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NSTC Hosts NROTC PNS Conference

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS080113-01
Release Date: 1/13/2008 2:55:00 PM

By Scott A. Thornbloom, Naval Service Training Command Public Affairs

GREAT LAKES, Ill. (NNS) -- The commander of Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), Rear Adm. Arnold O. Lotring, welcomed Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Professors of Naval Science (PNS) and Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) area managers to Naval Station Great Lakes, Jan. 8.

The two groups were on the base holding their annual week-long conference. The two conferences for NROTC and NJROTC were timed to be held in conjunction so they could discuss key issues that affect both groups.

In welcoming the participants, Lotring, the flag officer in charge of both programs, talked about where he and the Navy would like to see each organization progress and grow in the future.

He talked about current successes and being more successful in areas such as, diversity, communication, connectivity, manning and training opportunities.

"We need to keep thinking how we can make better officers now and in the future. This conference is designed to continue to open and expand the lines of communication between my staff and all of you," Lotring told the senior Navy and Marine officers.

"What can I do to help you and what can you do to develop officers that will keep up with the changing technological times?" asked Lotring.

The Chief of Naval Personnel, Vice Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., also addressed the conference members providing a view on current and future personnel initiatives.

The 64 Professors of Naval Science are the commanding officers of the various NROTC units. Also attending the conference were officers in charge of Maritime Colleges with Departments of Naval Science (maritime colleges). The 64 NROTC units represent more than 100 universities and colleges across the nation.

NSTC's director of officer development, Dr. C.J. Stein, called the annual conference a wonderful opportunity to improve the present programs and update current directives and briefs.

"Having the conference here at Great Lakes also allows the PNS members an excellent opportunity to meet and talk with Rear Adm. Lotring and to share ideas with each other," said Stein. "The members also get a chance to see recruits graduate at Recruit Training Command and see how enlisted Sailors are being trained."

Stein also said the members were offered the opportunity to visit RTC and the Navy's latest state-of-the-art simulator, USS Trayer (BST 21), a 210-foot-long mock up of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer or training ship housed inside the USS Iowa complex.

"Many of the members have never seen Trayer or Battle Stations 21," Stein said.

Battle Stations began in 1997 as a culmination of basic training. The event signifies the rite of passage for a recruit from civilian to Sailor. Trayer is the latest and final tool in training recruits as they make their transitional journey.

In addition to visiting Trayer, PNS members discussed numerous topics from communication to connectivity, increasing visibility and citizen development, instructor manning and increasing training opportunities. Stein said diversity was another big topic.

"We are very aware of improving the diversity of our officer corps and producing officers that reflect America," Stein said. "We also are continuing to look at ways to increase the number of officers in the Marine Corps, finding ways to commission officers with technical degrees in science and engineering and to mentor and steer candidates toward these types of degrees."

There are approximately 4,000 midshipmen currently in the NROTC program with another 2,500 students in related scholarship programs. The conference this week was geared toward the current midshipmen and to future candidates. Besides the typical conferences of the past, the conference also hoped to increase collaboration between the various units and NSTC here at Great Lakes.

The NROTC Program was established to educate and train qualified young men and women for service as commissioned officers in the unrestricted line Naval Reserve or Marine Corps Reserve. As the largest single source of Navy and Marine Corps officers, the NROTC Scholarship Program fills a vital need in preparing mature young men and women for leadership and management positions in an increasingly technical Navy and Marine Corps.

For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/greatlakes/.