Photo By Chief Petty Officer Stephane Belcher | Navy Counselor 1st Class Dionna Mills poses for a photo at Recruit Training Command,...... read more read more
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Meet Navy Counselor 1st Class Dionna K. Mills, the command career counselor at the Navy’s only boot camp. Mills has been the primary Navy counselor for Recruit Training Command for two years.
Mills is also the Navy’s Manpower, Personnel, Training, and Education’s fiscal year 2022 Career Counselor of the Year (CCOY).
Although she put a package together in a few days, the selection is geared toward how well she performed throughout the year. It’s not a last-minute preparation.
“It’s very black and white,” she said. “You’re either a good Navy counselor or you're not. The command, the numbers, the retention, it kind of proves that.”
During the past two years at RTC, the command received the retention excellence award and passed the career information program reviews. Mills said the CCOY program basically looks at how well the Navy counselor takes care of the Sailors.
“Although it's been a struggle because there's so many people here at RTC, and I am kind of by myself,” Mills added. “It’s been nice to have the assistance, the leadership, and everyone around me to make sure everything gets done.”
Mills said she was still in shock that she won, and she was not expecting it.
“It’s nice, don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely appreciative,” she said. “It’s very humbling. Although I know I’m a good Navy counselor, I feel like we all say that about ourselves, as far as being good at our jobs.”
Mills has been a rated career counselor since she received her direct conversion approval in 2014. She was a quarter master before she converted, and didn’t get selected with her first package.
“I was doing it, honestly, most of my career,” Mills said. “I didn't hate being a quartermaster, but I was more passionate about helping Sailors and helping people in general. I love my job.”
She enjoys helping Sailors, educating them, giving them the tools to make informed career decisions. She said converting to Navy counselor was the best decision she ever made.
“I feel like a lot people end up in some type job that they just kind of do to get through, to pay bills,” she said. “It’s nice to be able to enjoy what you’re doing on top of helping everyone else around you.”
There’s black and white guidance for Sailors to refer to when looking for information about their career. However, Navy counselors help educate others with the correct information, so that information can be passed on to junior Sailors.
“The biggest thing is getting the information out about the programs that the Navy offers, to allow Sailors to make better decisions, to allow them to decide that they want to stay Navy,” Mills said. “Even if they choose to separate, I make sure that their transition out of the Navy is as smooth as possible. Ideally the goal is retention, but keeping the best Sailors is the bigger picture.”
Boot camp is approximately 10 weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy’s only boot camp.
For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/rtc
| Date Taken: | 12.29.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2022 16:02 |
| Story ID: | 436071 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 253 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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