NRD NW Holds Training Aboard Lincoln

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) hosted Sailors from Naval Recruiting District (NRD) Portland for the district’s Biannual Recruiter In Charge (RINC) Conference April 9-13. The conference provided recruiters from the region with an opportunity to meet and discuss important issues facing their community, as well as to receive training and meet other recruiters from the district.

“This represents an opportunity to get all my frontline supervisors from five states together and have them interact and share ideas,” said NRD Portland’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Caroline Nielson. “It also provides training from outside sources so that they [the RINCs] aren’t always hearing the same things from the same people.” Chief Navy Counselor Steve Schaljo said that about 40 Sailors, including RINCs, supervising officers and guest lecturers attended the conference which was held in Lincoln’s squadron ready rooms. In addition to a busy training schedule, recruiters received briefings and tours of the ship’s major systems by members of Lincoln’s crew. Lincoln is currently undergoing a Dry-dock Planned Incremental Availability at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton.

“Holding the conference here on the Lincoln allows us to provide a sort of training environment for the recruiters who haven’t been on a ship in a while or even at all,” Schaljo said. “It also helps to remind us of the sacrifices being made by Sailors here in the fleet.” Because Lincoln was conducting operations in a simulated underway environment while moored, personnel at the conference got an up-close look at the way a ship functions while at sea. “For some of the folks here who haven’t been to sea, there’s a lot of learning going on,” said Engineman 2nd Class (SW) Scott Borden, a recruiter stationed in Elko, Nev. “Things like the man overboard drill that we observed this morning are great to experience because they allow us to better inform our prospective Sailors.” During their time aboard Lincoln, Sailors from NRD Portland conducted training on the Delayed Entry Program, leadership, personal accountability, Reserve Officer Training Corps opportunities, and coaching skills as well as an introduction to Navy recruiting’s new Production Analysis and Training Evaluation (PATE) program.

“Basically what PATE does is it provides a way for us to analyze how much time we spend prospecting in order to get the number of contract signers that we need,” said Navy Counselor 1st Class (SW) Jeycee Killian, stationed at Vancouver, Wash. “It lets us better focus our efforts and our time and build a better plan for our stations.” Sailors from NRD Portland also took advantage of their time in Bremerton to participate in team-building exercises, including a group bowling excursion designed to introduce Sailors to one another who had often worked together via phone and e-mail, but who had never met face-to-face.

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class James R. Evans, USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs