Congressional staffers spent the day at Training Support Center (TSC) and Center for Systems Combat Systems (CSCSU) Sept. 29, receiving an orientation of the 24-hour supervision, leadership, training and professional development of accession Sailors prior to their arrival to the Fleet.

The visit began with a visit with TSC's Capt. John Vliet, command officer, and Cdr. Kevin Halfacre, executive officer.

"It was a pleasure communicating to the Congressional staff how proud we are to train and serve with their very smart and dedicated constituents," Vliet said. "We also think it is important that they know, and they can take back to the people that they serve that their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, are safe and learning good quality technical skills and life-skills that they can use for the rest of their life."

The visit was part of a workshop held which included briefs from Navy Personnel Command and Navy Recruiting Command; tours of Recruit Training Command, TSC, and CSCSU; and observing Recruit Graduation.

"The purpose of the Navy Office of Legislative Affairs Congressional Caseworker Workshop is to educate Congressional casework staff members from local district offices on Navy issues relevant to their constituent casework and to give them a better understanding of Navy practices, infrastructure and requirements," said Lt. Cdr. Maura Betts, deputy director of Public Affairs and Congressional Information Office of Legislative Affairs.

At CSCSU, the Congressional staff toured the Gunner's Mate "A" School's Fire Arms Training Simulator (FATS) lab and the Electronics Technician/Fire Controlman 'A' school T1 Radar Partial Task Trainer.

"Getting the opportunity to have members of the Congressional staff visit CSCSU and the chance to showcase what our sailors do day in and day out to a group of policy makers is tremendous," said Lt. Drew Serrecchia, executive officer of CSCSU. "This visit enables us to provide a snapshot into how we are leveraging technology to stay current with the needs of today's fleet sailors while being responsible stewards in today's fiscally constrained environment."

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