MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Navy petty officers from throughout Southern California graduated from the week-long Petty Officer Indoctrination Course Friday.
This new course, which takes after the Corporals Course, teaches small-unit leadership to its petty officers. Petty officers learned drill, core values, leadership, physical fitness, stress management, financial management, naval history and their place in their history.
“We’re trying to change the green side, the 1st Marine Division Sailors,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan D. McDonell, one of the course instructors. “We want to take away that attitude of being an overpaid E-3, and show them that they’re leaders now. You’re at this level, a level of leadership, and you need to be held accountable for it.”
The majority of training was given by petty officers, and during P.T., their command master chief near by got in on the work out, motivating his sailors. For some of the Sailors, it was their first time getting to run the obstacle course or drill since boot camp.
“This is giving them tools to put in there tool box, and this will give them a foundation to start on,” said Master Chief Celvin E. Carter, command master chief of 1st Marine Division.
“It’s a good thing because we don’t have a Corporals Course, so this is what we have to instill leadership principles and traits in them,” said Senior Chief Frank Dominguez, senior chief for division schools.
These Sailors, both male and female, came from various occupational specialties. There were cooks, postal clerks, religious specialists and corpsmen attending the course.
Like the Corps, these Sailors have a path of tradition to follow in leadership and responsibility, and the Petty Officer Indoctrination Course provides the “Green Side” Navy with the training they need to follow that path.