by Kayla Good,
Navy Office of Community Outreach
(MILLINGTON, Tenn.) – Navy Midshipman Devon Denner from Portsmouth,
Virginia, 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 benefitted me in a number of ways
personally and professionally,” said Denner. “The program has taught me how to
be self sufficient and think on my feet. Professionally speaking, I have gained
leadership skills and receive unique training opportunities that most people do
not get to experience in their entire careers.”
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 process holds deep meaning to me in that it signifies the end of my
NROTC journey and the beginning of my new, exciting career as a naval officer.”
Denner, a 2013 Churchland High School graduate, has selected
to serve aboard USS Truxtun. Denner is majoring in administration of justice and
naval science while attending Texas Southern University. Upon graduation, he
will receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Truxtun as a
surface warfare officer.
Truxtun is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer homeported in Norfolk, Virignia.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to lead sailors and
work with unique and upstanding people while serving on my first ship,” said
Denner.
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.
“In terms of leadership, I am a very hard worker who is not
afraid to burn the midnight oil to ensure tasks are successfully completed and
that my sailors are taken care of,” added Denner.