Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Alexa Trafton | NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain (April 29, 2017) Lt. Brooks Sanderson, from Pensacola,...... read more read more
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain (April 29, 2017) Seabees received a brief from an officer within the command on the Navy’s Seaman to Admiral (STA-21) commissioning program at Camp Mitchell on board Naval Station Rota, Spain, on April 29, 2017.
Lt. Brooks Sanderson, Alfa Company department head, briefed more than 20 Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 on how STA-21 provides the enlisted Sailors an opportunity to transition into the officer ranks.
There are several avenues that perspective candidates of the program can follow this year, including Naval Flight Officer, Pilot, Surface Warfare Officer, Special Warfare, Explosive Ordinance Disposal, Civil Engineer Corps, and Nurse Corps options.
Sailors selected to the STA-21 program remain on active duty while attending college, and they benefit from an education voucher valued at up to $10,000 per year to cover tuition, fees, and book costs. Sailors will still remain eligible for advancement, and will continue to receive their basic pay and basic allowance for housing.
According to Sanderson; a Pensacola, Florida native and officer that was commissioned from a similar program, the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP), he considered the opportunity to brief the enlisted Sailors on the STA-21 program as an important duty. Sanderson discussed thoroughly all of the options available, answered any questions that Sailors had, and explained his own experiences with going from enlisted to officer, and what it meant to him.
“While enlisted, I didn’t know about any of the opportunities available to me. I overheard about MECEP because someone was talking about it. I did my research and decided to apply. It was the best choice I could have made for myself and my career,” said Sanderson. “It is important that we let our Sailors know as much as possible about these types of opportunities, and I felt responsible to help. I’ve been on the other side of the fence. I know how it is.”
For 20 Sailors in attendance, each had different interests in the program, and for those who didn’t know what STA-21 had to offer beforehand, it presented new possibilities.
“I was in school prior to joining the military and I thought my only options to finish my degree were Tuition Assistance and The Post-9/11 GI Bill,” said Steelworker Constructionman Mason Hannah, from Lansing, Michigan. “Learning about STA-21 made me realize that I can finish my degree with even more opportunities to succeed and better myself.”
After the brief, Hannah decided to begin the process of applying to the program while other members of the audience attended the brief to gain further knowledge to pass on to junior Sailors.
“It is important for junior Sailors to hear this brief so that they know what options they have available to them in their Naval career,” said Gunners Mate 1st Class Richard Tipps, from Avery, Texas, who also attended the brief. “It is a way for them to reach out and achieve a level of success that they may not have previously known was possible. The STA-21 program is the Navy's response to those who have ever said, ‘If only I were in charge, I would change things’.”
| Date Taken: | 04.29.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2017 09:30 |
| Story ID: | 232535 |
| Location: | ROTA, ES |
| Hometown: | AVERY, TX, US |
| Hometown: | LANSING, MI, US |
| Hometown: | PENSACOLA, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 291 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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