by Mass
Communication Specialist 2nd Class Amanda L. Owens, Navy Office of Community
Outreach
(MILLINGTON, Tenn.) – Navy Midshipman Gyneth Campbell from Albany,
New York, participated in the 2017 spring Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps
(NROTC) ship selection draft as a future member of the U.S. Navy’s Surface
Warfare Officer (SWO) community.
More than 280 midshipmen at Navy Reserve Officer Training
Corps (NROTC) units around the country have selected to serve in the Navy as
surface warfare officers. Each selecting midshipman is ranked according to his
or her grade point average, aptitude scores, and physical fitness.
“Being in NROTC helped me grow mentally and physically
stronger,” said Campbell. “The program provided me with opportunities that I
would not have been able to get otherwise, such as being able to meet and work
next to exemplary peers. Professionally, I developed essential leadership and management
skill to use when I join the fleet.”
According to their
rankings, each midshipman provided their 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 means the start of a new and exciting career,” said Campbell. “To me,
it’s about seeing the results of what I have worked toward for the past four
years, and select the first ship that I will get to call home.”
Campbell, a 2013 Colonie Central High School graduate, has
selected to serve aboard USS Chung-Hoon. Campbell is majoring in mechanical engineering
while attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Upon graduation, Campbell will
receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Chung-Hoon as a surface
warfare officer.
Chung-Hoon is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer home-ported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Destroyers
are warships that provide multi-mission offensive and defensive
capabilities. Destroyers can operate independently or as part of
carrier strike groups, surface action groups, amphibious ready groups
and underway replenishment groups.
“I am really looking forward to meeting and working with the
ship’s crew,” said Campbell. “I enjoy teamwork, and am very excited to work
alongside sailors. I am also eager to travel the world and see new places.”
The midshipmen’s selection of their ship is not only a
milestone for them but also an important day for the ships in the fleet. Not
only do the midshipmen choose where they are going to start their Naval career,
but the ship they choose will also gain a motivated, eager, young officer to
help lead and improve an already great team.
While NROTC units are spread out
across the country and vary in size, they all teach midshipmen the values,
standards, abilities and responsibility that it takes to become a Navy officers
and lead this nations sons and daughters in protecting freedom on the seven
seas.
“I am highly motivated, dependable, and an efficient
planner,” said Campbell. “When given a task, I ensure the job gets done. As a
future officer, I believe that taking care of my sailors, keeping them
motivated, and with a goal to achieve, will help a division perform at its
best.”