Subscribe
I set my alarm and take one final look over my uniform. Ribbons centered and one quarter inch from the top of my left pocket. Warfare device – set. Aiguillette – set. Tomorrow is a big day. My mind is racing with a myriad of emotions – nervous, anxious, and excited. Tomorrow I get my division.
Early in the morning I arrive on base, hours from the first glimpse of any sunlight. I walk into the USS Pearl Harbor barracks with partners I’ll spend the majority of my time with over the next several weeks. We are briefed one last time on the number of recruits we have, any last minute appointments we need to be aware of, and given a schedule of events to follow for that week. After a final check of our uniforms, it’s show time! We position ourselves outside the compartment door. “RDCs, forward MARCH!”
In the compartment, the air is thick with anticipation. Before us sit 88 individuals cross-legged on the deck in tightly-uniformed rows. 176 eyes and ears watching and listening to our every word and watching every action during our introduction. Like a symphonic orchestra building up to the crescendo: “your bootcamp experience begins NOW!” All hell breaks loose. Organized chaos as they get into a height line – shortest to tallest – in the compartment before heading out to their first event.
They line up outside the barber shop and walk in with the last remnant of who they were just a few hours prior to arrival at RTC. They are recruits when they walk out with their head shaved – a clean slate on their first step in the journey that will transform them from civilian into Sailor.
The next few days are a whirlwind of events between medical, dental, in processing, initial uniform issue, lectures on military benefits, and a chaplain brief. The days are long, but they go by quickly.
It’s move-out day. The division prepares to depart their temporary home for in processing and form up for the march to their new home on the opposite side of base. It’s an unspoken ceremonial event signifying the conclusion of P-Days (processing days lasting a week) and the start of the training. The walk home involves a lot of “motivation,” as the recruits oftentimes struggle to maintain the pace and intervals expected of them. They arrive sweaty and sore. I arrive with a hoarse throat and a fire in my eyes as my partners and I hurry them into the compartment in front of their assigned racks. The rest of the evening will be spent ensuring the recruits are folding and stowing their uniform items correctly.
The end of P-Days and the transition into the militarization phase of training marks a turning point in these recruits’ time here at Recruit Training Command (RTC). The last vestiges of their identity as a civilian are in the rear-view mirror, and before them is the journey which will forge them into a Sailor.
Time flies here. We have three inspections that are just over the horizon and every free minute is to introduce, train, and prepare them to be successful.
Military drill is one of the most rewarding, yet most challenging aspects of boot camp to train. Imagine a litter of 88 who can barely tell the difference from left and right when they’re getting yelled at, and throw terms like “dressing off”, “flank”, “oblique”, and “cover down” at them. It’s overwhelming, it’s ugly, but that’s how the sausage is made. Military drill teaches teamwork. It diminishes the individual and forces one to be accountable to those on their left, right, front, and back. If one is out of line, it will domino effect the others, and make you stick out like a sore thumb. There’s a lot, and I mean a lot, of energy invested into drill when I have my recruits.
I have to apply pressure constantly on them, especially in the first weeks. Every discrepancy must be addressed accordingly as soon as it’s noticed. Deck log errors? Dust on the deck? Didn’t shave? As an RDC you have to understand it’s more than just a job, it’s about ownership. You’re taking ownership of the future of the Navy. My recruits are a reflection of me while they are here at RTC, and a reflection of me (in a limited extent) as Sailors once they enter the fleet. This is why discipline, military bearing, and good order, are all so important to me as an RDC. They are my responsibility, so in a way, they are almost like my own children. I’ll spend more than 100 hours a week with them, so the standard has to be set and maintained from the start.
I remember the beginning of my second division and how frustrating it was. (I had just graduated my first division, and I was so used to having a well-oiled machine.) Everything I was telling them to do seemed so easy, yet they were having such a hard time grasping the concepts I was throwing at them. It seems so obvious looking back, but only having a week from graduation to getting a new group, the expectation is so high right from the start and you forget the old adage “crawl, walk, run.” It came full circle when I had a partner learning this valuable gem and I was able to see my own “crawl, walk, run” experience as an RDC right in front of my eyes.
I have to get creative with schedule management to allow me the opportunity to catch up on administrative work. As important as training is, maintaining the administrative side of being an RDC is just as important. Everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – is documented in the recruit’s individual record we call a hard card. This is our way of keeping track of their progress here at RTC.
It’s easy to feel like you’re constantly juggling events, schedules, and administrative work (because you are), but once you learn the process, it’s like becoming a proficient swimmer. The fear of drowning goes away and you adapt. Before you know it, you’re the one helping your partners navigate the process of learning how to swim as well. It is very rewarding. It’s a confidence that becomes contagious and I think it helps the newest RDCs when they feel overwhelmed.
Most of the technical training conducted here at RTC is done by specialized instructors, not RDCs. We are here to serve as a trainer, but also a mentor, disciplinarian, teacher, and coach. I’ve had recruits who were living under a bridge a few days before they came to my division. I’ve had others who lost their loved ones while they were assigned to my division. I’ve dealt with conflict, disappointment, loss, career changes, and many of life’s other challenges from my recruits all while still working on molding them into Sailors. As an RDC, every day is different from the last with its own challenges and victories.
When I see these recruits change before my eyes the feeling is, well, indescribable. Toward the end of boot camp, around week six or seven, my relationship begins to shift with them a bit. I’m still the RDC, which means the standard doesn’t fall, but they look to me now more than ever as they know their time here is coming to an end. I spend hours mentoring them, focusing on how they can continuously grow as great Sailors after boot camp. Like a group of eager disciples around some great guru, they’ll all gather around hoping for some morsel of knowledge on what’s to come once they leave. I realize just how much they respect and look up to me, but more importantly, the gravity of my role is revealed in times like this.
Tonight’s the night. It is the culminating event fusing the hard work I have invested into them, and their desire to work as a team. Everything has led up to this point and the energy in the compartment is electrifying. The past weeks have been filled with long days, yet the incredible exhaustion seemingly disappears. I stand with them on the precipice of this final page in the first chapter of their career and look forward to seeing them the next day, reborn. The next morning, we meet the division at the end of the capping ceremony and grasp their hand to not only congratulate them, but to welcome them into the Navy family. There’s a lot of pride in these moments.
The pounding of the drums echo throughout the drill hall. The cheers of families and friends behind me almost drown out the commands being barked at the newly-minted divisions of Sailors as they march smartly past me and the rest of the RDCs I’ve worked with over the past weeks. We all render a salute as each division parades past and reflect how far we’ve all grown together from the chaos of P-days to that well-oiled division we’ve trained. From recruit to Sailor. Your time in the Navy is now, shipmate.
| Date Taken: | 12.31.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.31.2021 20:14 |
| Story ID: | 412289 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 773 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Training My Replacements: Life as a Recruit Division Commander, by CPO Gabriel Bevan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
