SAN DIEGO – Ensign Grant Tribble, a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, was inspired to join the Navy by her family and friends.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
“I always wanted to serve and I have some family members and close friends who served and they inspired me,” Tribble said.
Now, Tribble has the opportunity to learn leadership at the Basic Division Officer Course (BDOC), part of Surface Warfare Officers School San Diego.
“I’m able to travel, gaining experience, meeting new people from all different walks of life and getitng the opportunity to lead,” said Tribble.
BDOC is an intensive, 9-week course of instruction designed to provide foundational classroom training to prospective surface warfare officers.
Tribble credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Hagerstown.
“I learned to always look out for people you’re with and really work together,” Tribble said. “That's really important in the Navy because it's all about teamwork and working together toward a mutal goal.”
Tribble, a 2015 graduate of Saint James School, is training to become a surface warfare officer.
“You're a leader of a small group of people and your main focus is to manage people and help make sure that all the items they need to do their job are taken care of,” said Tribble.
The course places emphasis on classroom instruction and Conning Officer Virtual Environment (COVE) simulators, which simulate every class of ship in the U.S. Navy and all their homeports, in addition to many routine ports of call around the world. COVE reinforces concepts in navigation, seamanship, and shiphandling. BDOC also provides instruction on maritime warfare, divisional officer fundamentals, engineering, leadership and damage control.
The mission of Surface Warfare Officers School is to ready sea-bound warriors to serve on surface combatants as officers, enlisted engineers and enlisted navigation professionals to fulfill the Navy's mission maintaining global maritime superiority.
Once service members finish training they are deployed around the world putting their skill set to work aboard Navy ships, such as aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, amphibious warfare ships, mine warfare ships and littoral combat ships.
There are many sacrifices and goals one must achieve to be selected as a surface warfare officer and Tribble is most proud of being commissioned as an officer.
“It was graduating from college and going through the four years of the ROTC program,” Tribble said. “It was the culmination of everything I worked for during those four years.”
Surface warfare has been a part of world history for more than 3,000 years, and the United States has its stamp on that history with actions ranging from the American Revolution to modern day operations at sea around the world.
A key element of the Navy the Nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, according to Navy officials, and that the nation’s prosperity is tied to the ability to operate freely on the world’s oceans. More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; 80 percent of the world’s population lives close to a coast; and 90 percent of all global trade by volume travels by sea.
“Our priorities center on people, capabilities and processes, and will be achieved by our focus on speed, value, results and partnerships,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “Readiness, lethality and modernization are the requirements driving these priorities.”
As Tribble and other surface warriors continue to train, they take pride serving their country in the United States Navy.
“Serving in the Navy is a way to give back for all the privileges I had growing up,” said Tribble.