PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), originally known as Chief of Naval Training and later renamed to Chief of Naval Education and Training (CNET), was established July 21, 1971. Staff and former NETC commanders and force master chiefs came together for a ceremony held at NETC headquarters July 21 to commemorate the event.
Retired Rear Adm. Donald Quinn, retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Jim Herdt, retired Fleet Master Chief April Beldo-Lilley, and retired Force Master Chief Greg Pratt attended the ceremony. Ms. Nancy Fetterman, who served alongside her late husband, Vice Adm. John Fetterman, was also in attendance.
The guests participated in a command brief where Rear Adm. Pete Garvin, commander, Naval Education and Training Command, gave them an update on current training initiatives.
During the ceremony, Garvin summarized the past 50 years as “a story of constant progress and continuous process improvement . . . striving for excellence . . . partnering with the fleet . . . building agile and adaptive teams . . . always improving upon the past and looking to the future.”
CNET began as a three-star command led by Vice Adm. Malcolm Cagle and located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola. While the command remains at NAS Pensacola, it was officially renamed Naval Education and Training Command on March 12, 2003.
Today, NETC’s mission is to “Recruit, train, and deliver those who serve our Nation, taking them from street-to-fleet by transforming civilians into highly skilled, operational, and combat ready warfighters.”
Throughout the command’s history, the mission of training and developing the Navy’s greatest resource, its people, has remained constant. Despite technological advances, a dynamic world strategic environment, and changes to support the Navy’s strategy and progress in the Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education (MPT&E) enterprise, NETC continues to live up to its motto… “Fleet Readiness Starts Here.”
THE EARLY YEARS
CNET was established for the purpose of developing an implementation plan for a single consolidated training command outside of Washington, DC for a more consolidated and concentrated training organization. The Navy saw the need for a composite command to set priorities and standards, determine requirements, and ensure adequate funding to educate and train a modern fighting force.
The goal was to create a training structure to achieve a higher quality of individual, team, and functional training. Every effort was made to provide the Navy with a training organization that would meet the needs of the Navy of the future, provide higher quality trained personnel, and establish an effective and efficient training organization, which would result in funding and manpower economy.
The 70’s were especially advantageous for Sailors when it came to expanding educational options. In February 1974, the Navy Campus for Achievement program was implemented to afford Sailors the ability to further their education by coordinating off-duty education programs with the Navy’s on-duty education programs. The original schools that participated in this program include, University of California San Diego, University of West Florida, United States International University, San Diego Community College, Pensacola Junior College, Chapman College, and Tidewater Community College. In July 1974, the Naval Academy Preparatory School was moved to Newport, Rhode Island and functioned as a department under CNET.
TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS
The 1980’s demonstrated how the command began to use self-reflection and redesign to evolve with the times. In 1983, a Training Effectiveness Division was established to combine management of all programs for the evaluation and improvement of curriculum and instruction. After CNET was physically consolidated from buildings 602, 623, 624, and 679 on NAS Pensacola to its current location, building 628, the headquarters underwent a reorganization to emphasize and improve management of warfare specific training and reassign to other activities those responsibilities that would best be accomplished by program-oriented activities. The reorganization also allowed the CNET headquarters staff to align vertically with the OPNAV staff, improving the lines of communication with the warfare sponsors at the Pentagon.
Most notably, under the reorganization, Surface Warfare Training, Undersea Warfare Training, and Aviation Warfare Training, each became separate divisions. This realignment also afforded the opportunity for Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC), Logistics and Contracting Management, Facilities Management, and Education General Training to assume responsibilities of their own domain.
Beginning in the 1990’s, CNET began creating new educational programs, many of which are still being utilized today. One example is the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) program, which prepares select applicants for entrance into the NROTC program or the U.S. Naval Academy through a rigorous curriculum designed to assist those who have demonstrated the fundamental qualities and desire necessary to commission but may need additional educational foundations.
In 1993, a Zero-Based Training Review was adopted, a program that examined the process by which training and education requirements are developed, approved, resourced, executed, and assessed; reviews and validates training and education requirements; identifies the roles and missions of all shore-based training organizations and evaluates the effectiveness of the management structure; and assesses shore-based training and education resources and infrastructure requirements.
SEA WARRIOR, TASK FORCE EXCEL, AND THE REVOLUTION IN TRAINING
The Navy developed a new vision called Sea Power 21 in the early 2000’s. One of its programs was the Sea Warrior initiative, which was created to ensure the right skills, were in the right place, at the right time. The intent was to track a Sailor’s progress from their initial point of training and follow them along their career and assist with their career management.
The 5 Vector Model construct from 2004 to 2009, allowed Sailors to take charge of their own careers and help them migrate upward from recruit to apprentice to journeyman to master and mentor. The vectors were Professional Development, Personal Development, Leadership and Professional Military Education, Certifications and Qualifications, and Performance.
SAILOR 2025 AND READY, RELEVANT LEARNING
Three important initiatives – the “Street to Fleet” concept, Sailor 2025, and Ready, Relevant Learning (RRL) – were adopted in 2018.
Street to Fleet focuses on recruiting civilians, and through world-class training, transforms them into combat-ready warfighters ready to meet the current and future needs of our fleet. This involved the realignment of Commander, Navy Recruiting Command to NETC.
Sailor 2025 is the Navy’s program to improve and modernize personnel management and training systems to effectively recruit, develop, manage, and retain the forces for tomorrow. Its focus is on a modernized personnel system, an enriched culture, and a career continuum of learning.
RRL is a pillar of Sailor 2025, as a long-term investment in improving individual Sailor performance and enhancing fleet readiness with three major components that address the when, how, and where we train. A tremendous modernization effort, RRL requires collaboration across multiple stakeholders throughout the Navy, all in the interest of meeting future fleet requirements. At its core, RRL is about creating more proficient and technically capable Sailors as they head to operational fleet units.
With ongoing Chief of Naval Personnel transformation efforts, NETC assumed the Force Development pillar of what’s now called MyNavy HR. NETC’s strategic goals in 2021 are to optimize the learning environment, enhance warfighter readiness, build an agile and adaptive team, embrace data-driven decision making, and create unity of effort.
“As full owners of the ‘Street to Fleet’ process, we must continue to provide the best trained and most educated Sailors in the world. Looking ahead, we will ensure that every element of the Force Development enterprise remains agile and adaptive as we continue to leverage emerging technology and new concepts,” said Garvin. “As Fleet Readiness Starts here at Naval Education and Training Command – we owe the fleet and the Sailors the very best in talent acquisition and training delivery. We must continue the transformation of MyNavy HR. We must be better, faster and more effective in order to prevail in today’s strategic competition.”
Naval Education and Training Command is the U.S. Navy’s Force Development pillar and largest shore command. Through its “Street to Fleet” focus, NETC recruits civilians and transforms them into skilled warfighters ready to meet the current and future needs of the U.S. Navy.