NHHC hosts Focus Groups for New Museum

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Cory Asato | GREAT LAKES, Ill. (Oct. 25, 2022) – A focus group of Navy Military Training Instructors and Recruit Division Commanders share their insight and experiences with Navy Capt. (retired) James C. “Chris” Rentfrow, Ph. D., a former naval flight officer and National Museum (NMUSN) of the United States Navy Director, to a senior enlisted focus group at the National Museum of the American Sailor. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the Department of the Navy’s preferred location for NMUSN during an event Oct. 18 at the Washington Navy Yard, in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the service's 247th birthday. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Cory Asato/Released)  

GREAT LAKES, IL, UNITED STATES

10.25.2022

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Cory Asato 

Surface Combat Systems Training Command Great Lakes

GREAT LAKES, Ill. – Naval History and Heritage Command held focus groups at the National Museum of the American Sailor, Oct. 25, 2022.

Sailors and personnel assigned to Surface Combat Systems Training Command Great Lakes (SCSTC GL); Surface Warfare Engineering School Command Great Lakes; and Recruit Training Command Great Lakes participated in the focus groups targeting senior enlisted, instructor staff and accession Sailors.

“It’s important to me as a historian to capture voices from the deck plates,” said Navy Capt. (retired) James C. “Chris” Rentfrow, Ph. D., a former naval flight officer and National Museum of the United States Navy (NMUSN) Director.

Rentfrow asked a panel of questions including, but not limited to: What do you think future historian would write about this current period of U.S. naval history; and What aspects has aspect of enlisted service has changed and what has stayed the same through your service.

“There has been a huge improvement when it comes to mental health a lot more direction and a lot more help,” said Chief Fire Control Technician Joseph T. MacFarland, a Navy Military Training Instructor at SCSTC GL. “The opportunities for performance are definitely improving for identifying competence.”

More panel questions included: Considering your roles teaching Sailors naval traditions and values, what aspects of service are important to display in a museum; Why did you join and continue to serve; and Name one naval tradition or value that has become especially important to you.

“I consider it an honor to be selected to be a part of the building blocks for the largest national navy museum,” said Fire Control Technician 1st Class Brittany E. Geeck, a Navy Military Training Instructor at SCSTC GL. “It was intriguing to see how the developers are looking to present the navy’s history while also looking at today’s sailors. The questions were thought provoking and I’m looking forward to see what the final plan is for the museum with the inputs of current sailors.”

Rentfrow has facilitated multiple focus groups targeting various naval communities including aviation, surface, subsurface, expeditionary, and special warfare. Another focus group taking input diversity in the U.S. Navy is slated for December 2022.

“Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the Department of the Navy’s preferred location for a new (NMUSN) during an event Oct. 18 at the Washington Navy Yard, in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the service's 247th birthday,” according to an NHHC press release.

For more information on NHHC, visit: www.history.navy.mil

• Date Taken: 10.25.2022
• Date Posted: 10.27.2022 20:27
• Story ID: 432171
• Location: GREAT LAKES, IL, US