by Mass
Communication Specialist 2nd Class Amanda L. Owens, Navy Office of Community
Outreach
(MILLINGTON, Tenn.) – Navy Midshipman Anne E. Grimmke from Greenwich,
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.
“The NROTC at Holy Cross has undoubtedly guided my growth in
patience and moral courage,” said Grimmke. “Prior to college, I had a tough
time voicing my opinion to others. My experience in the Holy Cross Unit has
challenged this trait, by encouraging me to engage in heated case study discussions,
and working alongside my peers as battalion leaders.”
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.
“To me, ship selection is essentially the entirety of our
college and NROTC careers condensed into one choice,” said Grimmke. “The SWO
ship selection process is a compilation of the last four years of training so
that we can start our careers on a fresh slate.”
Grimmke, a 2013 Greenwich Central High School graduate, has
selected to serve aboard USS Arleigh Burke. She is majoring in psychology while attending
College of the Holy Cross. Upon graduation, Grimmke will receive a commission
as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Burke as a surface warfare officer.
Burke, the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, is home-ported in Norfolk, Virginia.
“I am most
looking forward to working with the other officers and sailors on the ship,”
said Grimmke. “Both as a Midshipman and a psychology student, I have enjoyed
learning from those around me. I am excited to enter a new work environment, be
challenged with the new experiences associated with being on ship, and learn
both on an individual level as well as on a divisional and ship-wide level. I
am looking forward to striving for new academic, personal, and group goals
while building camaraderie with the ship.”
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.
“Among the many things that NROTC has taught me, I have
learned that I may not know all the answers,” said Grimmke. “Both Holy Cross
and NROTC have prepared me well with being able to find reliable information
quickly. I have found that I have a hard time letting unsolved problems lie
dormant, which reflects my persistence. As a leader, I pride myself on being a
good listener, which allows me to learn from those around me, as well as be
able to help others by being a point of source of support.”