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GREAT LAKES (NNS) -- When it comes to training Sailors, not everyone involved wears a uniform, as proven by the civilians who work behind the scenes in the administration department at Recruit Training Command (RTC).
With more than 1,200 personnel onboard and an average of 38,000 recruits graduating annually from the Navy's only boot camp, the administration department is responsible for all the administrative duties within the command. This department takes care of official correspondence, personnel records, and directives.
Helping to ensure that everything continually runs smoothly within the department is Human Resource Assistant Supervisor Jill Finley, who first began working at RTC in 1980, right out of high school. She has been with the admin department since 2000, and oversees four staff members who handle a tremendous amount of paperwork on a daily basis.
"We are responsible for anything having to do with the staff members. Everything from all correspondence, statements of service, staff awards, records, special letters of appreciation, directives, staff transfer and even select recruit screening. Everything goes through this office," said Finley. "We had 3,530 recruit screenings last year, which lets the command know that they are qualified to transfer for wherever they are headed after boot camp."
Each morning, the first thing Finley tackles are incoming messages regarding recruit or staff orders and screenings. On a daily basis, there are about 400 such messages awaiting the department, a process which takes hours to complete as each one must be meticulously reviewed.
Assisting in this tedious process is Jymmea Tungate, recruit screening coordinator.
"I can receive two to 100 recruit screenings in any given day and will do whatever it takes to ensure the recruit division commanders (RDC) receive this paperwork within 24 hours," said Tungate. "Tracking recruits requires daily contact with RDCs, medical, dental, and Bldg. 1405 transfers via emails and/or phone calls."
With a constant flow of staff arrivals and departures from the command, the admin department handles all the necessary paperwork and files for staff and their dependents. This includes tracking, file ticklers, logging each folder that comes into the office, and for anyone going overseas, once they receive orders and have dependent entry approval, that message must be approved through admin before they go.
"Everything goes through this office. We tell all newcomers, come to us for anything, that's why we're here," said Finley, who stays organized through a color coding system. "Every folder that comes in here gets logged and it has to be tracked, no matter who it originated from and where it's going."
Finley recalls a few years ago when all federal civilian employees were furloughed for less than a week, and Navy personnel helped to fill in and handle the heavy workload. They stepped up and were a big help, but it was clear what a huge impact the civilian admin team had on the recruit training process.
"Jill Finley and her superstar team do more for Recruit Training Command than most realize because it all seems pretty effortless. But there is a colossal amount of behind-the-scenes coordination done, and RTC owes it to the admin division," said Glenn Mowder, admin/personnel officer.
When it comes to personnel awards for the military members, the admin has earned high praises for producing swift results. Members who need an award posted on their record may request so through Nanette Slavin, awards coordinator, who promptly handles the task to ensure it does get in their record.
"We had one member say, 'Thank you. It's taken me years to do this and I just got here and it was done within a couple of weeks!' People are amazed," said Finley. "We treat them how you would want to be treated. It doesn't matter if they're an E1, an E9, an officer. It doesn't matter. If somebody comes to the counter, they need help because they don't know the answer. That's why we're here."
To help ensure the entire office continues to run smoothly, co-workers train one another so they may know how to do each other's job tasks.
"Team Admin is exactly that; a team! Everyone in the office backs each other up. Whether it is looking up information for a staff member, distributing correspondence, fielding phone calls or processing recruit screenings, we always give 100 percent to our customers," said Tungate. "If a staff member calls to say they want to drop some paperwork off and it's the end of the day, we will wait for them."
For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.
For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/rtc/.
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2018 09:10 |
| Story ID: | 293871 |
| Location: | NORTH CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Sailors Making Sailors: RTC's Civilian Admin Team Always Ready, by Susan Martin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
