Retired Navy Capt. Paul Rinn Visits BU-MIT NROTC Consortium

BOSTON (NNS) -- Retired Navy Capt. Paul Rinn, the first commanding officer of the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58), visited the midshipmen of the Boston University (BU) - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) consortium April 3.

Rinn addressed the 125 midshipmen and Navy and Marine Corps officer candidates who attend BU, Boston College, Northeastern University, MIT, Harvard and Tuffs University.

His speech centered on his time as commanding officer of Roberts, focusing on April 14, 1988, when Roberts hit a mine while on escort duty in the Persian Gulf in the.

"There is no substitute for training your people," said Rinn.

He expanded on this notion by recounting the events of the incident and how ultimately it was the well-trained crew, who were prepared to make the right decisions at the right time, which ended up saving the ship.

At the time of the incident, Roberts had a crew of 220 men, all from different socio-economic backgrounds. To prepare them for deployment, Rinn implemented an intense training regimen for the crew leading up to their deployment to the Persian Gulf.

"People want to make something of themselves," said Rinn. "As a leader you have the moral and ethical obligation to give them a chance to succeed."

His training program was put to the test when Roberts struck a mine. Because of the emphasis Rinn put on the necessity for a crew to be familiar with all procedures and training - regardless of their relation to their designated post - the men were fully prepared to successfully handle the situation.

After recounting the incident, Rinn discussed his leadership philosophy. He emphasized the importance of a leader to ensure his or her people know the common goal, their role in supporting the goal, and the process and strategy of achieving the goal. Goals, he said, will be accomplished if a leader can effectively motivate and interact with people.

"The near-catastrophic experience served as an example of the value of proper and consistent training, as well as the responsibility leaders have to trust and empower their people," said Midshipman Farhan Chaudry. "I learned a lot on how officers should interact with their Sailors. His loyalty to his crew was admirable. Hearing incredible stories like Capt. Rinn's makes me excited about getting out in the fleet."

The NROTC program was established to develop midshipmen mentally, morally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, and loyalty, and with the core values of honor, courage and commitment in order to commission college graduates as naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the naval service, and have a potential for future development in mind and character so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

Headquartered in Building 1, the historic clock tower building on Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill., Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) oversees 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy. This includes NROTC at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command (OTC) on Naval Station Newport, R.I., Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy's only boot camp, at Great Lakes, Ill., and Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

For more information about NROTC, visit https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/. For more information about NSTC, visit http://www1.netc.navy.mil/nstc/ or visit the NSTC Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining/.

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