12 March 2012

University of Notre Dame NROTC Remarks

Team,
I recently had the great privilege of visiting with Naval ROTC students from around the country as keynote speaker for the 2012 Naval Leadership Weekend hosted by the University of Notre Dame NROTC Unit (my remarks here). Notre Dame shares a great history with our Navy, having been selected as a training location for our officer candidates early in World War II when the university faced severe financial difficulties after losing much of its enrollment due to the draft.

The Naval leadership event was held in the Press Box at the historic Notre Dame Stadium. For the 17th consecutive year, NROTC students from across our nation came together to discuss issues critical to their roles as Navy and Marine Corps leaders. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to speak with these young men and women about their fundamental responsibility to provide leadership to the Sailors and Marines who will soon be in their charge. I introduced the midshipmen to the leadership philosophy of Vice Admiral James Stockdale (previously discussed here), who served as an extraordinary model of moral leadership for my generation of Naval Officers.

Thanks again to CAPT Earl Carter and the Midshipmen of the Notre Dame NROTC unit for hosting me and a very special thank you to Mr. Dan Brazo for the exceptional tour of the Notre Dame stadium – “Play like a champion today!”
All the best, JCHjr









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