More than 400 incoming college freshmen students participated in the program designed to standardize basic militarization and provide uniform training not available at host universities. The training was accomplished using the same facilities that train every enlisted Sailor.

NSI provides basic training in five warfighting competencies – Fire Fighting, Damage Control, Seamanship, Watchstanding and Small Arms Handling and Marksmanship – to begin creating basically trained, smartly disciplined, tough and courageous future Navy and Marine Corps Officers. The students also were able to complete Swim Qualifications during their training.

“NSI’s indoctrination curriculum is standardized, yet much more extensive and intense than any I’ve seen before,” said Rear Adm. Jennifer Couture, commander, NSTC. “I myself was once a NROTC midshipman but did not have a standardized program like NSI to begin my NROTC experience. Seeing their transformation over the past four weeks makes me wish I had an experience like theirs to start my naval career.”

NSI started in 2018 with a pilot program that initially trained 70 midshipmen candidates. NROTC was the only officer accessions program in the Department of the Navy that did not require an established, standardized, entry-level militarization and indoctrination phase to commence training. That number went up to more than 800 midshipmen in 2019 and would have grown even more in 2020 had the pandemic not halted the training.

The candidates were led by a staff that included Navy and Marine Corps midshipmen, Navy Recruit Division Commanders, Marine Corps Drill instructors and other NROTC military and civilian staff. All together they were responsible for overseeing and instructing the midshipmen candidates. Some of those midshipmen instructors went through the program in 2019 and came back to lead future midshipmen.

“When I look back to my time at NSI, it was difficult, but the people to my left and right were there to help me and everyone was trying to make us into the best future Navy and Marine Corp officers,” said Midshipman 2nd Class Jordan Wiggins, a sophomore from Norfolk State University and midshipman instructor at NSI. “It’s all about teamwork here and conquering the task. You can always rely on someone to help you get through. As an instructor I wanted the midshipmen candidates to leave here learning how to work as a team and time management skills to help them all get through college.”

“The high school candidates that come here and complete NSI are hands down ahead of other kids that don’t come to NSI,” said Cmdr. Luke Danzo, executive officer, NSI Cycle 2. “These midshipmen come to the units locked in. They got a sense of what they are going to encounter in being physically fit, mentally tough, and the military skills of bearing, discipline and professionalism while also learning how to work as a team.”

The NSI training was 13 days but an added two-week restriction of movement (ROM) was included for the midshipmen candidates that provided the opportunity to knock out additional training like Warrior Toughness that imbues the future Navy and Marine Corps Officers the warrior mind-set.

“I really want to take back to my unit some of the knowledge that I’ve received here in classes and especially warrior toughness training that has taught us how to use that training to be a better leader,” said Midshipman Candidate Meneel Chan, a future mechanical engineering major at the University of San Diego. “I’ve really learned that you have to build a bond within your group to work as a team and especially with the USS Marlinspike trainer for line handling and the teamwork and communication to complete the task.”

NROTC is overseen by Commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), Rear Adm. Jennifer Couture and her staff. NSTC oversees 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, including NROTC units at more than 160 colleges and universities; Officer Training Command (OTC) at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island; Recruit Training Command (RTC) at Naval Station Great Lakes, as well as Navy Junior ROTC (NJROTC) and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC).

For more information about NSTC, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/NSTC/.