U.S. Fleet Forces (USFF) Command, the Chief of Naval Personnel, and U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) hosted the inaugural Navy Career Development and Navy Career Counselor Training Symposium at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Aug. 15-17. Approximately 500 Navy career counselors attended the three-day conference that covered an array of topics aimed at increasing retention and informing Navy personnel of policy improvements. Officer and enlisted detailers and community managers, representatives from higher education institutions, and representatives from sea service affinity groups, including the Association of Naval Services Officers, Association of the United States Navy and National Naval Officers, were represented at the symposium. "This is the first opportunity since 2012 for a large portion of the Navy's career counselors to get together and share in a training opportunity," said Cmdr. Case Garrison, Aviation Community Enlisted Manager. "We have quite a few folks that recognize the need to have additional training with the career counselors in a setting where they can interact directly with representatives from the manpower and training establishments, including the detailers, placement coordinators and community managers." Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke, Executive Director and Chief of Staff, USFF Mr. Mark Honecker, and Chief Information Officer for Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Agency Mr. Leonel Garciga all made appearances as keynote speakers. "My biggest takeaway here is getting to see the bigger picture of the Navy that sometimes the NAVADMIN or OPNAV instruction really doesn't tell us," said Chief Navy Career Counselor Erica Rogers, from Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic. "We're actually having face to face conversations with the individuals who are signing or approving the policies that your Navy Counselors have to implement every single day." Navy career counselors play an integral part of a team that's designed with the ultimate goal of manning the Fleet. "We can't man the Fleet if we don't take care of our Sailors, " said Garrison. "Manning the Fleet means having the right Sailor with the right skillset in the right place at the right time. Career counselors are the manpower and manning organization's direct link to the Sailors in the Fleet. We need them to understand how important their job is, and then make sure they have the right toolset to go out and perform that job and give the right counseling to their Sailors so we are able to maximize the inventory we have to man the Fleet to the best possible levels." The Career Development and Navy Career Counselor Training Symposium was a unique opportunity to gather Navy career counselors from across the Fleet to meet, network and get training on the policies and procedures they are charged to impart to their Sailors. For more news from U.S. Fleet Forces Command, visit www.navy.mil/.