Response to the Department of Defense’s call for volunteers to assist Afghan refugees to the United States came from many hundreds of servicemen and women, and a high priority was placed on personnel with language skills who could assist in quickly identifying Afghan needs and addressing them. 
 
A week prior to the CPO selection list being released, Cryptologic Technician Interpretive 1st Class Sara Schmitt was among those called to serve the refugee effort. 
 
“I basically had a week to mentally process the mere possibility of the augmentation happening, then left within a few days of receiving official word,” said Schmitt. “I fell back on my muscle memory of deploying: straightening out what I needed to at home, packing, planning, asking questions, and making things happen.” 
 
On the morning the selection list was released, Schmitt was met by her command at the airport with news of her selection. 
 
“I was surprised by the CO (commanding officer) and the [chief’s] mess at the airport,” said Schmitt. “After what felt like about 40 minutes, which was probably actually about 30 seconds, Commander Moore gave me the good news. I was shocked and excited, but also nervous and felt unprepared for what lay in front of me.” 
 
With news of her selection on her mind, “Chief Select” Schmitt boarded the plane for Fort Bliss, Texas.
 
Her duties while at Fort Bliss included functioning as an on-call translator at the triage department of the University Medical Center; assisting in welcoming new arrivals; working on public service announcements and other publications for the Joint Information Center; and assisting at the education center, helping volunteer teachers with children aged 5-10. 
 
The classes were as large as 50 kids at a time whose native languages included Dari, Pashto, Urdu, or a combination of the three, with very little knowledge of English. 
 
“The kids made a point to tell me how much Dari I don’t know,” said Schmitt, “and that I have an Iranian accent, which they found funny. It’s been inspiring, frustrating, exhausting, and heartwarming as both the students and I worked together to understand and improve our abilities to speak in each other’s native languages.”
 
Schmitt’s experience with chief petty officer initiation was just as rigorous, held at Navy Reserve Center El Paso – the closest Navy command to her deployed assignment at Fort Bliss. 
 
“This experience really helped me learn how to ask for help,” said Schmitt. “Operating out of a hotel room, in a new location and with all new people around me, away from everyone I know and everything I am familiar with definitely gave me an opportunity to grow and operate well outside of my comfort zone as well as learn not just about the Navy reserve community, but also learn and gain experience outside my rate.” 
 
Schmitt added, “CPO initiation for reservists is just as difficult as it is for active duty, with the added complication of trying to fit everything around the schedules of not only the selectees and their civilian jobs, but also the chiefs leading it. Most of our in-person training was limited to once a week. We had to squeeze in as much as we possibly could on Saturdays from 0730 to about 1200, and everything else was done virtually throughout the rest of the week.” 
 
CPO initiation is a rite of passage that all new chief petty officers pass through that not only capstones the training and experience they have accumulated over the course of their career, but also introduces them to new challenges and expectations as the next generation of Navy leaders to wear the coveted anchors. As most who have gone through this process will tell you, it is an enlightening and often frustratingly difficult process. For Schmitt, the year’s initiation came with added challenges, but she persevered and returned home to Monterey stronger for it.  
 
“Chief Schmitt did not hesitate to deploy for Operation Allies Welcome during the holidays,” said Cdr. Josie Moore, commanding officer, Information Warfare Training Center Monterey. “Her toughness and commitment through a short-fused deployment to include CPO initiation make her a true leader of information warriors.”
 
IWTC Monterey, as part of the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT), provides a continuum of foreign language training to Navy personnel, which prepares them to conduct information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.
 
With four schoolhouse commands, two detachments, and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, CIWT is recognized as Naval Education and Training Command’s top learning center for the past two years. Training over 21,000 students every year, CIWT delivers trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services. CIWT also offers more than 200 courses for cryptologic technicians, intelligence specialists, information systems technicians, electronics technicians, and officers in the information warfare community.
 
For more on Information Warfare Training Command Monterey, visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ciwt/IWTCmonterey/ and http://www.monterey.army.mil/Service_Units/IWTC_Monterey.html, or find them on Facebook.
 
For more news from Center for Information Warfare Training, visit www.navy.mil/local/cid/, http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ciwt/, or http://www.facebook.com/NavyCIWT.