3rd Fleet chiefs return to RTC
11/24/2011
by Scott A. Thornbloom, Naval Service Training Command Public Affairs
GREAT LAKES, Ill. (NNS) -- For a second consecutive year, senior enlisted chief petty officers from the U. S. 3rd Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR) returned to Recruit Training Command (RTC) to observe training at the Navy's only boot camp, Nov. 17-18.

The visit focused on the new training and living facilities, and the numerous changes that have occurred thanks to a 12-year, $770-million recapitalization of RTC that was completed in July 2010.

"This year, 66 chiefs, senior chiefs and master chiefs representing 41 commands signed up for our trip to Great Lakes," said 3rd Fleet Command Master Chief (SW/AW) JoAnn Ortloff. "Some of the chiefs visited last year, but a large number are returning to boot camp for the first time."

Ortloff also said a wider variety of ratings and communities from throughout the 3rd Fleet AOR were represented this year, including chiefs from shore commands, ships, submarines and air wings on the West Coast and from Hawaii.

"This has been an amazing adventure," Ortloff said. "This year, what we asked for was to spend more time with the recruits."

Many of the chief petty officers left boot camp nearly 20 years ago and had never been back, and were amazed with how different RTC is today.

"This has been a very rewarding experience for me to come back to see how motivated the recruits are and to see the excellent job being accomplished by the Recruit Division Commanders (RDCs)," said Chief Hospital Corpsman (FMF/SW) Sabrina Russell, the senior enlisted advisor for 1st Medical Battalion at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. "My next set of orders is to be an RDC here, and to get the opportunity to see the training before transferring here has me very excited,"

The chief petty officers were given full access to all training at RTC. They were even berthed for their four-day stay in one of the new barracks, USS Reuben James.

Each of the 13 recruit barracks are set up like a ship. They have berthing compartments, galleys, classrooms, quarterdecks, laundry facilities and offices. The chief petty officers also toured many of the training buildings, including Freedom Hall, a 173,000 square-foot, three-story, state-of-the-art physical fitness facility. They were told how each recruit runs the Navy Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA) before graduating boot camp and how all recruits leave within standards.

"I was very impressed with the facilities at RTC," said Chief Operations Specialist (SW/AW) Samira McBride, a leading operations chief on USS Boxer (LHD 4). "The way everything is in one building and set up like a ship is impressive. I think the quality of life is fantastic."

Chief Aerographer's Mate (SW) Ruel Lacno, from the Fleet Weather Center in San Diego, thought one of the most impressive sites at RTC was USS Trayer (BST 21), the 210-foot replica of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and the Navy's largest simulator, housed in a warehouse behind the USS Iowa headquarters building.

Trayer is the training platform that provides recruits with their final test, Battle Stations 21, before graduating from boot camp. Battle Stations 21 is a 12-hour, comprehensive test that challenges recruits' knowledge over 17 scenarios that cover everything from fighting fires and stopping floods, to line handling and mass casualty evacuations.

"This was really awesome," Lacno said. "I'm really impressed with how the Sailors are being trained here at RTC. To me, they seem better trained once they get out to the fleet. I know they are better trained than I was when I went here in 1996."

Senior Chief Quartermaster (SW/AW) Dexter Watson, from the Naval Mine and Anti-submarine Command in San Diego, called Battle Stations a critical tool for today's recruits.

"We are seeing how useful this is for Sailors when they come out to the fleet for the first time," Watson said. "I was also very impressed with the professionalism and military bearing of the RDCs and the pride they take in turning a civilian into a Sailor."

The chiefs also got to see how recruits receive small arms familiarization at the USS Missouri Small Arms Marksmanship Trainer (SAMT) and live-fire training in the USS Wisconsin Live Fire Range.

They also toured Golden 13, named after the first 13 African-American Navy officers, where recruits arrive to boot camp and go through processing and their initial training days in the Navy. At Golden 13, recruits are issued their first sets of uniforms and are measured for their running shoes so they can better perform while running laps in Freedom Hall.

The chiefs then toured the USS Indianapolis Combat Training pool where recruits are expected to pass a 3rd-class swim test before they graduate. They then were shown how recruits are trained to fight a shipboard fire in the aptly named USS Chief Fire Fighting Trainer.

In the evening, the chiefs witnessed "night of arrival" at Golden 13. During this time, they observed the arrival of civilians that in a mere eight weeks will be transformed into Sailors.

The chiefs interacted with recruits during a visit to a recruit barracks or ship, USS Kearsarge. While talking to the recruits, the chiefs answered questions about jobs in the Navy and what to expect in the fleet. The chiefs were also able to see the future of the Navy.

"Talking with the recruits, I was really impressed with their enthusiasm and their willingness to enter the fleet," Watson said.

All of the chiefs plan to take what they observed at RTC back to their messes and commands. They plan to tell their fellow CPOs that there have been many misconceptions on the training of recruits and that the training is excellent.

Ortloff added that it was tremendous to see how enthusiastic the recruits are and how they are able to take full advantage of the new training facilities.

"Now these chiefs (that have recently visited) will be able to take the message back to their commands in 3rd Fleet that things are not what we thought," Ortloff said. "Boot camp has changed dramatically from when some of us went through 20, 15, even 10 years ago. The advances from the New Balance (running) shoes to the incorporation of Battle Stations, to the simulated small arms trainer, makes up the message we will take back with us. And that message is that this is not your mother's or father's old boot camp. This is boot camp 2011 that's bringing a smarter, more educated, more advanced and more incorporated Sailor to the fleet."

RTC is primarily responsible for conducting the initial Navy orientation and training of new recruits. The command is commonly referred to as "boot camp" or "recruit training" and has been in operation at Great Lakes since 1911.

Boot camp is approximately eight weeks long, and all enlistees into the United States Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control; and lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork, and discipline.

Since the closure of RTCs in Orlando and San Diego in 1994, Great Lakes is now the Navy's only basic training location, and is known as "The Quarterdeck of the Navy."