Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Gabriela Chambers | 200209-N-DH793-3032 ARABIAN SEA (Feb. 9, 2020) Sailors row during a row-a-thon...... read more read more
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ARABIAN SEA – Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) won February’s Concept 2 Military Challenge.
The month-long challenge, which consisted of 168 military and veteran teams from all over the world, put teams to the test to see who could row the most distance. Team Truman had 490 participating Sailors, who put the ship’s Morale, Welfare, and Recreation equipment to work and rowed a total of 19,766,726 meters during the competition.
This year there were 47 service branches that participated, to include the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines and branches from 18 other countries.
Cmdr. John Anderson, Truman’s command chaplain, served as the team captain.
“I’m just thankful for everyone’s support,” said Anderson. “We had rowers who were dedicated. They rowed just about every day.”
According to Anderson, teams in past competitions were made up of multiple units.
“Truman beat everybody,” said Anderson. “I didn’t want to row as part of a sub-group. I wanted us to be a team to beat other people, so we organized our own affiliation. We went into the challenge with the goal to beat every other team as our own unit, and we did it. We are the first active duty unit to do that."
One hundred and fifty of Truman’s rowers achieved more than 50,000 meters, and 17 rowers each contributed more than 200,000 meters, according to Anderson.
Anderson said if the rowed meters were converted to nautical miles sailed and ship’s speed, Team Truman travelled 10,673 nautical miles at a speed of 15 knots for the month of February.
“489 teammates of mine all contributed to that incredible total,” said Anderson.
Among them was Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Danielle Brandt, one of Truman’s substance abuse counsellors and Team Truman’s top rower, who totaled more than 500,000 meters.
“It’s a great feeling, and it was a good goal to keep me motivated this month before we pulled into Duqm, Oman, for a port visit,” said Brandt.
Brandt said she incorporated a strategy from her experience as a substance abuse counsellor to achieve her goal of more than half a million meters.
“I broke it down into measurable, small goals,” said Brandt. “We call it SMART goals.”
SMART is an acronym which assists in formulating goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. According to Brandt, the SMART goals strategy is used regularly in her line of work.
Brandt said she set daily goals for herself to achieve her end goal.
“The most I rowed in a day was about 65,000 meters, which took a total of seven hours over the course of the day,” said Brandt.
According to Brandt, having goals like this can also help personally and professionally.
“Having a goal to work toward makes the deployment go faster,” said Brandt. “I just think it’s important for people to continue to have personal goals.”
The month-long competition was the first of its kind for Team Truman, as it was made up of exclusively military teams. Although the team had participated in challenges organized by the company in the past, this was their first military-only challenge.
Whether on the flight deck, in the hangar bay, or below decks, Team Truman managed to row to victory while deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.
“I knew we were going to win it,” said Anderson. “That’s why I entered us in the challenge. I mean, that’s just the way the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike group is. We want to be the best at everything.”
The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points.
Disclaimer: Participation by Truman Sailors was completely voluntary and in their personal capacity. Their involvement in the competition does not necessarily represent an endorsement by the Department of Defense and its components.
For more news from Truman, visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn75/, www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.
| Date Taken: | 03.09.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 03.09.2020 14:20 |
| Story ID: | 364810 |
| Location: | ARABIAN SEA |
| Web Views: | 498 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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