Bainbridge sailor chooses destroyer

Published 10:32 am Monday, July 4, 2016

Navy Midshipman Galen Mander participated in the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps ship selection draft as a future member of the U.S. Navy’s Surface Warfare Officer community.

Mander, of Bainbridge Island, was one of more than 280 midshipmen at 70 Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps units around the country selected to serve in the Navy as surface warfare officers. Each selecting midshipman is ranked according to his or her grade point average, aptitude scores and physical fitness.

According to their rankings, each midshipman provided their preference of ship or homeport to the junior officer detailer at the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee.

“I see ship selection as a culmination of four years of work,” Mander said. “Finally finding out exactly where I am going is a very satisfying and proud thing.”

Mander, a 2012 Bainbridge High graduate, has selected to serve aboard the USS Stockdale, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer that is homeported at Naval Base San Diego.

Mander is majoring in Asian studies while attending Washington State University. Upon graduation, he will receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard the Stockdale as a surface warfare officer.

The midshipmen’s selection of a ship is not only a personal milestone but also an important day for the ships.

Not only do the midshipmen choose where they are going to start their Naval career, officials said, but the ships they choose also gain motivated young officers to help lead and improve an already great team.

“NROTC has helped me learn how to interact with all sorts of people as members of a team. Midshipmen have to overcome personal barriers in order to achieve a professional goal,” Mander said. “This skill is very useful in school, when working on group projects or presentations. NROTC also forces you to become a confident individual, which helps in a midshipman’s personal life.”