Photo By Chief Petty Officer Spencer Fling | 90125-N-PL946-1375 GREAT LAKES, Ill. (Jan. 25, 2019) Chief of Naval Operations Adm....... read more read more
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GREAT LAKES, Ill. – The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MPCON) Russell Smith visited Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy’s only boot camp, to observe changes in training that are improving basic warfighting skills and toughness in the Navy’s newest Sailors, 24-25 Jan.
“The past several weeks are not about being a Sailor, they are about becoming a Sailor—a fighting Navy Sailor, and that process of becoming never ends,” said Richardson. “Becoming a fighting Navy Sailor means becoming an effective member of a combat team.”
The CNO spoke with Rear Adm. Mike Bernacchi, Commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) and Capt. Erik Thors, Commanding Officer, RTC. They spoke about the impacts the changes to training have had as well as ongoing efforts to improve not only recruit training, but also Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) and Officer Training Command (OTC), which Bernacchi also oversees.
Recruit training has replaced extensive computer-based training with hands-on learning, using multiple repetitions of basic skills applied in increasingly complex and realistic training. This process culminates during Battle Stations, an overnight, scenario-based, high stress evaluation where recruits are expected to self-organize and perform tasks which simulate routine and emergency situations at sea.
In addition to observing training and meeting with recruits, Richardson was the Reviewing Officer for the graduation of 1,070 new Sailors. The graduation ceremony, attended by recruits’ friends and family and live-streamed to those who couldn’t attend in person, is the formal recognition of the end of their basic training, after which they will report to advanced training specific to their rating or to the fleet for their first commands.
“United States Sailors have been going to sea in defense of our nation and our interests for 243 years,” said Richardson. “Today, you join that proud legacy—you should feel amazingly proud of what you’ve accomplished here at Great Lakes.”
Boot camp is approximately eight weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control, along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. More than 30,0000 recruits graduate annually from RTC and begin their Navy careers.
For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/rtc/.
NSTC oversees 98% of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy. This includes RTC at Great Lakes, made up of more than 870 RDCs and instructors who oversee and train more than 39,000 recruits annually. There are NROTC units at more than 160 colleges and universities across the United States, with more than 5,900 midshipmen enrolled annually who are taught, guided and molded by more than 500 Navy and Marine Corps officer and enlisted instructors. OTC annually graduates more than 2,900 students per year under the instructing guidance of 39 RDCs, Marine Corps drill instructors and technical trainers. NSTC also oversees Navy Junior ROTC and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.
For more information about NSTC, visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/ or visit the NSTC Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining/.
| Date Taken: | 01.25.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2019 17:49 |
| Story ID: | 308334 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 1,222 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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