The commander of U.S. 3rd Fleet met with the Naval ROTC Los Angeles Consortium during a visit to the University of Southern California (USC) campus, Aug. 31.

Vice Admiral Nora Tyson told midshipmen to make the most of each day in their Navy careers.

"Apply yourself and strive to be the best," Tyson said. "Junior officers ultimately have to be team players and make it about the people who work for them."

Tyson also spoke about teamwork, thinking ahead and seizing opportunities.

Marine Col. Christopher Michelsen, professor of Naval Science and consortium commanding officer, said it was a pleasure to host the vice admiral.

"She provided the midshipmen of USC and UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) an understanding of the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for them in the fleet and encouraged them to enjoy every minute of the adventure," Michelsen said. "I perceive the midshipmen truly appreciated the genuine and engaging discussion."

Tyson began her discussion with the midshipmen by introducing herself and speaking about her background.

Hailing from Tennessee, she graduated from Vanderbilt University as an English major and planned to attend law school. She never considered joining the military, but received a recruitment call after graduation. Tyson decided to join the Navy, attended Officer Candidate School, and became an unrestricted line officer. Her admiration for flying took her to flight school where she became a naval flight officer. During her tour aboard aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV 16), she found a love for driving ships and made the goal to serve as a navigator on an aircraft carrier, which she later accomplished aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65).

Tyson told the midshipmen she began getting into policy and strategy after her department head tour there. She attended the Naval War College and was subsequently stationed with the joint staff at the Pentagon. She specialized in China and Taiwan policy and made great relationships in many countries. She also completed a tour as the director of the joint staff. She said even after all of these unique and distinguished experiences, her favorite job in the Navy was being the commanding officer of a "big-deck" amphibious ship, USS Bataan (LHD 5). Tyson reported to her current position as commander of U.S. 3rd Fleet in July 2015.

During Tyson's visit, one midshipman asked her what was the greatest challenge in her Navy career.

She said RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) 2016, the biggest maritime exercise in the world, was by far the most difficult. She said her duty during RIMPAC as the 3rd Fleet commander was to take each and every national objective from the 26 participating countries and orchestrate those objectives with RIMPAC objectives to allow everyone to achieve their goals.

"I was inspired and filled with a sense of duty after hearing the vice admiral's creative and enlightening solutions to international conflict and security," said junior Midshipman 2nd Class James Steele, from Las Vegas.

Tyson told the consortium shaping the future of the Navy and Marine Corps is a privilege and a responsibility that should not be taken lightly.

"Getting the opportunity to lead young people, and giving them the tools to succeed in the Navy and in life is what really makes it all worth it," Tyson said. "Don't hold back, and always strive to build relationships."

Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans oversees the NROTC program as commander of Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes. NROTC was established to develop midshipmen mentally, morally and physically and to instill in them Navy Core Values and the highest ideals of duty and loyalty, in order to commission college graduates as naval officers possessing a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the naval service and who have potential to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

NSTC oversees 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy's Citizenship Development program. NSTC includes Recruit Training Command, the Navy's only basic training, at Naval Station Great Lakes, NROTC at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, Navy Junior ROTC and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

For more information about NROTC, visit http://www.nrotc.navy.mil.

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For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit http://www.navy.mil/, http://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc or http://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining..