navy and Marine Corps officers are commissioned following four years of academic and military NROTC training.
In the end, Navy leaders want the students to be able to make an informed decision about future career options, by familiarizing them with Navy missions, tasks and equipment within various warfare areas.
Midshipman 3rd Class Clay Howard of Auburn University is already sold and plans to commit to a Navy career.
“I felt that I need to serve, you know, to pay back for everybody else that came before us that served our country that fought wars for our country,” he said. “I think it’s my duty as an American citizen to join the Navy.”
The Navy says this week accounts for a significant portion of the training the midshimen will receive during their four years of study.
PROGRAM GOALS:
-to enable Midshipmen to make an informed decision about future career options; To familiarize Midshipmen with the mission, tasks, and equipment within the various warfare areas: surface, subsurface, aviation, and Marine Corps;
-to introduce Midshipmen to the career development ladder within each warfare area; To emphasize the importance of military courtesy, smartness, and discipline; and, To reinforce leadership training through practical application of basic leadership.
Ellie
03:50 PM EDT on Thursday, June 25, 2009
Reported by: Mike Gooding
Reported by: Mike Gooding
NORFOLK -- It’s like a working vacation for 69 college NROTC students, with the emphasis on working. The idea is to get the young people out of the classroom and aboard a working warship.
This week, the students from across the country are going through Career Orientation Training for Midshipmen aboard the Norfolk-based Navy guided missile destroyer USS Nitze.
The week-long visit is part of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps’ curriculum. So far, they've spent a couple of days out at sea. On Thursday, they were back in port at Naval Station Norfolk taking part in a number of competitive damage control drills. They practiced “soft-patching” leaky pipes, learned to use a compressor and the ship’s drainage system to withdraw sea-water and shoot it through a hose to fight a fire and how to quickly suit-up in firefighting gear to fight flames in a smoke-filled interior cabin space.
“They’re doing great,” said USS Nitze Executive Officer Sean Anderson. “They are our future leaders so we want to impart as much training on them as we can while also giving them a realistic snapshot of what it’s like to be a SWO (surface warfare officer), because we want them to be passionate if they should choose this great career path.”
The students have until the beginning of the sophomore years in college to commit to a military career. Then, at some point, they must pick a specific career path in the Navy or Marine Corps, be it in Surface Warfare, or Submarine Warfare, or Naval Aviation.
Midshipman 3rd Class Erika Schuler is a rising sophomore at Norwich University in Vermont. She’s on track for a Marine Corps commission.
“This week has really been definitely really interesting,” she said. “All in all, it’s been a really cool week. We’ve learned a lot of new stuff.”
The Naval Service Training Command, headquartered at Great Lakes, Illinois, oversees the NROTC program and colleges and universities in the U.S. The NROTC program has more than 4,000 students enrolled, and more than 1,000 new Navy and Marine Corps officers are commissioned following four years of academic and military NROTC training.
In the end, Navy leaders want the students to be able to make an informed decision about future career options, by familiarizing them with Navy missions, tasks and equipment within various warfare areas.
Midshipman 3rd Class Clay Howard of Auburn University is already sold and plans to commit to a Navy career.
“I felt that I need to serve, you know, to pay back for everybody else that came before us that served our country that fought wars for our country,” he said. “I think it’s my duty as an American citizen to join the Navy.”
The Navy says this week accounts for a significant portion of the training the midshimen will receive during their four years of study.
PROGRAM GOALS:
-to enable Midshipmen to make an informed decision about future career options; To familiarize Midshipmen with the mission, tasks, and equipment within the various warfare areas: surface, subsurface, aviation, and Marine Corps;
-to introduce Midshipmen to the career development ladder within each warfare area; To emphasize the importance of military courtesy, smartness, and discipline; and, To reinforce leadership training through practical application of basic leadership.
Ellie