SAN DIEGO – Ensign Aaron Smith, a native of Port Ludlow, Washington, wanted to join the Navy due to a long history of family in the Navy.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown |
Now, four months later, Smith has the opportunity to learn leadership at the Basic Division Officer Course (BDOC), part of Surface Warfare Officers School San Diego.
“The connections with my colleagues and instructors in BDOC is a great opportunity, as well as learning the fundamentals of being a Navy professional,” said Smith.
BDOC is an intensive, nine week course of instruction designed to provide foundational classroom training to prospective surface warfare officers.
Smith credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Port Ludlow.
“Humility, community, enthusiasum with participation in Boy Scouts and being senior class president really helped to set me up for leadership roles and responsibility in the Navy,” said Smith.
Smith, a 2015 graduate of Bellevue, is training to become a surface warfare officer.
“I’m eventually going to be a sonar division officer, in charge of sonar technicians responsible for tracking undersea contacts,” said Smith.
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 Smith is most proud of changing the physical readiness policy at the Naval Academy.
“I think that everyone has the ability to grow stronger together and to help everyone to cross the finish line," said Smith. "Everyone has the ability to succeed with the help of their peers.”
“The connections with my colleagues and instructors in BDOC is a great opportunity, as well as learning the fundamentals of being a Navy professional,” said Smith.
BDOC is an intensive, nine week course of instruction designed to provide foundational classroom training to prospective surface warfare officers.
Smith credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Port Ludlow.
“Humility, community, enthusiasum with participation in Boy Scouts and being senior class president really helped to set me up for leadership roles and responsibility in the Navy,” said Smith.
Smith, a 2015 graduate of Bellevue, is training to become a surface warfare officer.
“I’m eventually going to be a sonar division officer, in charge of sonar technicians responsible for tracking undersea contacts,” said Smith.
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 Smith is most proud of changing the physical readiness policy at the Naval Academy.
“I think that everyone has the ability to grow stronger together and to help everyone to cross the finish line," said Smith. "Everyone has the ability to succeed with the help of their peers.”
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 Smith and other surface warriors continue to train, they take pride serving their country in the United States Navy.
“Serving in the Navy means I get the chance to develop others and as a consequence, develop myself,” said Smith.