(MILLINGTON, Tenn.) – Navy Midshipman Hunter Davis, from Colorado Springs, Colorado, participated in the 2018 winter Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) ship selection draft as a future member of the Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) community.
More than 40 midshipmen from NROTC units around the country chose to serve as surface warfare officers. Each selecting midshipmen are ranked according to their grade point average, aptitude scores and physical fitness.“NROTC has benefited me personally by helping me graduate college,” Davis said. “It’s also helped me develop the skills and confidence needed to be successful as an officer in the Navy.”
According to their rankings, each midshipman provided a preference of ship or homeport to the junior officer detailer at the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee. If these preferences were available, they were assigned as requested.
“The SWO ship selection process marks the beginning of a new adventure and the start of my career,” Davis said.
Davis, a 2013 Falcon High School graduate, has selected to serve aboard USS Milius. He is majoring in aerospace engineering at Arizona State University. Upon graduation, he will receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Milius as a surface warfare officer.
Commissioned in 1996, Milius is home ported at Naval Base Yokosuka, Japan. Milius is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer that provides multi-mission offensive and defensive capabilities. Destroyers can operate independently or as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, expeditionary strike groups, and missile defense action groups.
“I’m most looking forward to joining the team and leading the men and women of this great Navy all while seeing the world,” Davis said.
The midshipmen’s ship selection is not only a major personal milestone but also an important day for the ships in the fleet. Not only do the midshipmen choose where they are going to start their Navy career, but the ship they choose will also gain a motivated, eager, young officer to help lead and improve an already great team, according to Navy officials.
"NROTC units across the country instill essential warfighting fundamentals, professional core competencies, and ethics required in a Navy or Marine Corps officer," said Rear Adm. Mike Bernacchi, Commander, Naval Service Training Command, which includes the NROTC Program. "I am enormously proud of our graduating midshipman for completing this demanding program, and look forward to them joining the fleet."
“Three personal and leadership traits that I will bring to the ship are determination, dependability, and integrity,” Davis said.