By Mass
Communication Specialist 3rd Class Theodore Quintana Navy Office of
Community Outreach
(MILLINGTON, Tenn.) – Navy Midshipman Taylor Burleson from Sonoita,
Arizona, 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 most impactful way the NROTC has benefited me both
personally and professionally has been the instillation of a sense of
confidence that a traditional college education simply cannot give,” said
Burleson. “While being successful in impressing the enormity and importance of
the United States Naval institution upon me, NROTC has also instilled in me the
self-discipline and knowledge to the extent of which I feel both confident in
my ability to lead sailors and to learn all I can from them.”
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.
“On the flip side of the confidence I spoke about before,
the ship selection process has brought me a great sense of humility,” said
Burleson. “Researching ships and their histories, crews, and home ports makes
you feel small in the face of such enormous legacies, and greatly honored to be
a part of it. For me, it means choosing the people who are going to help shape
you into the kind of leader you always aspired to be.”
Burleson, a 2014 Cienega High School graduate, has selected
to serve aboard USS Boxer. Burleson is majoring in Middle Eastern Studies while
attending the University of Arizona. Upon graduation, Burleson will receive a
commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Boxer as a surface warfare
officer.
Boxer is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship home-ported in San Diego.
“I’m looking forward to a change of scenery, and a chance to
hit the ground running with a division,” said Burleson. “I’m eager to
practically apply the years of training I’ve received here at the University of
Arizona, but also to continue to learn in a hands-on environment from my
leadership, my peers, and my sailors.”
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 believe I bring a sense of industriousness and energy,”
said Burleson. “I’m motivated and ready to learn and develop, and hope to bring
a sense of excitement for achievement and growth.”