Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Cody Anderson | 210411-N-MW275-1042 MILLINGTON, Tn. (Apr. 11, 2021) Sea Cadet Chief Petty Officer...... read more read more
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MILLINGTON, TN. (NNS) When Aiden Graham was asked by his best friend to join him for a weekend of sea-faring themed activities, he did not know how much the decision would be influencing his future. At that point, he didn’t know that he would be spending the next five years as part of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps (USNSCC), where he would earn the rank of Chief Petty Officer. He also was unaware that the weekend would lead him to eventually pursue a career in the United States Navy.
“I was attracted to join the Sea Cadets by my best friend. He told me that there’s this thing that he does once a month and that it’s a lot of fun,” said Graham. “So I showed up and that was my first introduction to the Navy.”
The USNSCC is a youth leadership program founded by the Navy League of the United States and sponsored by the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps. The organization actively engages its participants with the opportunities, jobs, and experience that the maritime services uniquely have to offer while building leadership and team skills. Their mission is to build leaders of character.
Graham, who joined the program at the age of 13, is one of just two Sea Cadet Chiefs in his unit, USS Tennessee (BB-43), based out of Millington, Tennessee. Graham’s best friend, Mason Ayers, the friend who first convinced him to join the program, is the unit’s other chief. While Ayers was the first to earn the rank of Chief for their unit, Graham was acting as the unit’s leading petty officer and watched from the ranks as his best friend was pinned.
“I was proud of him just like how I’m proud of seeing any of my other cadets get promoted,” said Graham. “Seeing him on the stage and seeing all of the Chiefs congratulating him just made me proud.”
Seeing others find success in the Sea Cadets is one of Graham’s greatest motivators. Graham says he was first inspired to pursue the rank of Chief after attending the Petty Officer Leadership Academy through the Sea Cadets. It was here that he met other leaders from Sea Cadet units as well as former service members from around the country. He was inspired from the experience to become not only a better Sea Cadet, but a better leader to those he was serving.
“The people that were conducting the training were pouring in to us what you need to do to make Chief, and ultimately make your unit the best unit that it can be,” said Graham. “They showed us what they did and then we met with retirees from different branches showing us how it all should be done; everything from your marching to classroom instruction to how you should be handling your unit at all times. When I saw what they were doing for me, I knew that I could do that for my cadets at home. I thought, ‘what better way to do that than to be the highest rank that I could be.’”
Graham continued on to say that his cadets are the ultimate reason that he decided to become a Chief. As he looks toward the future and plans for the next phase of his life, he believes that he has left a legacy that will help future Sea Cadets pursue their own greatness.
“If I am at my best, I can make sure they eventually reach their best,” said Graham. “Even if I’m not there the whole time, I’ll have poured some of my experience into these new kids. I’ve spent five years of my life working with these kids and I want to see them succeed.”
Graham is spending the last few months of high school looking toward the future and trying to set himself up for success. While he has been wait listed for the United States Naval Academy, he understands the importance of having a backup plan. Graham also received a Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship for the University of Memphis. He hopes to attend the Academy in the fall, but he set himself up for success at the University of Memphis in case the Academy doesn’t work out. No matter which school he eventually attends, he plans on a career in Naval Aviation where he ultimately wants to help design and test the next generation of Naval aircraft.
The Sea Cadet program is sponsored by Navy Recruiting Command which consists of a command headquarters, three Navy Recruiting Regions, 16 Navy Recruiting Districts and 10 Navy Talent Acquisition Groups that serve more than 1,330 recruiting stations across the world. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, go to http://www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NavyRecruiting), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2021 13:18 |
| Story ID: | 395267 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 223 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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