Summer Cruise

As a Midshipman, you spend a month every summer being an active member of our Navy. This month is used as a training trip designed to give you understanding into how the Navy works and what life is like in each community. During these summers you will be given many opportunities for exposure to fleet activities such as driving a Navy vessel, driving a submarine, flying a jet and interacting with Marines. These cruises give you the opportunity to take away from it the type of life style you will encounter when you are commissioned as an Officer in the US Navy or Marine Corps. They are often one of the many highlights in a Midshipman’s tenure in NROTC.

Following your freshman year, you will attend a month long program called Career Orientation Training Midshipman (CORTRAMID) in Norfolk, VA or San Diego, CA. During this month you will have the opportunity to meet other midshipmen from around the country, and be broken into companies. At that point you will spend a week on a submarine base and a night on a submarine, a week living life as a marine, a week with a surface ship and a week with an aviation squadron. This is a fast-paced program intended to give you an overview of the four communities which you may be assigned to upon commissioning.

As a Navy Option, after your sophomore year you will choose to spend your training on a ship or submarine shadowing an enlisted sailor. You will live as he/she does on the ship and complete tasks with them. This cruise is intended to open your eyes to how the Navy is run from the enlisted point of view and to connect with your future sailors. This summer is about learning the life on a ship and learning about the men and women you will one day lead as a commissioned officer.

During your senior cruise you will have the option between surface, submarine or aviation. This time you will shadow an officer in that community and learn more about a career within that community. This experience will give you an understanding of how the fleet operates and allow you to see what an officer does on a daily basis. At the end of this summer training you should be confident in selecting a community in which you wish to become a part of upon commissioning. 

Marine Options will attend Mountain Warfare Training Center (MWTC) after their sophomore year. The Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center conducts a course to prepare Marine Option midshipmen for operations in mountainous, high altitude and cold weather environments. Following their junior year, Marine Options are required to attend and pass Officer Candidate School (OCS), a 6 week course that focuses on physical fitness, mental stregth, and leadership skills. 

Nurse Options attend two summer cruises throughout their time in NROTC. Nurse Options will embark on a Navy ship after their freshman year and shadow a Navy Nurse at a Military Treatment Facility (MTF) after their junior year. 

These three summer training evolutions are very useful tools to midshipmen in learning the way of Navy life and allow you to see which community is right for you. During these months you are exposed to new people and different leadership styles, all of which you will carry with you when you are commissioned.