SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — USS Harpers Ferry wardroom officers received orders from the amphibious dock landing ship’s commanding officer to ditch their day-to-day jobs Friday and go take a hike.

Spending the day in casual attire and communing with nature on Mount Yumihari — about 1,200 feet above sea level near downtown Sasebo — was not designed for the officers’ leisure, said Cmdr. Humberto L. Quintanilla II, commanding officer.

The skipper hoped the almost perfect weather, vibrant nature and challenging climb — peppered with breaks used to explore leadership lessons — would reinforce a critical Navy message: Officers afloat must develop into accomplished, intuitive leaders.

The first Mount Yumihari project took place in October 2003.

“I had been in command of Harpers Ferry about four months. I felt as though the project resulted in great progress among our leadership,” Quintanilla said atop the mountain, as more than 30 officers listened to an audiobook of “Trapped at Pearl Harbor: Escape from Battleship Oklahoma” by Stephen Bower Young.

Young, then a seaman first class, recalls the tragedy’s minute details, spotlighting acts of leadership unknown before the book was published in 1991.

Friday, as the officers stopped at various points, the commanding officer read Navy and Marine Corps leadership principles, quotes and stories about great leaders.

“Then we’d start climbing again. The information presented was food for thought until the next break,” said Lt. j.g. Edward Goslee, damage control assistant.

Quintanilla is strong as a “mentor and teacher” of younger leaders, Goslee said. “We take what he’s taught us and pass it to our junior personnel.”

“The CO likes a multifaceted approach. Being outside was an opportunity to learn without the regimented atmosphere,” Goslee said. “One goal was to become more comfortable with each other as individuals … not based so strongly on rank structure.”

Harpers Ferry recently returned from eight months with the Essex Amphibious Ready Group, supporting the 5th Fleet in the North Persian Gulf for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Younger officers grew accustomed to leadership training in the ship’s environment.

Quintanilla said he hoped Friday’s natural surroundings and the challenge of the hike would create a good learning atmosphere.

Lt. Eric Modlo, the Harpers Ferry doctor, said, “I’m more of a staff officer than a line commander, so I don’t have the same responsibilities that a division officer has. But looking in, watching what they do all the time, it’s been kind of refreshing to see them coming out of their shells just a little bit. We’ve had a great day together.”

Goslee agreed: “I enjoyed two aspects the most, those being the intellectual interaction and the truly honest bonding that took place during the project.”