NETC Commander visits CPPD

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- Naval Education and Training Command's (NETC) new commander visited the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) March 8 as part of a familiarization tour.

Rear Adm. Donald Quinn assumed command of NETC Jan. 30 and toured CPPD as part of a three-day visit to Hampton Roads-area learning centers and sites reporting to NETC. During the tour, Quinn was briefed by CPPD Commanding Officer Capt. Chuck Hollingsworth and his staff members, who spoke about how CPPD's wide range of products and services touch every Sailor in multiple ways throughout his or her career.

"We're very proud of CPPD's commitment to developing Sailors who are strong in moral courage, exemplify Navy core values, and embody equal opportunity, as well as personal and professional accountability," said Hollingsworth. "We deeply believe in the importance of helping Sailors succeed, and we're grateful for the opportunity to showcase our work and the amazing people who make it happen."

The tour included stops at the Training directorate, which creates, maintains and has oversight for personal and professional course curricula; the Voluntary Education (VOLED) directorate, which is responsible for the Navy's VOLED program; and VOLED's Virtual Education Center (VEC), which provides virtual education assistance and counseling to Sailors and veterans.

CPPD is responsible for providing a wide range of personal and professional development courses and materials, including General Military Training, Navy instructor training, alcohol and drug awareness program training, suicide prevention, Bearings classes, and Personal Responsibility and Values Education and Training classes. CPPD's leadership training is delivered multiple times throughout a Sailor's career via command-delivered enlisted leadership training material and officer leadership courses in a schoolhouse setting. It also coordinates production of the annual Naval Leader Planning Guide and manages the United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP), which offers Sailors the opportunity to earn civilian apprenticeship certificates.

In addition to CPPD's personal and professional development products, Quinn was also briefed on the VOLED program's focus of providing Sailors with the ability to earn college degrees through programs such as tuition assistance, the Navy College Program for Afloat College Education, and the Navy College Program Distance Learning Partnership.

During his stop at the VEC, which is co-located with CPPD headquarters, Quinn was briefed on the state-of-the-art call center that offers Sailors help with establishing education plans, authenticating transcripts and posting of degrees in Sailors' service records, Sailor and Marine American Council on Education Registry Transcript processing, and answering general inquiries. It also processes Tuition Assistance requests and offers video counseling services.

"There's already been a lot of great work done," Quinn said near the end of his tour. "We need to leverage what's already been done, and I think we'll be very happy with the results," he said.

Part of the discussion during the tour was the difference between training and education for Navy personnel. Having previously commanded Naval Air Training Command; Strike Force Training, Atlantic; and most recently Navy Personnel Command, Quinn shared a quote on the topic he said he'd recently heard. "'Training prepares you for the known; education prepares you for the unknown.' I like that," he said.

CPPD is the Navy's learning center of excellence that equips Sailors to think critically, act responsibly, and lead proactively through its training courses and the Navy's voluntary education program.

For more information about the Center for Personal and Professional Development, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/cppd/ or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-Personal-and-Professional-Development/100056459206.

For more news from Center for Personal and Professional Development, visit www.navy.mil/local/voledpao/.