USA: TSC Great Lakes Welcomes New Commanding Officer

TSC Great Lakes Welcomes New Commanding 0fficer

Training Support Center (TSC) Great Lakes, Ill., said farewell to one commanding officer and welcomed a new one during a change of command ceremony held Feb. 15 at Naval Station Great Lakes where Capt. Henry (Hank) Roux Jr. relieved Capt. Peter R. Lintner as commanding officer.

Capt. Roux previously served in the enlisted ranks as a yeoman and was commissioned as a limited duty officer ensign in March 1988. His most recent assignment was serving as the head, enlisted community manager (BUPERS 32) on the staff of the Naval Personnel Command, Washington D.C. where he had served since November 2009.

Other assignments include USS SAM RAYBURN (SSBN 635), Submarine Squadron SIXTEEN, Submarine Group TWO, USS FULTON (AS 11), Submarine Squadron TEN, Submarine Group NINE, and USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70).

Capt. Roux has served with Bureau of Naval Personnel; OPNAV (N871) in the Pentagon; Personnel Support Activity Detachment; Personnel Support Activity, Great Lakes; served as executive officer, Naval Station, Great Lakes; Naval Air Forces in San Diego; and commanded Enlisted Allowance for the Chief of Naval Personnel in Washington D.C.

Lintner, a 38-year Navy veteran, served as the commanding officer for TSC Great Lakes since January 2011.

 “For the past two years, I have had the opportunity to positively impact a lot of young Sailors by introducing them to the Navy, what the Navy is all about, what their expectations are, and explain to them why this is a wonderful career opportunity for them,” said Lintner. “We teach them life skills here that will help them be a better person in the workplace through their time in the Navy as well as the rest of their lives.”

During the ceremony, Lintner was presented the Legion of Merit Medal. The citation stated that Lintner’s “exceptional meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services as commanding officer, TSC.”

Capt. Lintner led his staff of more than 350 by his “dynamic direction, keen judgment and loyal devotion to duty,” and expertly guided them through a challenging conversion of 71 contract employee positions into 58 government service employee positions, saving the Navy $1.8 million annually.

Additionally, working closely with the Department of the Navy Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office and Navy Region Midwest, he implemented several new Sailor development initiatives that led to a reduction of more than 60 percent in reported sexual assault and significantly fewer alcohol related incidents.

Capt. Lintner’s previous assignments include the USS Canisteo (AO-99), USS Scott (DDG-995), USS Jouet (CG-29), USS San Jacinto (CG-56) and Command and Control Warfare Group Atlantic aboard USS Eisenhower (CVN-69).

Capt. Lintner has served with Tactical Training Group Atlantic; Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group 8; Surface Warfare Development; Commander Second Fleet; Commander Undersea Surveillance; and commanded Naval Ocean Processing Facility Dam Neck, Va.

Guest Speaker Rear Admiral Donald P. Quinn, commander, Naval Education and Training Command, praised Capt. Lintner’s accomplishments as he commanded NETC’s largest and most complex training support center with a student throughput of approximately 30,000 during his tenure.

Quinn detailed how Capt. Lintner meticulously managed an annual budget of more than $12 million and guided the command seamlessly through a complex transition from contractor to civil service employees. Working through his deck plate leaders, TSC achieved a reenlistment rate of more than an 80 percent (well above the overall Navy rate of 70 percent), and a military advancement rate of 30 percent (well above the Navy rate of 19 percent).

 “When the Navy took the lead in deploying engaging sexual assault prevention and response training for our leaders and Sailors, Capt. Lintner set the ‘gold standard,’ adding innovations in ‘edutainment’ and providing ground-breaking by-stander intervention training that is having a measurable impact in reducing occurrences of this crime,” said Rear Adm. Quinn.

Outside the office, Capt. Lintner took a genuine interest in his Sailors’ extracurricular activities as he could always be seen running alongside them in scorching August temperatures as he ran a marathon on base or jumping into the freezing January waters of Lake Michigan during the annual Polar Plunge.

“I was able to do many of the fun MWR events and really enjoyed doing those things with the Sailors and share their exuberance and excitement with them,” said Capt. Lintner. “It harkens me back to my days at Great Lakes when I was here as these Sailors are exactly every bit motivated and rejuvenating. I am happy I was able to share these experiences with them so they can see how wonderful this Navy is that we’re all about.”

Capt. Lintner was present to shaking the hands of hundreds of local families who were on hand to adopt more than 500 students as they opened up their homes for a day during the annual Thanksgiving Adopt-A-Sailor program. He also was on hand to be chowing down on barbecue fare during the Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions (CSADD) grill crawls; throw strikes at the bowling alley on base; dodging balls during CSADD’s frequent dodgeball events; or belting his favorite song into the microphone during a Karaoke night on base.

“Captain Linter is one of the rare leaders who understand his roots,” said Command Master Chief Robert K. Tompkins, TSC. “He enjoys the opportunity to go out and about the command at all levels – from the new accession Sailors to senior flag officers – to see for himself what is going on making him a true leader of the Sailors. He is an inspiration to all and can be compared with some of the Navy’s other great leaders who have led from the front while always having the best interest of all Sailors in mind when accomplishing command mission.”

Capt. Lintner stresses to incoming staff that working at Great Lakes does require a great amount of work.

“This is not easy work. You’re dealing with the new accession Sailors and that takes a tremendous amount of time, effort and patience and you must come here prepared to give that effort,” said Capt. Lintner. “This is not your typical shore duty. You will work your tail off here because that’s what it takes to send quality Sailors out to the Fleet.”

Capt. Lintner will now report to commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) where he will assist with special projects under Rear Adm. (Select) Dee L. Mewbourne.

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Naval Today Staff, February 21, 2013; Image: TSG