{"id":23367,"date":"2018-09-02T13:37:04","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T13:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/02\/maritime-accidents-boost-interest-in-us-naval-academy-training\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:15:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:15:57","slug":"maritime-accidents-boost-interest-in-us-naval-academy-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/09\/02\/maritime-accidents-boost-interest-in-us-naval-academy-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Maritime accidents boost interest in US Naval Academy training"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ANNAPOLIS, Md. \u2014 Lt. Devan Gurecki remembers feeling uneasy the first time she set foot on the bridge of a Navy ship. All she knew about warships she had learned in officer candidate school classrooms. Suddenly, she was a lookout on the bridge and giving directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI literally walked on board my ship the first day, and they threw me on the bridge, and I was like, \u2018wait, really? There\u2019s no qualification except for my ensign bars? This is it?\u2019 And I had never done it before, and it was kind of scary because it is a big responsibility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, as an instructor for the U.S. Naval Academy<\/a>\u2019s Yard Patrol program, she\u2019s glad to see the military college host about 80 future naval officers from Navy ROTC. The training is designed to make students put their classroom navigation knowledge<\/a> to use at sea. It\u2019s the first time NROTC students have participated in the academy\u2019s unique, decades-old training program.<\/p>\n\n\n\t