By Mass
Communication Specialist 3rd Class Theodore Quintana, Navy Office of Community Outreach
(MILLINGTON, Tenn.) – Navy Midshipman Breanna Emmons from Jacksonville,
Florida, 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 program has taught me the leadership and
organizational traits to work within a professional environment and work
alongside with various components inside a chain of command,” said Emmons. “The
NROTC program has also provided me with the opportunity to obtain a bachelor’s
degree of my choosing and a future within the United States Navy.”
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 is an important milestone to those
who have completed and gained their bachelor’s degree,” said Emmons. “It is the
stepping stone towards a future serving within the United States and having the
ability to serve on a ship of my choosing.”
Emmons, a 2013 Robert E. Lee High School graduate, has
selected to serve aboard USS Kearsarge. Emmons is attending Savannah State University.
Upon graduation, Emmons will receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report
aboard Kearsarge as a surface warfare officer.
Kearsarge is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship home-ported in Norfolk, Virginia.
“When I arrive to my ship, I am looking forward to beginning
my process as a Junior Officer,” said Emmons. “I am eager to learning and
qualifying to be a SWO and working with various individuals from diverse
backgrounds.”
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.
“Personal and leadership traits that I will be able to
provide to my ship is that I am a very honest person with a high level of
accountability,” said Emmons. “I am also work-driven, enthusiastic and
creative.”