NCR YN STANDDOWN

 

    In 2009, YN1 Jesse Mitchell (now YNC) began sending out weekly training emails to the JCS, SECNAV, and OPNAV YNs which consisted of 5 questions and answers were due back to him on the following Monday.  These questions soon filtered out fleet-wide.

 

    These questions became noticed by senior leadership and YNCS Jamey Murphy met with YN1 Mitchell to lay out a plan to evolve the five question email to a full scaled "OPNAV" YN Training Stand Down.  YN1 Mitchell came to me to discuss the plan and I engaged with YNCS Murphy.  Together we tweaked the plan and scheduled to have our first standdown in August 2010 in preparation for the September 2010 exam.

 

    As you can imagine, attendance was minimal and some of the presentations were "ok" at best.  YNCS Murphy and I then went back to the table and recruited who we considered to be the "best of the best" facilitators and began preparation for the March 2011 exam.  This standdown gained more interest and participation which resulted in the overall increase in advancements and increased test scores as well.  News quickly spread on how good the training was and the impact it had on those who were in attendance.  Soon after these sessions grew from having just two session that focused on the E4-E6 exams to doing three session adding the CPO exam.  With the increase in sessions and the overall improvement of the training, participation rapidly grew and we were not only housing JCS/SECNAV/OPNAV Sailors, but we also had Sailors driving in from Norfolk, New York, Maine, Pennsylvania as well as VTC sites from Japan, Hawaii, San Diego, Florida, etc...

 

    We are extremely happy to see how well this training has evolved, and it's all due to those who pour their hearts and souls into facilitating lessons just as well as those who are in attendance and provide critical critiques that affords us the opportunity to improve our weak areas.  I know many who have just as many years of service as I do share the same feelings when I say that I wish we had something remotely close to this type of training when I was coming up the ranks.

 

- YNCM(SW) John D. Perez, Standdown Pioneer 

 

 

 

 

    I would give credit to the CDBs that OPNAV was holding for their Sailors; the idea to do the standdown started from a CDB.  Which is why it is critical that all participate and utilize them to grow our Sailors.  I had two YNCMs look at me directly in the eyes and ask what was I as a YNC (at the time) doing to impact the YNs in the area...  I found out about YN1 Mitchell (as YNCM said, now YNC) and the rest is history.

 

    The other key take-away (aside from the training) is the peer-to-peer mentorship and peer-to-peer support that you can see through this program.  As YNCM mentioned, he assisted in tweaking the plan and co-founded/co-led the program.   As peers (YNCs at the time) we were able to bounce ideas off of each other and back each other up in ensuring the best possible outcome for our Sailors.

 

    Anyway, so glad to see this program continues, and looking forward to seeing how you increase, improve, and take it to the next level.

 

- YNCS(SW) John J. "Jamey" Murphy, Standdown Pioneer