SAN DIEGO – Ensign Alexander Hennie-Roed, a native of Newnan, Georgia, wanted to be part of something bigger than himself.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
Now, four months later, Hennie-Roed has the opportunity to learn leadership at the Basic Division Officer Course (BDOC), part of Surface Warfare Officers School San Diego.
“The course is giving me a lot of information; being a division officer, driving a ship and learning more specific information than we get anywhere else,” said Hennie-Roed.
BDOC is an intensive, nine week course of instruction designed to provide foundational classroom training to prospective surface warfare officers.
Hennie-Roed credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Newnan.
“I learned to keep learning lots, get smart, work hard and have fun,” said Hennie-Roed.
Hennie-Roed, a 2015 graduate of Our Lady of Mercy High School, is training to become a surface warfare officer.
“I’m going to be a division officer, in charge of sailors and various administrative aspects of a division on a ship,” said Hennie-Roed.
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 Hennie-Roed is most proud of commissioning after four years of training at Georgia Tech University’s Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps.
“Now I get to start my career as a Naval officer and apply everything that I have learned,” said Hennie-Roed.
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.”
“The course is giving me a lot of information; being a division officer, driving a ship and learning more specific information than we get anywhere else,” said Hennie-Roed.
BDOC is an intensive, nine week course of instruction designed to provide foundational classroom training to prospective surface warfare officers.
Hennie-Roed credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Newnan.
“I learned to keep learning lots, get smart, work hard and have fun,” said Hennie-Roed.
Hennie-Roed, a 2015 graduate of Our Lady of Mercy High School, is training to become a surface warfare officer.
“I’m going to be a division officer, in charge of sailors and various administrative aspects of a division on a ship,” said Hennie-Roed.
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 Hennie-Roed is most proud of commissioning after four years of training at Georgia Tech University’s Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps.
“Now I get to start my career as a Naval officer and apply everything that I have learned,” said Hennie-Roed.
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 Hennie-Roed and other surface warriors continue to train, they take pride serving their country in the United States Navy.
“Serving in the Navy gives me an opportunity in some way, small or big, to defend the freedoms that have allowed me to enjoy my life thus far and continue to defend our freedom,” said Hennie-Roed.