Et cetera : Atkins Midshipman participates in Navy Summer Cruise

By: Naval Service Training Command Public Affairs Atkins, Iowa native and Iowa State University Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Midshipman McKinley Spalding is participating in annual training this summer. Spalding is the son of Carolyn and Robert Spalding, of Atkins. The NROTC summer training includes Career Orientation and Training for Midshipmen (CORTRAMID) for third class midshipmen and Atlantic/Pacific Training of Midshipmen (LANTRAMID/PACTRAMID) for second and first class midshipmen. For Marine-option midshipmen and Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Educational Program (MECEP) enlisted Marines there is Marine week summer training held at the Marine Corps Bases at Camp Pendleton, California, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Marine-option second class midshipmen and third year MECEP enlisted Marines also attend Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. “NROTC has helped me realize what it takes to become an effective and capable leader, as well as how to be a better friend, classmate and co-worker,” said Spalding. Summer cruises present NROTC Midshipmen the opportunity after their sophomore and junior years of college to receive training for their future careers in the Navy. Midshipmen learn about the enlisted lifestyle and daily routine. They can also shadow an officer. Summer cruises familiarize midshipmen with the mission, tasks, and equipment within the various warfare areas; surface, subsurface, aviation, and Marine Corps. “I expect to be introduced to several of the warfare communities which I could potentially serve in,” said Spalding. “I hope to learn about the pros and cons of each community to form my preferences." Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans oversees the NROTC program as commander of Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois. NROTC was established to develop midshipmen mentally, morally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, loyalty and Navy core values in order to commission college graduates as naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the naval service and have a potential for future development in mind and character so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government. NSTC oversees 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy’s Citizenship Development program. NSTC includes Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy’s only boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes, NROTC at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command (OTC) at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide. For more information about NROTC, visit www.nrotc.navy.mil. For more information about NSTC, visit www.netc.navy.mil/nstc or visit the NSTC Facebook pages at www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining.