Nearly 250 midshipmen from 42 different universities attended this year. The premiere Navy ROTC conference, which had its registration entirely filled up within an hour this year, attracts midshipmen from across the country to learn skills and tools from current and former leader.

This year's conference took the theme of "One Team, One Fight," and emphasized the complementary efforts taken by the United States Navy and Marine Corps to protect our country. NLW is unique because it is fully planned and operated by midshipmen; all logistics from lodging to speakers to meals to transportation are coordinated by a team of midshipmen.

Midshipman 2nd Class Courtney Dale, a junior at the University of Notre Dame and one of the main coordinators of the weekend, learned a lot during the year of planning.

"Since last April, we have worked tirelessly to plan Naval Leadership Weekend 2018," Dale said. "Our hard work and dedication paid off when despite the government shutdown and a severe blizzard we were still able to gather several extremely qualified speakers as well as five junior officers to speak to our attendees. We were able to rely on our planning and execute a flawless conference. I am incredibly proud of the entire NLW team."

Fortunately, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON), Steven Giordano, was able to come to NLW to impart his wisdom regarding leadership as the first speaker at the conference. Following MCPON was Tom Schreier, a businessman and University of Notre Dame professor who held several top positions in large companies such as Northwest Airlines and Credit Suisse First Boston. The final speaker of the first day was retired Sergeant Major Donna Dunbar who delivered an exciting and motivating speech. The final event of NLW Friday was a junior officer (JO) panel consisting of officers from warfare communities across the Navy and Marine Corps. Midshipmen took advantage of the opportunity to ask leadership and community-related questions.

"It amazes me that, every year, we have junior officers from across the country pay for their own flights and accommodations for the opportunity to speak at NLW," said Midshipman 2nd Class Hailey Dikeman, a junior at the University of Notre Dame. "They truly recognize how important it is for them to share the challenges and successes that have characterized their career and this year's panel of junior officers did an amazing job doing just that."

Saturday of NLW began with a speech on small unit leadership from retired infantry officer and former University of Notre Dame Marine Officer Instructor, Major Regan Jones. Following his speech were University of Notre Dame Professor and Keurig co-founder, Chris Stevens, and South Bend Mayor and Naval Reserve Officer, Pete Buttigieg. Naval Leadership Weekend came to a close on Saturday with a dinner and keynote address from University of Notre Dame Professor and Director of Public Sector Engagement for the Drucker Institute, Lawrence Greenspun.

Before the address, the midshipman mingled and interacted with various active duty officers during the cocktail hour as well as during dinner. This interaction provided a more individualized yet professional way in which to learn from the many experienced officers present throughout the weekend. Following dinner, Professor Greenspun delivered an inspirational speech about leadership.

"The wealth of experience and knowledge that the speakers had at the Naval Leadership Conference is unparalleled," said Midshipman 3rd Class Cody Ketchem, a sophomore at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Their ability to convey the lessons they learned over their extensive careers will help all who attended to be better leaders in their units, and eventually, to be better leaders for their respective Sailors and Marines upon commissioning."

The Navy ROTC program develops midshipmen mentally, morally and physically, to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, loyalty and Navy core values. The program provides college graduates an opportunity to commission as naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the naval service, and have potential for future development in mind and character, so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

Rear Adm. Mike Bernacchi, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) and his staff, headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, support 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) at Naval Station Great Lakes, Navy ROTC units at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command (OTC) at Naval Station Newport, R.I., and Navy Junior ROTC and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

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

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

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