by Mass
Communication Specialist 2nd Class Amanda L. Owens, Navy Office of Community
Outreach
(MILLINGTON, Tenn.) – Navy Midshipman Zachary J. Durkin from
Durcut, Massachusetts, 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.
“Through my commitments to NROTC I have immensely matured
and gained valuable life skills,” said Durkin. “I’ve learned to manage my time,
be organized, lead my peers and become a more well rounded person.”
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.
“It’s an exciting
opportunity to be able to choose a first ship and starting point for my career
in the Navy,” said Durkin. “It’s the prize for the hard work both inside and
outside of the classroom I have put in over my four years in NROTC.”
Durkin, a 2013 Dracut Senior High School graduate, has
selected to serve aboard USS Antietam. Durkin is majoring in international politics
and security studies while attending Georgetown University. Upon graduation, Durkin
will receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Antietam as a
surface warfare officer.
Antietam is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruise home-ported in Yokosuka, Japan. Modern
U.S. Navy guided-missile cruisers perform primarily in a battle force role
supporting carrier battle groups, amphibious forces or
operating independently and as flagships of surface action
groups.
“Getting up to speed and becoming an integral part of the
team and getting to work along side dedicated sailors,” said Durkin.
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 look forward to bringing my sense of humor, light-hearted
attitude and ambition for problem solving to my first ship,” said Durkin.