Courtesy Photo | LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (Aug. 25, 2020) Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Brittany Wenzel is...... read more read more
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Story by Electrician’s Mate (Nuclear) 1st Class Adam Glover
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. - With a bright smile and slight twang, Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Brittany Wenzel is just as comfortable talking with a future sailor as she is manning the helm of a destroyer. In her Navy career she has shown that no matter what environment she’s in, she will adapt and overcome.
Wenzel was born in Mission Viejo, California, but her family moved to Idaho when she was young. She grew up, by her own account, as a big-time sports freak.
“All I cared about was softball. I even received a softball scholarship to College of Idaho as a second baseman,” she explained. “I began studying kinesiology and realized the importance of education, but I left college before I finished.”
She got a job at a local grocery store, and she began to look at ways to continue her education. Her brother, a damage controlman in the Coast Guard, recommended she look at the military.
“I originally planned on going into the reserves,” Wenzel said. “When I was talking to the classifier at MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), and they explained the benefits of going active, I switched my plans and went active as a boatswains mate.”
Following boot camp and “A” school, she reported to USS Roosevelt (DDG-80), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer based in Mayport, Florida, where she quickly qualified as master helmsman and found her calling cutting through the waves.
“I was qualified as a coxswain and on the other watch stations, but the hel¬m was my favorite place to be,” she recalled.
After reenlisting, she originally accepted orders to upstate New York to work as a classifier, but she had different plans for herself.
“I wanted to try and be closer to New York City, so I could be near friends,” Wenzel said. “I traded orders to become a talent scout in Long Island.”
When she showed up to Navy Recruiting District (NRD) New York in December 2019, Wenzel was assigned to Hicksville on Long Island, and for the first few months, she underwent training with some of the top performers in her district.
“Petty Officer Goldman, who runs the Hicksville office, taught me how to get out on the streets,” Wenzel said. “She took me to all the local high schools, and the popular areas and helped me learn how to really engage with people.”
For the virtual side of recruiting, she turned to another recruiter: Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Daniel Montalvo.
“Social media prospecting is the future, and Petty Officer Montalvo had it down,” said Wenzel. “I knew nothing about social media, but he took the time to show me how it’s done. I learned how to get the most interactions in apps like Snapchat and Instagram, and how to contact those who viewed my posts often. That was how I was able to start a lot of conversations that turned into interviews that turned into people joining the Navy.”
Taking what she learned from these new mentors, Wenzel added her own spin to help create new leads from an unusual source. The strength of this recruiting foundation was put to good use when the recent coronavirus outbreak hit New York City, forcing recruiters to work 100% virtually.
“I hated working from home,” said Wenzel. “I need to be in the office in order to get in the right mindset. So I would phone power the leads list, talk to people on social media, all so I could set up interviews and go into the office.”
Thanks to her preparations, Wenzel’s progress didn’t slow down, and she received multiple awards, including NRD New York Recruiter of the Month, Recruiter of the Quarter and Top Dog of Division One.
Despite the success, she never loses track of her reason for being a recruiter.
“I am shaping the futures and careers of those who come into my office,” Wenzel said. “I take this responsibility seriously and with great passion.”
Navy Recruiting District New York covers 7,700 square miles and includes New York City’s five boroughs, Long Island and the northern half of New Jersey.
At the end of this year, Navy Recruiting Command will consist of a command headquarters, three Navy Recruiting Regions, 26 NTAGs and 64 Talent Acquisition Onboarding Centers (TAOCs) that will serve more than 1,000 recruiting stations around the world. Their mission is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, go to http://www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NavyRecruiting), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 10.16.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.16.2020 15:01 |
| Story ID: | 381100 |
| Location: | LONG ISLAND, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 628 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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