Photo By Chief Petty Officer Stephane Belcher | Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class Regine Garcia, a Recruit Division...... read more read more
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Meet Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class Regine Garcia! She’s a Recruit Division Commander (RDC) at Recruit Training Command (RTC) in Great Lakes, Illinois.
Garcia, a wife, and mother of three, moved to the U.S. from the Philippines at the age of 22 and joined the Navy by 25.
When she’s not working, she spends time with her husband and their three kids. As an RDC, there’s not a lot of downtime, so she makes sure the kids have fun by exploring the city, going to the mall, and enjoying some good food.
Since she joined in 2014, she’s served aboard three aircraft carriers and is now spending her shore duty training the nation’s future Sailors.
Garcia is passionate about the naturalization process RTC provides. She was able to complete the naturalization process in boot camp herself.
“It means a lot to me because I joined and I wasn’t a U.S. citizen,” she said. “When I see recruits join and they’re from different countries or my country, it means a lot to me for them to get the naturalization process.”
Recruits and Sailors renounce any other allegiance when they take the naturalization oath so she understands the full sacrifice these recruits make since many of them were raised in other countries.
“I always ask them, ‘What’s the reason you joined?’ and I will never hear any of them say, ‘Just to be naturalized’ or “Just to become a U.S. citizen,’” Garcia said. “It’s always that they really wanted to join the Navy or their families are in the Navy.”
She said getting naturalized is a bonus, but the main reason she joined was because she wanted to serve in the Navy and she wanted her kids to have a better future.
“We do what we do. We make sacrifices for our family and the kids,” Garcia said. “It’s rough because you’re trying to raise your kids and you are active duty as well. We do support the military and the Navy; but at the end of the day, we make sacrifices so they don’t have to.”
Boot camp is approximately 10 weeks and all enlistees in the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes five warfighting competencies of firefighting, damage control, seamanship, watch standing, and small arms handling and marksmanship along with physical fitness and lessons in Navy heritage and core values, Warrior Toughness, Life Skills, teamwork, and discipline. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy’s only boot camp.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2023 15:03 |
| Story ID: | 449249 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 947 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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