Photo By Justice Vannatta | PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (July 11, 2024) - Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti...... read more read more
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The crew of the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Illinois (SSN 786) successfully recruited 20 new Sailors and outperformed every other command Navy-wide for fiscal year 2024, which ended Sept. 30.
Cmdr. Johannes Smith, commanding officer of Illinois, commented on his crew’s noteworthy recruiting achievement stating, “After CNO charged the fleet with winning the "War for Talent" in November 2023, the crew of USS Illinois immediately set out on a course to fight and win.” He continued, “The 786 Team fought for the next 12 months to bring in 20 new shipmates to proudly serve in the United States Navy and accomplished CNO's mission with the urgency and intensity the apex predators of the Submarine Force are known for.”
As part of the Every Sailor is a Recruiter program, Naval Administrative Message 290/22 incentivizes Sailors to share their Navy story with civilians and connect them with Navy recruiters. The program offers flag letters of commendation, worth points toward enlisted advancement, for Sailors who provide a referral that ultimately leads to a future Sailor contract.
“We kind of just prioritized this,” said Senior Chief Electrician’s Mate (Nuclear) John Martin, Every Sailor is a Recruiter lead for Illinois, speaking about the program. “After seeing updates on social media from Navy Recruiting Command, it energized us.” As ambassadors of the Navy, the crew of Illinois excelled in their impactful connections and interactions with future Sailors, resulting in their exemplary recruiting success for fiscal year 2024.
“What really helped us was leveraging the new Sailors during their check-in process,” said Martin. “We followed through. We would talk to these Sailors, take notes, and talk to them again. We also split the crew into teams and had them compete head-to-head, which also helped energize the program.”
With multiple Sailors reaching two or more recruits over the past year, the Illinois crew has found various ways to continually make progress in finding recruits. From getting leads from newly reported Sailors, to encouraging competition, the crew has continued to follow through with reaching additional prospective recruits.
“I think the lesson learned here is there are a lot of priorities in the Navy, and when you latch on to one and care about it, your tiny boat of 150 people can get more recruits than any other command in the entire Navy,” said Martin.
For additional information on the program, visit https://etoolbox.cnrc.navy.mil/floc.html.
Illinois, assigned to Submarine Squadron 1 and homeported in Pearl Harbor, performs a full spectrum of operations, including anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Force provides strategic deterrence, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, precision land strike, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and early warning, and special warfare capabilities around the globe.
For more information, contact csp_pao@us.navy.mil or visit our website at https://www.csp.navy.mil/.
| Date Taken: | 10.31.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.31.2024 22:09 |
| Story ID: | 484395 |
| Location: | PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 459 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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