GREAT LAKES, Ill. –
U.S. Sixth Fleet (C6F) Command Master Chief Johannes Gonzalez toured Training Support Center (TSC), Surface Warfare Officer School Unit (SWOSU) and Center for Surface Combat Systems Unit (CSCSU) Great Lakes, Oct. 23, 2019.
The tour began at the Galley’s Windy City Café, where Gonzalez enjoyed lunch with the Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions (CSADD). The program is geared toward Sailors E5 and below, between ages 18 to 25. They promote positive choices and develop leadership through organizing local social networks, facilitating discussion, producing visual messages, promoting community involvement and hosting recreational events.
Next, he visited TSC Great Lakes student indoctrination’s Life Skills training. Sailors arriving on board from boot camp attend the training before any rate-specific courses. Subjects taught in the course cover sexual assault intervention, military pay and entitlements, healthy relationships, navigating stress, operations security, banking and financial management service, and responsible alcohol use.
At Surface Warfare Officers School Unit (SWOSU) Great Lakes, Gonzalez was shown the training facilities of Basic Engineering Common Core (BECC).
“We were proud to showcase how SWOSU Great Lakes trains students for the Fleet,” said SWOSU Great Lakes Senior Enlisted Advisor Senior Chief Machinist’s Mate William Nesbit. “He was able to see the technology we use in our classrooms and labs and most importantly, they saw the professionalism and pride our instructors’ project every day to make sure the students receive the training they need to be successful.”
BECC balances Computer Based Training with hands-on labs, instructor-led classroom training with realistic simulations creating an Integrated Learning Environment. They also visited the SICLOS Lab, Purifier Lab, and LPD 17 Maintainer Course, where students gain knowledge and skills to maintain engineering control systems in the fleet.
CSCSU Great Lakes Operations Specialist “A” School instructors walked Gonzalez through the new Ready, Relevant Learning (RRL) modernization of Ships Self Defense System (SSDS) and the Voyage Management System (VMS) lab.
“It was a great opportunity today to show how we better prepare our students and support the Fleet," CSCSU Great Lakes Senior Enlisted Leader Senior Chief Fire Controlman Aegis Chris Perras. "The VMS lab allows us to have a dedicated space for the training of our operations specialists and it was vital in implementing the OS RRL curriculum. The time put in to ensure our junior Sailors receive the highest caliber of training shows the professionalism, excellence, and pride that CSCSU takes in supporting our mission: To develop and deliver surface ship combat systems training to achieve surface warfare superiority.”
Gonzalez was impressed by the professionalism of the instructors training Sailors for the fleet.
“I think the most important thing that I’m seeing is the way that we are truly developing enlisted at a fast rate but most importantly through the input from deck plate leaders at all levels,” Gonzalez said. “Just to be able to observe a second petty officer take a brand new Sailor and leading in the training is exciting to see. It really signifies from the deck plates, for the deck plates, I really like that piece.”
C6F, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.
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