Chief Petty Officer Lawrence Coates, a native of Santa Cruz, was inspired to join the Navy by travel opportunities. “I joined to travel and ended up being able to see lots of places,” said Coates.
Aptos High School Graduate and Navy Chief Petty Officer Lawrence Coates
Now, 18 years later, Coates is stationed with the Navy Service Support Advanced Training Command (NSSATC) San Diego, a new training command tasked with improving fleet readiness.
“It’s exciting having the opportunity to grow as an individual,” said Coates. “It can be challenging to get in front of people, but you use the opportunity to grow and self improve as a leader and instructor.”
Coates, a 1996 graduate of Aptos High School, is a logistics specialist at the training center located in San Diego.
“As the lead chief petty officer I’m responsible for six logistics specialists Navy enlisted classification courses,” said Coates.
Coates credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in Santa Cruz.
“I learned that you get out what you put in,” said Coates. “Always show heart.”
NSSATC was established in March 2019. It develops and delivers advanced education and training opportunities that build personal, professional, and service support competencies to achieve fleet readiness. Headquartered at Naval Air Station Oceana, Dam Neck Annex, Virginia, the command executes training at 10 globally dispersed learning sites with military and civilian instructors and staff personnel.
NSSATC is responsible for Advanced Administration courses, Advanced Logistics courses, Navy Instructor Training Course (NITC), Command Career
Counselor (CCC), Command Managed Equal Opportunity (CMEO) Manager, Drug and Alcohol Program Advisor (DAPA), and Alcohol and Drug Abuse for Managers and Supervisors.
There are many reasons to be proud of naval service, and Coates is most proud of being promoted to chief petty officer. “It instills pride because I’m part of a long tradition and heritage,” said Coates. “They definitely stand for a greater cause.”
A key element of the Navy the Nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, according to Navy officials, 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.
“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.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Coates and other sailors and staff know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes, serving as a key part of the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy is an opportunity to inspire and motivate others and give back the things I’ve learned throughout my career and help sailors to get to where I’ve gotten,” said Coates.
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