Navy ROTC Midshipman 1st Class Gordon Kiesling, 22, from Nashville, Tennessee, was named the 2017 Navy ROTC National Shiphandler of the Year at Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS) in Newport, Rhode Island, Aug. 17.

Kiesling, an incoming senior at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, competed against 17 other midshipmen from Navy ROTC units across the country in the 2nd annual shiphandling competition for midshipmen on Naval Seamanship and Shiphandling Conning Officer Virtual Environment (NSS COVE) simulators at SWOS.

"I feel like I really accomplished something," said Kiesling. "I had a lot of fun and I feel I learned a lot about shiphandling and ship physics. There were definitely small flaws in each of the (virtual shiphandling) evolutions. There are things that I knew I could do better but overall I took it slow and I think that paid off. I was able to react to the changes and get back on my feet and get my bearing and complete the evolution successful."

Originally conceived in 2000 by the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR), Research and Development (R&D) effort, COVE has evolved into a robust and extensible shiphandling simulator, primarily used at the SWOS Newport command and learning sites around the world for junior and senior surface warfare officers. Navy ROTC midshipmen have now also been added to the mix of COVE players.

"SWOS is thrilled to host the (Navy ROTC) Midshipman Shiphandling Competition for a second year in a row," said Capt. Scott Robertson, SWOS commanding officer. "The shiphandling competition provides an opportunity for us to showcase the surface community to future Naval officers. It also gives the next generation of surface warriors the opportunity to interact with officers who recently completed two division officer tours. SWOS looks forward to continuing our relationship with NSTC (Naval Service Training Command) and Navy ROTC units as we strive to develop tomorrow's shiphandlers."

Robertson and his SWOS staff provide a continuum of professional education and training that prepares officers, enlisted engineers, and quartermasters to serve at sea.

Navy ROTC was established to develop midshipmen mentally, morally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, loyalty and Navy core values 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.

Naval Service Training Command, commanded by Rear Adm. Mike Bernacchi, supports Navy ROTC at more than 160 colleges and universities around the country. The admiral presented Kiesling with his winner's plaque, and congratulated all the midshipmen and SWOS staff who participated in this year's competition.

"Congratulations on making it here," Bernacchi said. "These skills, particularly understanding relative motion are among the most important in your development as officers."

The competition for the midshipmen was set up over three days. The first two days were hands-on training with the simulators and SWOS instructors as well as classroom study and lectures.

On the first day, the midshipmen were brought onto one of two Full Mission Bridge simulators. The Full Mission Bridge simulates every Navy homeport and regular ports the Navy visits around the world. This simulator was not part of the competition, but gave the midshipmen a chance to observe and feel the operations of the bridge with its 360-degree virtual reality monitor and realistic consoles and instrumentation. The Full Mission Bridge also provides a working helm, powering performance as well as propulsion performance, taking cavitation and noise requirements into account. It also can simulate weather and wave conditions. The midshipmen also got an opportunity to feel the steering ability and ship and platform motions of the bridge.

"This competition and COVE is a great opportunity to leverage the technology to further enhance the midshipmen's confidence and proficiency in shiphandling and give them a leg up when they eventually join the fleet," said Capt. Neil A. Karnes, professor of Naval Science and Navy ROTC commanding officer of the Jacksonville University unit in Jacksonville, Florida. "It's a first step into making their way into the SWO community. It's an excellent tool and has a lot to offer. Hopefully the midshipmen have come away with some COVE expertise and a greater appreciation for the SWO community."

For the competition, the midshipmen were given a Rules of the Road/Shiphandling/Basic Seamanship 50-question exam. They each were then placed into one of 18 COVE I stations. Midshipmen wore virtual reality headsets and were assigned as the conning officer on a bridge of an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. With the virtual reality headsets, the midshipmen could look anywhere, port or starboard, forward and astern as if they are looking out the windows on a bridge or standing on a bridge wing. The midshipmen would then call out a series of maneuvering orders for the engine room and helm. Each midshipman practiced conning their "ship" through several different scenarios; pulling away from a dock with the use of a tugboat in San Diego harbor, driving the ship off the coast of San Diego, pulling alongside an oiler for an underway replenishment, and maneuvering the ship during a man overboard drill. They were then tested on what they learned and practiced.

"It has definitely been a great experience to understand what a conning officer is and what the conning officer does." said Midshipman 2nd Class Cole Yelich, 20, from O'Fallon, Missouri, and an incoming junior at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

"The officers at SWOS told us it is the most exciting part of their job and something they really enjoy. It's good to be able to see what that all entails and have an idea what being a SWO will be like in the fleet."

After the exam and testing on COVE 1, the SWOS instructors tallied up points and named five finalists. On the final day, the finalists were taken into a COVE 3 station. The COVE 3 stations have the same functionality as the COVE 1 stations, except they are viewed on three 50-inch video displays to allow the student a wider visual outlook. Again, they were tested and scored on their conning of the ship from the dock and into San Diego Harbor, and how well they maneuvered the ship during an underway replenishment.

"I feel like I've learned a lot about the jobs in the SWO community," said Midshipman 3rd Class Kara Dowling, 19, from Spartanburg, South Carolina, and an incoming sophomore at Princeton University in New Jersey and part of the Rutgers University Navy ROTC unit. "I think it's been important to come here and meet the midshipmen from other units and to hear about the different experiences that the SWO officers here have had. The chance we've had to get hands-on training with COVE will definitely be a benefit to me as I move on in school."

Midshipman 2nd Class Javier Espinoza, 20, from Lemoore, California, and an incoming junior at Pt. Loma Nazarene College in San Diego, California, and part of the University of San Diego Navy ROTC unit, said even though he is leaning toward being a Naval aviator he thought attending the competition at SWOS was a great encounter.

"It has been a good learning experience and makes me want to consider SWO," Espinoza said. "The SWOS staff were great and they seemed really eager to give us a little bit of a taste of what it will be like for SWO officers in the fleet. "I look forward to returning to my unit and sharing the skills I learned this week as far as the science and art of shiphandling."

According to Lt. Alex Tyndall, one of the SWOS instructors and the organizer for this year's competition, 20 SWOS instructors assisted in the competition. They volunteered to advise, instruct and monitor the midshipmen.

"It was a real honor to have the midshipmen here that are so willing to learn about the different opportunities in the Navy and, in particular, the opportunity of being a Surface Warfare Officer," said Tyndall.

"I think they saw that SWOS really has so many groups of people that can offer information that can assist them in moving on in a career path that they may want to attempt and excel."

Lt. Connie Rotondi, a SWOS instructor and former enlisted Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handler) 1st Class with 18 years of Navy enlisted and officer knowledge, said being able give the midshipmen fleet exposure can be a huge benefit.

"It's cool to have a small effect on the future of the Navy," Rotondi said. "We are helping to create the officers who will be serving in my position when I am long retired. I'm training my relief."

Kiesling, who is looking to be an aviator in the Navy, credited the SWOS staff for their guidance and expertise.

"The week was fantastic. I don't think I would have learned any of this on my own, either at my ROTC unit because we don't have a COVE or out in the fleet because I am looking to fly. Things like the standard commands and driving a ship I have received a little bit here and there, but here (at SWOS) I was able to put into practice with the COVE simulators and the help from the SWOS staff. The whole week was very informative," Kiesling said.

Navy ROTC is supported by the Naval Service Training Command, headquartered on Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill. Along with the Navy ROTC program NSTC supports 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 (RTC), the Navy's only boot camp, at Naval Station Great Lakes; the Navy ROTC program; Officer Training Command (OTC) at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island; 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 Navy ROTC, visit www.navy.mil/ http://www.navy.mil/local/greatlakes/, http://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/, or http://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining/.

For more information about the Surface Warfare Officers School, visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/swos/.



For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/.