Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois
Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, is a unit within the United States Navy primarily responsible for conducting the initial orientation and indoctrination of incoming recruits. It is part of Naval Service Training Command, and is located at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois.
RTC Great Lakes is also commonly referred to as boot camp and recruit training, or RTC. Since the BRAC-directed closures of Recruit Training Commands in Orlando, Florida in 1994 and San Diego, California in 1993, RTC Great Lakes has been the only enlisted basic training location in the U.S. Navy and has been called "The Quarterdeck of the Navy" since it was first utilized in July 1911.
Running at approximately eight weeks long, all enlistees into the U.S. Navy commence their enlistments at this command. Some recruits may take longer than eight weeks if they do not pass certain tests. Upon successful completion of basic training, qualifying sailors are sent to various apprenticeship, or "A schools", located across the United States for training in their occupational speciality, or ratings. Those who have not yet received a specific rating enter the fleet with a general designation of airman, fireman, construction men or seaman. Recruit Training Command is located at Naval Station Great Lakes in the city of North Chicago, Illinois in Lake County, north of Chicago. It is a tenant command, meaning that although it is located on the base, it has a separate chain of command.
History
After the Spanish–American War, the U.S. Navy began investigating 37 sites around Lake Michigan in order to locate a new training center in the Midwest, an area that contributed 43 percent of the Navy’s recruits at the time.Illinois Congressional Representative and chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs George Edmund Foss pressed for the decision to locate the center at its present location and was later called "The Father of Great Lakes". Foss Park, just north of the base in North Chicago, is named in his honor. It is likely the facility would have been located elsewhere had it not been for the $175,000 contribution of the Merchants Club of Chicago to purchase the land.
Rear Admiral Albert A. Ross was the station’s first commander and the base's Ross Field and Ross Auditorium were later named in his honor. The first flag was planted on site on 1 July 1905. President William H. Taft dedicated the station six years later on 28 October 1911. In that same year, the station received its first trainee, Seaman Recruit Joseph W. Gregg.
Naval Station Great Lakes was at the forefront of the racial integration of the Navy. African-Americans were permitted to enlist for general service in the middle of 1942 receiving training at Great Lakes as well as Hampton, Virginia. Previously they had been restricted to special duties. The Navy commissioned its first African-American officers, later known as the "Golden Thirteen", at Great Lakes in February 1944. In July 1987, building 1405, the Golden Thirteen Recruit In-Processing Center, was dedicated in their honor. The surviving eight attended the ceremony.
Navy recruit training is now exclusively conducted at Naval Station Great Lakes' Recruit Training Command. Prior to the mid-1990s, recruit training facilities included Naval Training Center Orlando and Naval Training Center San Diego. Female recruit training was previously limited to the Orlando facility. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission of 1993 resulted in the consolidation of recruit training to Great Lakes. Following the consolidation, the Navy undertook a massive recapitalization program to upgrade the Great Lakes Recruit Training facility. The recap included the construction of Camp John Paul Jones, a site on land formerly owned by the Veterans Administration Hospital adjacent to Camp Porter. New barracks were also constructed and are referred to as "ships" by the recruits. Each "ship" was also named after an important ship in naval history, such as USS John F. Kennedy and USS Enterprise. Each "ship" can house up to 1,300 recruits during training.
A Arleigh Burke-class destroyer simulator called USS Trayer was also constructed as part of the recap program also known as Battle Stations 21.
Facilities
USS ''Enterprise'' (BLDG 7115)
The USS Enterprise Recruit Barracks Building is the eighth of fourteen built as part of a $763 million recapitalization program.The building is named after the eight USS Enterprises that have borne the name, including the two famous aircraft carriers pictured around the building's quarterdeck. The first is CV-6, which was a ship of the Yorktown class launched in 1936 and one of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to survive the war. The nautical flags hanging on the quarterdeck of BLDG 7115 are from CV-6. The second is CVN-65, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Many of the displays on the quarterdeck of USS Enterprise were donated by USS Enterprise.
The USS Enterprise has of space, enough to accommodate 16 recruit divisions of up to 88 recruits each. This facility integrates berthing, classrooms, learning resource centers, a galley, and a quarterdeck, all under one roof. Each "ship" has a ship's officer who fills the role of commanding officer, a ship's leading chief petty officer who fills the role of command master chief, and a chaplain.
USS ''Triton'' Recruit Barracks (Ship 12)
USS Triton Recruit Barracks was dedicated in ceremonies held on 25 June 2004. The facility honors the memory of two submarines named Triton and includes memorabilia from both ships, and. Triton Hall is the fifth barracks constructed under the RTC Recapitalization Project, covering 172,000 square feet in floor space. The facility is designed to accommodate 1056 recruits, and it includes berthing, classrooms, learning resource centers, a galley, a quarterdeck, and a modern HVAC system. On 17 May 2012, in a dedication ceremony, the long-missing ship's bell was added to the collection of artifacts in Recruit Training Command's USS Triton recruit barracks quarterdeck.Training timeline
Processing Week
U.S. Navy recruits begin their journey at Building 1405, Golden Thirteen, the Recruit In-processing Center in Camp Moffett. Recruits arrive at all hours, but mostly during the night. Before formal training can begin at Recruit Training Command, recruits are screened medically, dentally, and administratively. They receive a thorough round of inoculations, an initial issue of uniforms, and their first military haircut. They are taught basic grooming standards, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and standards of conduct and are introduced to their recruit division commander.This first week of training, called P-days, lasts for approximately five days but can run a little longer depending on weekends, holidays, and the schedule of arriving recruits. During P-days, recruits are taught the basics of watch standing, they are given information to memorize, and they begin learning to organize their equipment. Around their fifth day of training, recruits must pass their baseline Physical Fitness Assessment in order to begin training. Those who fail will be set back in training and offered a few more opportunities to pass. Should they still fail, they will be separated/discharged from the Navy. P-days conclude with a commissioning ceremony, led by the recruits' group commander, in which each division's guidon is unrolled. This ceremony marks the official start of their training.
Week One
This week is considered the most intense week of physical conditioning. Recruits take their initial swim qualification test and learn military drill, the details of rank and rating, and the Navy core values.Week Two
During Week Two, recruits learn the Navy chain of command, custom and courtesies, and basic watchstanding.Week Three
Week Three consists of hands-on training. Recruits learn laws of armed conflict, personal finance, basic seamanship, shipboard communication, and Navy ship and aircraft identification. Recruits also take their first physical training test, performing as many sit-ups and push-ups as they can in two minutes and running for time. The time standards for the run and the number of push-ups and sit-ups are based on the recruits' ages, which range from 18 to 34. Recruits receive their first paychecks.Week Four
Week Four mostly consists of weapons training. Recruits gain familiarity with the M9 pistol. Some time during the week, recruits receive a classroom lecture on firearms safety and operation of the M9. Recruits receive live-fire training with the M9. Recruits no longer receive training with the M500 shotgun or the M16 rifle.In past years, U.S. Navy recruits trained with the M16 rifle and the M500 shotgun. All U.S. Navy training on the M16 or M500 occurs at other locations. In the 1960's and 70's, recruits drilled and marched with 1903 Springfield bolt-action rifles. Learned to operate and load the M1 Garand of WW2-fame, but at the indoor rifle range shot.22 single-shot riles eight times.