by Kayla Good,
Navy Office of Community Outreach
(MILLINGTON, Tenn.) – Navy Midshipman Clark Bogan from Savannah,
Georgia, 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 a part of NROTC has forced me to realize my
potential; both personally and professionally,” said Bogan.
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.
“This process is
essentially choosing how I want to begin my new life as an adult after college
and how I want my initial experiences in the Navy to be like depending on the
location of the ship and the ship’s culture,” said Bogan.
Bogan, a 2013 James S. Rickards High School graduate, has
selected to serve aboard USS Zumwalt. He is majoring in business finance while
attending Hampton University. Upon graduation, Bogan will receive a commission
as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Zumwalt as a surface warfare officer.
Zumwalt, the lead ship of the new Zumwalt class ships, is a guided missile destroyer home-ported in San Diego.
“I am looking forward to integrating myself into a ship’s
culture, meeting new people with different perspectives and furthering my
professional development,” added Bogan.
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 will bring my personal experience of working hard to
realize the potential of myself and my subordinates, my own interpretation of
structure and my full dedication to the mission,” added Bogan.