We’re using technology across the board to better prepare our officers and enlisted personnel prior to the fleet. And our simulators are not just for tactics, shiphandling or damage control. Our I-DOTS technology is a very powerful leadership tool that allows a future division officer to be able to sit down and work through scenarios where he or she has to counsel a sailor or talk to a peer about an issue as they’re working through on a ship. We’ve got that at OCS now and we’re working on a version which we’ll be able to push out to the ROTC units, as well. The expectation is you’re going to be able to lead from Day 1. But a brand new ensign has little experience counseling a senior petty officer about a personal problem. You have to be prepared to do that, so it’s incumbent on us as the initial training source to provide as many tools as we can to our future officers so that they can lead from Day 1, and we’re using technology to help us do that, which I think is a force multiplier.

 

I’m sure your Recruit Division Commanders (RDCs) need great counseling skills. What are you looking for in selecting people to lead recruits?

We have our best Sailors at Great Lakes and Newport to train our newest Sailors and officers. We have to do that. We realize there are other demands throughout the fleet where we need top performers. But if we don’t get this part right, the rest of it has no chance. The screening process for RDCs begins with our yearly callout to the fleet asking for folks who are interested in this assignment. They apply and have to be screened by their commands, and have their CO’s recommendation in order to continue on the process. And then if they’re selected, they come here and go to RDC C-school. It’s a tough school, because we expect so much. We need the RDCs to be out front leading. They need to know about our Navy, about human performance factors, be physically fit, and they have to be good decision-makers.

We take that civilian and in eight weeks turn them into a professional who’s proud to serve and ready to go out and conquer the world. Every Friday when I go over to graduation, I see a group of young men and women proud to be Sailors. They are ready to take on the world.

After they graduate from RDC C School, they go “on the line,” where they are running recruit divisions. They do that for a year. Then we bring them off the line for that second year, and they do other things around RTC, such as admin, operating trainers or running programs. That time allows them to reset. In the third year, we put them back on the line and they’ll finish out there as an RDC. Being an RDC is a hard job, and it’s not a 9-to-5 job. But they have to be on top of their game every day when they’re involved with recruits.

 

The image people have of boot camp is people yelling at recruits all the time. Screaming may be a motivator, but it’s not the best motivator.

You don’t see a lot of screaming over there. We’re dealing with a generation that wants to know why. And so we need to be able to explain why. So it’s not just only telling someone what to do; it’s telling them why it’s important that they do it.

 

That’s just good leadership.

You’re exactly right. And it goes to building that trust. So that when you don’t have time to explain why, you know, the relationship is such with your subordinates that they won’t question it because they know it’s imperative that it’s done now. You can explain it later, if you need to. They’re technically savvy generation. They have smart phones and tablets and they’re used to researching and referencing information using those devices, so the innovative training technologies we have are making a difference.

 

What’s the biggest challenge that you see right now for bringing in new Sailors – trained and ready – to the fleet?

The biggest challenge I see for us is being able to adapt our training methodologies to keep up with the technology. They’re all volunteers – they all raised their right hand and said ‘I want to serve.’ It’s an all-volunteer force and they all want to be here. We have to be able to build a foundation for them, and imbue them with those characteristics and core values in a manner which they understand and can assimilate.

I think we’re doing a pretty good job of that, but we have to be able to keep up that pace. We take that civilian and in eight weeks turn them into a professional who’s proud to serve and ready to go out and conquer the world. Every Friday when I go over to graduation, I see a group of young men and women proud to be Sailors. They are ready to take on the world.

Our recruiting command continues to find top quality people who want to volunteer for service here.

There are some people who have been critical of our honor graduate ribbon. But we don’t give them away to everyone who graduates. You have 3 percent of a graduating class that will have the opportunity to earn a ribbon which says they’re an honor graduate from boot camp. If you’re a commanding officer or a command master chief, or even a divisional chief petty officer, and a Sailor walks aboard your ship and he or she is wearing that honor ribbon, you know right there that they’ve already excelled. You wouldn’t know that right away unless you dug through their record. So it’s a visible sign of excellence. And our Navy values excellence, right? We’re identifying excellence here at boot camp with a ribbon. They’ve earned it.

 

What’s the most gratifying thing about this job for you?

I wake up every day with only one thought in mind – that’s how can I help some young person who has a desire and a goal to serve our Navy, fulfill that goal. Whether I’m at recruit graduation here at Great Lakes, OCS in Newport, or whether I’m at an NROTC unit around the country, I’m seeing these young people succeed, and I can see the pride they feel for being on this path. It’s really uplifting. You can’t go to a recruit graduation without being motivated. I visit an ROTC unit and sit with midshipmen who are getting a college education but they also want to be naval officers. NROTC requires a lot of extra work that isn’t required for their academic degree but is required to get a commission. So they’re working very hard.

 

I see you have Admiral Sam Gravely’s portrait on your wall. His accomplishments were very important for the Navy. He’s looking down on you every day.

I hope he’s looking down and he’s proud about the path that he was able to blaze and I was able to follow. He overcame so many obstacles with perseverance and resiliency. Rear Admiral Sinclair Harris passed this portrait down to me when he retired, and every day when I look at it reminds me how fortunate I am to have had many barriers removed in front of me; and my obligation to continue to work as hard as I can, to go as far as I can, and to set examples for those who, for whatever reason, look to me as a role model, or at least someone they’d like to be like one day. I would add that this job here at Great Lakes is the best first flag officer job in the United States Navy. I’m convinced of that. You look at the scope of what we do; the influence we have; and the opportunity to help people become part of something greater than themselves, they are all positive things. I’ve done hard jobs, and this job is hard, too, but this job is probably, so far, the most rewarding that I’ve done. I’m fortunate to be sitting in this chair.

Courtesy of Surface SITREP.  Republished with the permission of the Surface Navy Association (www.navysna.org).