Photo By Chief Petty Officer Stephane Belcher | 221116-N-PG340-1001 GREAT LAKES, Illinois (Nov. 16, 2022) Machinist’s Mate 1st Class...... read more read more
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Meet Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Miles Smith! He is currently the leading petty officer (LPO) at the recruit division commander (RDC) “C” school at Recruit Training Command (RTC).
Miles is from Alexandria, Louisiana, where he attended Louisiana State University for three years.
“When I joined, I was 23,” said Smith. “When I was in college, I was just immature at the time. I didn't take school seriously. So, I decided to just shift, and I went and joined the Navy and then shipped out a couple of months later.”
Miles served five years on the USS Boxer (LHD 4) in San Diego where he completed two deployments. He checked into RTC in 2020 and has instructed eight divisions of recruits.
Miles keeps a work-life balance through fitness, his dog Pickle, and playing sports with his shipmates.
“I have a new puppy, so I spend a lot of time with my dog,” said Miles. “I take the dog out hiking a lot. I play basketball with the office—we go shoot hoops a lot. We play volleyball as an office.
“I try to focus more on growing up, being an adult, and taking care of yourself and your fellow shipmates.”
Miles decided to be an RDC to give back to the Navy and be the difference to the new Sailors coming through.
“I just decided to come here and see if there was any way I could improve the quality of Sailors going to the Fleet,” said Miles. “I think I developed a lot of good recruits in the Sailors through my first eight pushes, and I think it made a big difference in them in the time they were here.”
Miles has also impacted his fellow RDCs as the LPO at the “C” school. He’s strived to make it more efficient and take care of the people he works with.
“You know, our work hours are a lot better than they used to be,” said Miles. “I’m just trying to take the office in a better direction by preparing ahead of time and making sure everything is laid out for the next week.”
Miles and his team teach the Sailors who check into RTC and want to be an RDC.
“We teach the new blue ropes that come in,” said Miles. “I run the office and we train the new petty officers, chiefs, senior chiefs, and master chiefs that come in with the blue ropes until they get their red ropes.”
Once the Sailors earn their red ropes, they are qualified as recruit division commanders.
| Date Taken: | 11.16.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.16.2022 15:55 |
| Story ID: | 433396 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 457 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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