GREAT LAKES, Ill. – Sailors are some of the most highly-trained people on the planet, according to Navy officials, and this training requires highly-dedicated instructors, staff and support.
 |
| Photo by Lt. Cmdr. Jacob Joy, Navy Office of Community Outreach |
At Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), staff oversee 98 percent of new Navy Accessions, including Recruit Training Command, Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, and Officer Training Command, ensuring officers and sailors enter the fleet tough, disciplined, courageous and trained in five warfighting competencies – firefighting, damage control, seamanship, watchstanding and small arms handling and marksmanship.
Meghan Lengner, a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a civilian playing an important role at NSTC, supporting these sailors as a Program Management Assistant for the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC).
As a Program Management Assistant, Lengner is responsible for ensuring various correspondence and materials for all departments are prepared both correctly and efficiently.
Lengner, a 2005 Catholic Central High School graduate, previously served for six years in the Navy as a Seabee steelworker.
“I joined the Navy as a steelworker to serve my country, to travel and to see the world,” said Lengner. “I knew by serving my country, that my future would be better off. I joined the civil service to continue to serve my country by helping junior officers transition smoothly into the fleet.”
Lengner uses skills and values similar to those found in Grand Rapids to succeed in the Navy.
“Growing up I learned determination, a hard work ethic and to never give up,” said Lengner. “These traits helped me better myself by taking every opportunity as a lesson learned in life.”
NSTC’s mission is to transform volunteers into naval service professionals by instilling and reinforcing enduring core values, knowledge, and skills to prepare them for the fleet.
A key element of the Navy the nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, and that the nation’s prosperity is tied to the ability to operate freely on the world’s oceans. More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; 80 percent of the world’s population lives close to a coast; and 90 percent of all global trade by volume travels by sea.
With more than 90 percent of all trade traveling by sea, and 95 percent of the world’s international phone and internet traffic carried through fiber optic cables lying on the ocean floor, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity and security of the United States is directly linked to a strong and ready Navy.
According to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, four priorities will focus efforts on sailors, readiness, capabilities, and capacity.
“For 245 years, in both calm and rough waters, our Navy has stood the watch to protect the homeland, preserve freedom of the seas, and defend our way of life,” said Gilday. “The decisions and investments we make this decade will set the maritime balance of power for the rest of this century. We can accept nothing less than success.”
Serving in the Navy means Lengner is part of a team that is taking on new importance in America’s focus on rebuilding military readiness, strengthening alliances and reforming business practices in support of the National Defense Strategy.
“The Navy is important to national defense because we have Seabee battalions that defend our country,” said Lengner. “As a previous Seabee, I still live by their motto, ‘To Build and Fight.’”
One accomplishment stands out the most to Lengner through their civil service.
“As a civilian, I was proud to be recognized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for working with a readjustment counseling center for veterans and active duty service members,” said Lengner.
As Lengner and other sailors continue to train and perform the missions they are tasked with, they take pride in serving their country in the United States Navy.
“The civil service has helped me continue to grow as an individual,” added Lengner. “It instilled in me a good work ethic with morals and values to excel both professionally and personally.”