NROTC New Student Indoctrination Graduation of the more than 300 freshmen midshipmen attending the nearly 3-week training, August 13, 2019.
Transcript
Good morning families and friends and welcome to Naval Station Great Lakes in the New Student Indoctrination Cycle 2 Graduation. I would also like to welcome those families and friends that are joining us to watch their loved ones via Facebook live stream. I ask each of you to please take your seats and turn off or mute your cell phones and electronic devices at this time. As a reminder: you may take pictures and videos of this event, but please stay seated. After the ceremony has completed and the midshipmen are dismissed, you will be able to come down onto the parade deck and find your midshipman. We kindly ask that you don’t leave the drill hall with your midshipman until they have officially been checked out with our staff.
One, two!
Left face! Dress right! Dress!
Ready!
Ready!
Ready!
Ready!
Ready!
Ready!
Ready!
Will the guests please rise and remain standing for the arrival of the official party.
Present arms!
Time orderly strike four bells.
Naval Reserve Officer training corps unit, University of Idaho arriving.
Order, arms. Time orderly. Strike six bells.
Naval Service training command arriving.
Order, arms.
Will the guests please remain standing for the playing of our National Anthem.
Fall in!
Chaplain Eric Brown will now provide the invocation.
Let us pray. Eternal Father strong to save over these past three weeks, these midshipman candidates had both their values and their endurance tested. Their values were tested as they reflected on what they really wanted and thought about their future. Their endurance was tested day by day by late nights and early mornings, by hours of standing at attention, and by people yelling at them in ways they never imagined. Their values and their endurance were tested, and these candidates passed the test. Their presence here this morning proves that they are tough enough to continue on. For the strength and the character, the faith and the toughness to stand the test, Eternal Father strong to save, we give you thanks. Now, Eternal Father strong to save, we ask for a blessing. Give these incoming freshmen the same strength and endurance, the same faith and character and toughness they used here to overcome all the tests they will face in their new school year. Bless them with what they need for a great year building on what they learned here with us. We ask this in the name of the Holy One. Amen.
Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, new student indoctrination cycle two officer in charge, Captain Shawn McAndrew.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It is my distinct pleasure to introduce Rear Admiral James Sands, Commander, Naval Service training command. Rear Admiral Sands is a 1992 graduate from the United States Naval Academy commissioned as a surface warfare officer. He completed basic underwater demolition seal buds training class 2-0-3 and assigned to Seal delivery vehicle team one. He has commanded all levels, including commodore Naval Special Warfare group 2. His most recent assignment, prior to naval service training command was as Vice-President, joint special operations university at U.S. Special Operations Command. Ladies and gentlemen, Rear Admiral Sands.
Thank you Captain McAndrews for that introduction. Good morning to all our midshipmen and their families both here and watching this ceremony online. I’d like to begin my remarks by recognizing the new student indoctrination command team of Captain Shawn McAndrew and Master Chief Jeremy Dunlan. I entrusted the welfare and basic training of over 450 midshipmen candidates to these two leaders and they knocked it out of the park. Thank you both. We’re grateful for your leadership and for your role in shaping the future of our Navy. Really well done. (applause) I want to take a moment to recognize the midshipman instructors who help make all this happen. These upperclassmen were hand selected by their commanding officers to lead this program. They taught the midshipman candidates and served as examples of what right looks like. Simultaneously, they grew as leaders and gained experience that will help them excel as officers in the Navy and Marine Corp. I’d also like to thank the drill instructors, the recruit division commanders, instructors and NROTC staff who worked tirelessly to ensure safe and effective training. These men and women are my MVP’s. This is our first year executing NSI. These sailors and marines ensure the success, professionalism and safety of our training program. Future generations of our navy are in your debt. Incredibly well done. Perhaps most importantly, I want to thank the midshipmen parents here today for raising such outstanding young men and women and instilling in them a desire for service. My own parents still can’t believe I graduated from the Naval Academy, so I have some understanding and appreciation for the worry and concern you may have experienced over the past three weeks. I will tell you, it was worth it and I’m certain you’re as proud of your daughters and sons as we are right now. Just as these young men and women have become part of the Navy and Marine Corp, you are part of our military family. We’re grateful to you for your own service now and in the future. Our Navy ROTC program transforms young men and women from civilians into Navy and Marine Corp officers. New student indoctrination affectionately referred to as NSI, is the first step in that journey. Until this year, NROTC was the only navy officer commissioning program without a standardized uniform indoctrination training curriculum. Each of our over 70 ROTC commanders was responsible for developing their own process and the results varied based on resources, training facilities and leadership. NSI now leverages an existing professional training project develops midshipmen instructors and utilizes world class training facilities here at Great Lakes. The result is an NROTC indoctrination curriculum much more robust than any we’ve seen before. Quite simply, we’re building better midshipmen. Over the past three weeks, these midshipmen worked hard as individuals and as teams. We require them to properly stand watches, learn to march, understand military rank and history, and safely and accurately fire small arms. They fought fires and performed damage control. They swam and practiced abandoning ship. They did all of this under stress. We taught them the fundamentals of warrior toughness. They have emerged mentally and physically stronger. They’re better prepared to handle adversity and excel in difficult situations. Over the next four years, they will study leadership, law, engineering, tactics, seamanship, and navigation. They will experience a variety of leadership roles. Large portions of their summers will be spent in training. Some of these midshipmen will return to NSI as instructors. In the end they will be tough, disciplined, and courageous junior officers in the Navy and Marine Corp. In closing, these midshipmen came to Great Lakes three weeks ago to become something more than what they were. They came to serve, but they also came to be challenged. They came to determine whether they were enough. They’re different now than they were when they arrived. They stand here today as members of a profession. Forged through shared adversity. You may notice they’re more confident. That confidence comes from their own recognition and conviction that they are in fact enough. They’re at the very beginning of a long journey, but they know they have what it takes to become leaders in the Navy and Marine Corp and that knowledge, that certainty is a powerful thing. To the midshipmen graduating NSI today, well done. We’re all very proud of you. Take care of one another. Work hard and stay in the fight. Thank you. (applause)
Rear Admiral Sands, thank you very much for your inspiring and supportive words this morning.
We now recognize exemplary performance of our midshipmen candidates and instructors. We are recognizing individuals for three different awards per company. The midshipmen candidate honor graduate is awarded for having the highest cumulative score in performance events, the midshipman candidate toughness award recognizes the midshipman candidate who displayed the characteristics of warrior toughness, not to give up and persevere in the face of adversity. The midshipman instructor award is presented to the instructor who epitomized and modeled the insite commanders intent during the entire training evolution. The midshipman candidate toughness award and midshipman instructor award were voted on by the midshipmen instructors. Alpha Company midshipmen candidate honor graduate Midshipman Candidate Hunter Johnson. Alpha Company midshipman candidate toughness award Midshipman Candidate Emma Kepple. Alpha Company honor midshipman instructor Midshipman Anna-Leigh Blake. Bravo Company midshipman candidate honor graduate Midshipman candidate Maria Lynch. Bravo Company midshipman candidate toughness award Midshipman candidate Maya Smith. Bravo Company honor midshipman instructor Midshipman Jacob Fry. Charlie Company midshipman candidate honor graduate Midshipman candidate Megan Ogawa. Charlie Company midshipman candidate toughness award Midshipman Candidate Kelly Smith. Charlie Company honor midshipman instructor Midshipman Heather Folo.
And salute! Ready, two.
Ladies and gentlemen please join me in giving a round of applause for these outstanding midshipmen standing in front of you.
As we close the ceremony, I want to thank all the friends and family gathered here for trusting us with your loved ones. At the beginning, I told you we would transform them from high school seniors to midshipmen. I think that what you see in front of you, we would agree, we have done just that. I also want to thank you for supporting each of them in their goal to serve the nation. It is a noble calling and in our world today requires men and women of character to step forward and volunteer. Without your love and support, they would not be able to take that step. Finally, to the midshipmen candidates of NSI 2019 cycle two, I want to be the first to welcome you to our program and proudly call you Midshipmen 4th Class. You are no longer candidates, and are ready to take your place in your respective NROTC battalions. Congratulations and make us proud. Midshipmen of the Class of 2023. Dismissed! Yes, drill sergeant!