Naval ROTC Midshipman 3rd Class Jackson Herget from Sacramento, California, was named the 2016 NROTC National Shiphandler of the Year at the Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS) in Newport, Rhode Island, Aug. 11.

Herget, an incoming sophomore at the University of San Diego, competed against 12 other midshipmen from NROTC units across the country in the first shiphandling competition for midshipmen on Naval Seamanship and Shiphandling Conning Officer Virtual Environment (NSS COVE) simulators at SWOS.

"I'm really grateful for the opportunity to come here and learn about the surface warfare community," said Herget. "I learned a lot on the simulators the first day and I was able to apply the concepts in training. The staff did a great job teaching us and giving us advice and personal tips they learned and used in the fleet. I'm really grateful to have received this award."

According to the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR), NSS COVE is a system of scalable, reconfigurable, PC-based simulators, offering an immersive virtual reality maritime training environment. They provide the full continuum of navigation, seamanship, shiphandling, piloting, and tactical ATFP (anti-terrorism/force protection) training for naval personnel.

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

Capt. Heedong Choi, professor of Naval Science and NROTC commanding officer at State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College in Throggs Neck, New York, and former chief of staff at Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), was on hand representing the NSTC commander at the unique, first competition for NROTC midshipmen. He welcomed the midshipmen to the competition and handed out the winner's plaque and trophy on the final day of competition.

NSTC, headquartered on Naval Station Great Lakes and commanded by Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans, oversees the NROTC program at more than 160 colleges and universities around the country.

"The admiral wanted me to relay (to you) that we are committed to giving you the experience and training to make you leaders and officers worthy of leading our best and brightest Sailors," Choi said. "This is a time to demonstrate what you have learned and go back to your units; tell your shipmates about this. Tell them about SWOS and what you learned here and generate excitement for this competition."

The competition for the midshipmen was set up over four days. The first two days were hands-on training with COVE and 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.

"The COVE allows students to gain familiarity and a significant degree of comfort on the bridge conning and handling a ship," said Capt. Neil A. Karnes, professor of Naval Science and NROTC 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 will come away with some experience with the SWO center of excellence at SWOS 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 1 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 and it would be as if they were 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" doing this 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 next to a Navy 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's one thing to go to the wardroom at ODU (Old Dominion University) and get on the COVE we have there, but to do it here [at SWOS] surrounded by all these great instructors and these other midshipmen is a great experience and a great opportunity," said Midshipman 1st Class Alex Misenheimer, from Falls Church, Virginia, and an incoming senior at ODU.

After the exam and testing on COVE 1, the SWOS instructors tallied up points and named five finalists. On the final day, the five 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 displays to allow the student a wider field of view. 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.

"This has been a really good learning experience and gave me a perspective of what to expect once I get out in the fleet," said Midshipman 2nd Class Brandy Kinnunen, from Chassell, Michigan, and a University of Marquette incoming junior, who finished as runner-up in the competition. "COVE is really good because you can practice and make mistakes without damaging any equipment. I got to see some of how a conning officer operates during my summer cruise on a submarine, and I now understand the commands the officer made being here and getting a chance to use COVE. We just got COVE at Marquette, and I can't wait to go back and train on it and show my fellow midshipmen what I learned here at SWOS."

The Jacksonville University NROTC unit staff, with the assistance of SWOS, was responsible for organizing this first competition. The unit was also one of the first to go to virtual reality shiphandling computer training. They were one of the first units to have the state-of-the-art COVE and Sub Skills Net simulators at JU in 2008. NSTC and SWOS are working to make the Shiphandler of the Year competition an annual event. SWOS is led by Capt. David Welch and its mission is to provide a continuum of professional education and training that prepares officers, enlisted engineers, and quartermasters to serve at sea.

According to Lt. Walter O'Donnell, a SWOS instructor and one of the organizers of the NROTC Shiphandler of Year competition, 15 SWO lieutenants and SWOS instructors volunteered to advise, instruct and monitor the midshipmen.

"It's fantastic to be able to motivate and show these midshipmen what we do out at sea," O'Donnell said. "All the instructors here love ship handling and we love telling about what we do in the fleet. Having the midshipmen come here and use the COVE simulators to do some shiphandling is a great way for them to get the experience and the fun of driving a ship."

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

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

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