Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Zachary S Eshleman | 190626-N-VS214-0053 MILLINGTON, Tenn. (June 28, 2019) Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class...... read more read more
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Story by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zachary S. Eshleman
MILLINGTON, Tenn. (June 28, 2019) – Living among the residents of Bartlett, Tennessee, Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Curtis Beeler may not appear out of place. However, for those who decide to enter the Navy recruiting station of Chiles Plaza, a firm, callused handshake and the crossed anchors tattooed on his forearm may offer a clue there’s more to this man than meets the eye.
Just a year and a half ago, those hands were grasping the metal helm of an 11-meter jet powered boat off the coast of Hawaii. He was speeding and skipping over the waves as USS Halsey’s (DDG 97) visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) coxswain. As he approached a ship, he performed a horseshoe maneuver, and came along the port side, holding his boat against the hull of the much larger ship as his team disembarked on a swinging cable ladder; their safety depended on his abilities.
His current surroundings might be a far cry from his time in the fleet, but he doesn’t see it as any less important. “I’ll never be a recruiter who’s just shooting for the best numbers and awards,” he said, “I take pride in providing the best customer service and mentorship I can. I know that really can make a difference for these applicants.”
Beeler says he can empathize with Future Sailors facing obstacles in joining the Navy because of his own experience when he joined. He was 24 years old, and says he was in limbo. He was working at a landscaping company, and he enjoyed that type of work, but he knew he couldn’t do it forever. He says he was still trying to figure out what he wanted when his cousin planted an idea in his head.
His cousin had been a U.S. Army ranger, but he told Beeler if he could go back and do it again, he would’ve tried for the Navy’s warrior challenge program and become a Navy SEAL. This stuck with him, and after researching and watching videos on the training and what it was like to be in, he nervously entered the recruiting station in his hometown Knoxville, Tennessee.
Having been out of school for six years, he decided to go back and study some subjects he had not used in a long time, before he could do well on the armed services vocational aptitude battery (ASVAB) test. The ASVAB is an academic test used to determine what job an applicant might do best at in the Navy.
He ended up scoring well above average and, after training for about six months, he passed the physical fitness requirements and earned a special warfare operator contract and shipped off to basic training.
However, after passing boot camp and the initial portions of the Navy pipeline, he didn’t make the cut for Navy SEALs. Approximately 80 percent of recruits who attempt the SEAL program don’t make it in. After that, he was put into a temporary hold to consider what other job he would want to do. “That time was one of my lowest points,” he said, “and afterward, I knew I wanted to stay as close to that side of the Navy [special warfare community] as possible.”
He said he didn’t want anything available at the time, so he went into the professional apprenticeship career track (PACT) seaman program. This is a program which allowed him to work on a ship without choosing a job and decide later what he wanted to do. He was sent to the USS Peleliu (LHA 5) in San Diego, and while working in deck department, he loved the hands-on nature of his job, and he choose to take on one of the oldest jobs in the Navy, a boatswain’s mate.
Peleliu was decommissioned while he was aboard, so he was sent to Halsey in Pearl Harbor. He says he fell in love with the job aboard Peleliu, but he learned and perfected his job skills aboard Halsey.
He advanced quickly in his new rating, and pursued a variety of qualifications, from the flight deck to damage control. However, he says his favorite is the coxswain qualification, which allows him to drive the ship’s small boats.
“I love driving the boats because it’s as close to nature as you can get, and you can really feel the power of the ocean below you,” Beeler said, “I have an enormous amount of respect for it.”
After his tour in Hawaii, he went to recruiting duty. “Being from Knoxville, I wanted to be able to spend a little bit of time close to home,” he said. “I have some nieces and nephews that are really young, and it’s a nice opportunity to see family I haven’t been able to visit before this.”He also used it as a chance to set himself up for the future, and decided to buy a house in the suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee, which he says the time at home, and incentive pay recruiting gave him, helped him do.
“Recruiting is a rollercoaster,” he said, “I’ve been doing it for around eight months now and it was tough at first, but now I really like it, especially when I can help the applicants who have to work for it.”
Beeler also says he’s excited to go back out to a ship again and take what he learned in recruiting with him. He has also advanced in rank since being on shore duty. Navy Recruiting Command’s advancement percentages are typically higher than the fleet average.
“One of the main things I’ll take with me from this experience is communication skills,” he said, “I’ve gotten much better at listening to someone and figuring out their strengths and weaknesses, and now I can figure out how I can best help them.”
He feels like he has come full circle from when he nervously entered a recruiting station just seven years ago. Now sitting confidently on the other side, he is able to help others get the same fulfillment and adventure the Navy has given him.
NRC consists of a command headquarters, three Navy Recruiting Regions, 18 Navy Recruiting Districts and eight Navy Talent Acquisition Groups that serve more than 1,330 recruiting stations around the world. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to ensure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
For more news from Commander, NRC, visit http://www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NavyRecruiting), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 06.28.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 06.28.2019 15:24 |
| Story ID: | 329688 |
| Location: | MILLINGTON, TN, US |
| Web Views: | 340 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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