NTrain
2009 – District Staff Officer (DSO) Workshops
Photos and article by Mel Borofsky, Editor SITREP
|
| DSO Workshops - Chris Gress (9ER), David Adams (5SR) and Charles Aten (8WR) |
January 30, 31, and February 1. As the name implies, NTrain is the National Training Conference. The staff and committee meetings are an important function of NTrain and the ability to gather at one location allows this to occur.
But…the paramount function of NTrain is the ability to gather for three days the District Staff Officers of specific departments, each in their own separate workshop. The participating departments vary from year to year. The uniforms of the day varied from civvies to tropical blues, but as one instructor said, “I don’t care what you are wearing, I just want you to arrive with an open mind and the real purpose for being here; to learn something and to share your experiences.”
This year the District Staff Officers (DSO) invited represented the Legal (DSO-LP), Navigation Services (DSO-NS), Operations (DSO-OP), Communications (DSO-CM), Member Training (DSO-MT) and for the first time in quite awhile, the District Conference Coordinators.
The individual workshops are geared to present the participants with up-to-date information provided by their National Department Chiefs. For many, this is the first time they have been able to come face to face with their counterparts from other districts. There is considerable discussion on the “problems” of the day and plenty of time, in and out of the classroom, to talk one-on-one about common matters of importance.
It is the responsibility of each of the DSOs to carry the provided information and materials back to their home district and disseminate it back through their chain of division and flotilla staff officers.
“The ability
to communicate with officers sharing similar situations was extremely beneficial,”
said Lyn Thomas, DSO Operations. “My husband and I have been Conference
Coordinators for many years but the opportunity to see the way other districts
conduct their conferences and the methods they employ was a real eye opener,”
said Arlene Dolich, CC District 5-NR.
~IJLA