CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. --
The Camp Pendleton and Miramar chapter of the National Naval Officers Association held its 2nd Annual Senior Leader Mentorship Seminar at the Pacific Views Event Center, May 8.
The Senior Leader Mentorship Seminar is a mentoring event in which participants received ten minute mentoring sessions with members of the seminar’s mentor panel. The panel was made up of seven senior Navy and Marine Corps officers from a variety of billets and military occupational specialties.
“Any successful person in any profession will equate their success to having great mentors, and this is especially true in the military,” said Capt. Zerbin Singleton, Camp Pendleton and Marine Corps Air Stations Miramar NNOA chapter president. “Mentors will make sure you are on track to reach your highest potential. This style of mentoring is direct and to the point. It gives mentees access to senior mentors in an intimate setting that allows them to be exposed to and inspired by the wise counsel of senior leaders.”
The panelists came from diverse backgrounds with years of knowledge and experience in various fields of expertise, such as Navy officers who serve in submarine and medical units to Marine officers from expeditionary and logistics units.
“Learning something from the flight surgeon, you might think ‘what does that have to do with me, I’m ground-side’, but some points she brought up, some leadership styles, and how she looks at things opened me up a new way of thinking,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Doreus, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, following his session with Navy Capt. Tara Zieber, force surgeon, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
The 20 participants met with the leaders seeking guidance on everything from career advancement to education to personal development.
“There’s a lot of diversity in the Marine Corps. Every section, every unit does things a little differently,” said Doreus. “Being able to sit down with so many different Commanding Officers and ask them personal questions in different areas that can help you in your life is definitely a good thing for the Marine Corps.”
Mentorship is often seen as a two-way relationship and many of the mentors found themselves also benefiting from the mentoring sessions.
“I think it’s important, as a more senior officer and probably closer to the end of his career than the beginning, to hear and absorb the opinions and views of the younger officers,” said Col. Hal J. Sellers, Commanding Officer, Security and Emergency Services Battalion. “They’re the ones who are closer to the Marines.”
The National Naval Officers Association supports the US Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard in the recruitment, development and retention of a diverse Officer Corps with local chapters throughout the United States and overseas.