How Utah's only Navy ROTC unit is training landlocked Utahns to become seaworthy officers

SALT LAKE CITY — Wasatch County is home to several sizable bodies of water such as Jordanelle, Echo and Deer Creek reservoirs. But Ethan Ogzewalla's hometown of Heber City is still hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean or naval base.

No matter — the sailor's life is the life for Ogzewalla.

"I, 100%, wanted to join the Navy right out of high school and go the officer route," he told the Deseret News.

The University of Utah's Naval ROTC has checked all the boxes for Navy Midshipman Ogzewalla.

He was able to remain in the Beehive State, pursue his undergraduate degree at a civilian university and participate in a military training program that will soon end with him accepting an officer's commission in the U.S. Navy.

In a few weeks, Ogzewalla is expected to graduate from Utah, take his oath of office and attach ensign shoulder boards to his dress white uniform. Then he begins training as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer, mastering his scuba diving skills and the delicate work of neutralizing explosives.

"I've always loved the water. I played sports. And I just wanted to do something active," he said.

Ogzewalla will add his name to the long list of Utah college students who became officers in the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps after participating in the University of Utah's NROTC unit — the only one of its kind in landlocked Utah.

Utah's only Navy ROTC marks eight decades

It's a historic year for the University of Utah NROTC unit: its 80th anniversary.

Established on Aug. 15, 1945, the unit has graduated young men and young women into the Navy and Marine Corps officer ranks for eight decades.

The unit's first home on the school's Salt Lake City campus was located in the field house near today's Rice Eccles Stadium. Meals were served in the Union Building cafeteria, and Naval Science classes were held whenever classroom space was available, according to the unit's website.

A year later, in 1946, the Naval Science Building was completed on campus at a cost of just over $200,000.

The building, which the unit still calls home, contains an armory, a library, offices, classrooms, supply spaces and a small bore firing range.

Female midshipmen were allowed to participate in the program in 1972.

Developing officers 'mentally, morally and physically'

U.S. Navy Capt. Daniel Nowicki is the University of Utah Navy ROTC's 27th commanding officer.

The unit's task in 2025, he said, is as essential as it was in the 1940s during the early days of the Cold War. "Our mission here is to develop (students) mentally, morally and physically to prepare them as officers to serve in the Navy and Marine Corps."

The majority of NROTC graduates who commission as Navy ensigns will move into service communities such as surface warfare, aviation, submarines or special warfare forces such as SEAL.

"Many will have responsibilities as a leader right away on board a ship," said Nowicki, a naval aviator who graduated from the United States Naval Academy after attending Salt Lake City's Judge Memorial Catholic High School.

Other NROTC graduates from the University of Utah are commissioned as second lieutenants in the Marine Corps and pursue a variety of military occupational specialties.

Some of the unit's graduates will likely spend their entire professional careers in uniform. Others will complete their obligated active duty period — generally five years — and then transition to the civilian workforce.

Regardless of their respective career paths, Nowicki hopes every graduate from Utah's NROTC unit leaves with a service mindset "within their communities, within their line of work and, of course, within the armed forces."

While the career paths of the unit's alums will be broad, Nowicki is intent on every officer candidate leaving with transferable skills such as teamwork, leadership and perseverance. It's also vital that every officer candidate at the NROTC unit builds a solid ethical foundation.

"Folks are going to look at you — and if you're not holding the standard or don't have the courage to correct something … then you've just lowered that standard," said Nowicki

Major Jacob Rittenhouse, USMC, serves as the unit's executive officer and is a Marine officer instructor.

A solid Marine Corps officer, he noted, is "somebody with a bias for action."

"Two pieces — technical competency and leadership — are the pillars that we try to develop and want in a new second lieutenant," he said.

Marine Corps officers, he added, are primarily leaders rather than operators.

"What I try to instill in folks is a sense of humility and servant leadership," he said. "If you go into that first job and you understand that you don't know everything, then you've got enough humility to ask for help or ask your senior enlisted NCOs for assistance.

"That's what's going to put you on the right path," he said.

Rittenhouse appreciates the rich blend of young men and young women involved in Utah's only NROTC program. "We have a lot of diverse backgrounds and folks from all over the United States too — which is kind of a snapshot of the military in general."

Utah's Navy ROTC: 'The best decision I've made'

A wide variety of officer candidates are participating in a leadership and ethics course taught by Nowicki, including several with decorated careers in the Navy and Marine Corps enlisted ranks.

They discussed with the Deseret News their varied military background and career goals — and how the University of Utah's NROTC unit is helping them realize those ambitions.

According to Ogzewalla, learning to balance several responsibilities is a unit-developed skill that will benefit him in the fleet. During his years in the unit, he's had to balance his NROTC duties, jobs, college classwork and his personal life.

"At the junior officer level, you have to manage your job, your people — and then everything else that (the Navy) is going to throw at you," he said.

Marine Corps Sgt. Marcos Van Dalen is studying history and Asian studies at the university and hopes to one day become a foreign affairs officer.

Van Dalen appreciates the "breadth of leadership experience" reflected in Utah's NROTC faculty and staff.

Besides a naval aviator such as Nowicki, the unit's faculty includes a Navy submarine officer, a Navy surface warfare officer and a veteran Marine officer and a noncommissioned officer.

The unit has helped Van Dalen learn to manage the dilemmas that are sure to face a military officer in 2025.

Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Brytani Musick has been in uniform for 13 years and has performed a variety of military duties in dozens of countries. Being part of Utah's NROTC unit is allowing her "to get back to the basics" of leadership. Now she's pursuing a degree in communications and the opportunities afforded to a Marine officer.

"I love what the Marine Corps officers do within the communication strategy world — working with the media, crisis response, strategic messaging, working with NATO and those types of exercises," she said.

Jeremiah Whisenhunt comes from the Navy's nuclear program. When he decided to make the leap from the enlisted ranks to the officer community, he knew the University of Utah's NROTC unit was where he belonged.

"I had multiple new officer candidates tell me that they had spoken to officers out in the fleet who told them that the University of Utah was the place to go," said Whisenhunt. "Everyone who's come from here has been extremely proficient, great officers with great leadership capability."

Midshipman First Class Dave Spong of Boulder, Colorado, will be commissioned later this year as a Navy surface warfare officer. He salutes his unit for being mentors, role models, leaders and friends.

Participating in Utah's NROTC unit, added Spong, "is absolutely the best decision I've ever made in my life — I've learned so much about leadership and interpersonal relationships."

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