From Navy Office of Community Outreach
(MILLINGTON, Tenn.) – Navy Midshipman Alexander Clark from Bethesda, Maryland, participated in the 2020 spring Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) ship selection draft as a future member of the Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) community.
More than 270 midshipmen from NROTC units around the country chose to serve as surface warfare officers. Each selecting midshipmen are ranked according to their grade point average, aptitude scores and physical fitness.
“NROTC has provided me with the tools and mentorship necessary to develop both my professional expertise and my personal leadership style,” said Clark. “It has also provided me with friends I will encounter during my naval career and value for the rest of my life.”
According to their rankings, each midshipman provided a 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.
“I am looking forward to applying the knowledge, skills, and leadership capability I gained from NROTC during my time at my first ship,” said Clark. “I am also looking forward to deploying and traveling to ports I have never been before.”
Clark, a 2015 Walt Whitman High School graduate has selected to serve aboard USS Mesa Verde. Clark is majoring in materials science and engineering while attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Upon graduation, Clark will receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Mesa Verde as a surface warfare officer.
Mesa Verde is an amphibious dock ship designed to transport Marines and their equipment. The ship is currently homeported in Norfolk, Virginia.
“I intend to be a trustworthy, reliable and efficient leader of sailors as a junior officer and beyond,” said Clark. “I am thorough and punctual when completing tasks and will expect the same from my division. I am amicable and look forward to developing lasting personal and professional relationships.”
With more than 90 percent of all trade traveling by sea, and 95 percent of the world’s international phone and internet traffic carried through fiber optic cables lying on the ocean floor, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity and security of the United States is directly linked to a strong and ready Navy
The midshipmen’s ship selection is not only a major personal milestone but also an important day for the ships in the fleet. Not only do the midshipmen choose where they are going to start their Navy career, but the ship they choose will also gain a motivated, eager, young officer to help lead and improve an already great team, according to Navy officials.
"NROTC prepares our future Surface Warfare Officers with a foundation in leadership and ethics as well as basic training in five warfighting competencies; Firefighting, Damage Control, Seamanship, Watchstanding and Small Arms Handling and Marksmanship, all essential skills on a ship," said Rear Adm. Jamie Sands, Commander, Naval Service Training Command, which includes the NROTC Program. "I am enormously proud of our graduating midshipman for completing this demanding program, and look forward to them joining the fleet."
As a member of the U.S. Navy, Clark, as well as others at the command, know they are a part of a service tradition providing unforgettable experiences through leadership development, world affairs and humanitarian assistance. Their efforts will have a lasting effect around the globe and for generations of sailors who will follow.
“SWO ship selection is the first step on my path as a junior officer and will determine the setting of my post-graduate life,” said Clark. “It is an opportunity for me to meet new people, travel and apply the training I have spent four years developing.”Bethesda Native Selects to Serve Aboard USS Mesa Verde