Photo By Jordan Smith | Lt. Ellen Halverson is highlighted as this weeks Recruiter in the Spotlight. (Courtesy...... read more read more
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DETROIT – Lt. Ellen Halverson is a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine officer and one of Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Heartland’s newest officer recruiters. Her family history, exemplary education, technical expertise and professionalism firmly establish her as an expert on the benefits of the Navy and the opportunities it provides.
She was born in Fort Hood, Texas. Her father graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and was an officer in the Army. Her mother graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served as an officer in the Navy. Growing up with parents from different branches of service gave her a great education on the military, but also provided for some understandable confusion early in life.
“When I was a kid the only game I watched, other than the Super Bowl, was the Army-Navy Game,” Halverson said. “I actually thought those were the only two schools for the longest time. We didn’t watch other football. We only watched Army versus Navy.”
For Halverson, having parents who served and growing up in military communities gave her a healthy perspective on what the military could offer and what it means to serve.
“I always knew I wanted to join the service. When I was a senior and trying to figure out what I was going to do, I was really torn between the Naval Academy and then going to do ROTC [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps] at a school. I knew the Navy was the better fit for me,” she said.
Ultimately, she accepted a Navy ROTC scholarship and attended the University of Notre Dame where she studied electrical engineering. She knew this degree would help her get assigned to the submarine fleet, which she desired for the truly unique mission set, the technical challenges and because it is something that not many people get to do.
During her time in the Navy ROTC program, she embarked on a nuclear submarine as part of the career discernment process to see what life was like onboard a submarine. In her senior year, she and other perspective nuclear officers traveled to Washington, D.C., to screen and interview with the Admiral in charge of naval reactors and ultimately be accepted into the nuclear officer community.
“I got to do a sub cruise on the USS Maine, and I was able to deploy with them for 18 days, and I did a patrol with them,” she said. “So that was a really cool experience, getting to interact with the Sailors and watch what a mission was like on an SSBN [ballistic-missile submarine].”
After college, she commissioned into the U.S. Navy and spent more than a year in follow-on training to become a submarine officer. After training, she was stationed on Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) where she earned her gold submarine warfare insignia and then the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan (SSGN 727).
About her sense of pride to join the ranks of female submarine officers, she said, “I was lucky enough to be on a sub that was integrated [women and men,] both officer and enlisted, because it’s one the few fully integrated submarines that exist.”
Halverson thinks her lifelong connection to the military and her experience in the fleet give her a unique view that she brings to recruiting. Sharing her experiences and perspective will help her find and access the most qualified young men and women for naval service.
“I like talking to people, and I wanted to get a chance to get the right people into the Navy,” Halverson said. “You can see people who join the Navy for the right reasons and the impact that they can have. Then there are people who join the Navy, and it wasn’t what they really wanted, and that negative energy can really affect a command quickly.”
Although she’s only been at NTAG Heartland for a short time, her enthusiasm for the mission was quickly recognized by her chain of command.
“She has all the right motivations to be here,” Cmdr. Jason Nelson, executive officer of NTAG Heartland said. “That’s important to us as a command because we pride ourselves on finding the best and brightest people to serve in this organization that we all love.”
Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, three Navy Recruiting Regions and 26 Navy Talent Acquisition Groups that serve more than 1,000 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/MyNAVYHR), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 02.11.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.11.2022 11:42 |
| Story ID: | 414509 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 784 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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