Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jesse Hawthorne.
Petty Officer 1st Class Timothy Marshall, a native of Vestavia Hills and an instructor at NETC.
Sailors are some of the most highly-trained people on the planet, according to Navy officials, and this training requires highly-dedicated instructors.
At Naval Education and Training Command, this obligation falls upon hard-charging, Navy professionals who trains and mentors the Navy’s future warfighters.
Petty Officer 1st Class Timothy Marshall, a native of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, is an instructor at NETC, providing the fleet with sailors who possess the basic technical knowledge and skills necessary for naval service.
“This is my way of ensuring sailors go to the fleet with the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain the U.S. Navy's sea dominance worldwide,” Marshall said.
Instructors are experts in the subject matter they teach, and they provide cutting-edge technical training that transforms civilians into mission-ready sailors.
Marshall, a 2000 graduate of Vestavia Hills High School, credits success as an instructor to many of the lessons learned growing up in Vestavia Hills.
“I learned quality leadership comes from a mutual respect within a team,” Marshall said. “When people are valued and treated fairly, they can accomplish anything together.”
NETC educates and trains those who serve our nation, taking them from street-to-fleet by transforming civilians into highly skilled, operational, and combat ready warfighters, while providing the tools and opportunities for continuous learning and development.
NETC is made up of six commands that provide a continuum of professional education and training in support of Surface Navy requirements that prepare enlisted sailors and officers to serve at sea, providing apprentice and specialized skills training to 7,500 sailors a year.
A key element of the Navy the nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, and that the nation’s prosperity is tied to the ability to operate freely on the world’s oceans. More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; 80 percent of the world’s population lives close to a coast; and 90 percent of all global trade by volume travels by sea.
Marshall plays an important role in America’s focus on rebuilding military readiness, strengthening alliances and reforming business practices in support of National Defense Strategy.
“Our priorities center on people, capabilities and processes, and will be achieved by our focus on speed, value, results and partnerships,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “Readiness, lethality and modernization are the requirements driving these priorities.”
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community and career, Marshall is most proud of being selected to lead the planning and execution of overhaul maintenance performed onboard USS Nimitz.
“This gave me the opportunity to challenge myself and my team in a high paced, critical environment, and to help maintain a very large component that influences our continued dominance at sea,” Marshall said.
Serving in the Navy is a continuing tradition of military service for Marshall, who has military ties with family members who have previously served. Marshall is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“My father served in the Navy as a chief petty officer working as an operations specialist and continuing this tradition, means understanding the hardships and obstacles that my father had to overcome serving in the military while taking care of his family,” Marshall said.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Marshall and other instructors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy means contributing to something bigger than myself on a global scale, and doing my best every day to lead those around me,” Marshall said.
Submitted by Lt. Kat Smith, Navy Office of Community Outreach.
