
Many of the displays on the quarterdeck of USS Enterprise (BLDG 7115) were donated by USS Enterprise (CVN-65). The second is CVN-65, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The nautical flags hanging on the quarterdeck of BLDG 7115 are from CV-6. The first is CV-6, which was a ship of the Yorktown class launched in 1936 (the most decorated Navy ship in history) and one of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to survive the war. 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.
#US NAVY BOOT CAMP SIMULATOR#
Each "ship" can house up to 1,300 recruits during training.Ī 210-foot (64 m) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer simulator called USS Trayer (BST-21) was also constructed as part of the recap program also known as Battle Stations 21 (BST 21). Each "ship" was also named after an important ship in naval history, such as USS John F. New barracks were also constructed and are referred to as "ships" by the recruits. The recap included the construction of Camp John Paul Jones, a 48-acre (190,000 m 2) site on land formerly owned by the Veterans Administration Hospital adjacent to Camp Porter.
#US NAVY BOOT CAMP UPGRADE#
Following the consolidation, the Navy undertook a massive recapitalization (recap) program to upgrade the Great Lakes Recruit Training facility. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission of 1993 resulted in the consolidation of recruit training to Great Lakes. Female recruit training was previously limited to the Orlando facility. Prior to the mid-1990s, recruit training facilities included Naval Training Center Orlando and Naval Training Center San Diego.

Navy recruit training is now exclusively conducted at Naval Station Great Lakes' Recruit Training Command. Part six of a six-part 2018 documentary about U.S. The surviving eight attended the ceremony. In July 1987, building 1405, the Golden Thirteen Recruit In-Processing Center, was dedicated in their honor. The Navy commissioned its first African-American officers, later known as the " Golden Thirteen", at Great Lakes in February 1944. Previously they had been restricted to special duties. African-Americans were permitted to enlist for general service in the middle of 1942 receiving training at Great Lakes as well as Hampton, Virginia. Naval Station Great Lakes was at the forefront of the racial integration of the Navy.

In that same year, the station received its first trainee, Seaman Recruit Joseph W. Taft dedicated the station six years later on 28 October 1911. The first flag was planted on site on 1 July 1905. Ross was the station's first commander and the base's Ross Field and Ross Auditorium were later 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. Foss Park, just north of the base, is named in his honor. The main proponent of the North Chicago location was Illinois Congressional Representative and chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs (1900–1911) George Edmund Foss, later called "The Father of Great Lakes".

Navy began investigating 37 sites around Lake Michigan for a new training center in the Midwest, an area that contributed 43 percent of the Navy's recruits at the time. Navy sailors man the rails of the training simulator, USS Trayer (BST-21), which was completed in June 2007Īfter the Spanish–American War, the U.S. Those who have not yet received a specific rating enter the fleet with a general designation of airman, fireman, construction man or seaman.

Upon 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. Navy begin their service at RTC Great Lakes with at least ten weeks of training, and more if they do not pass certain tests. The similar RTC San Diego, California, was closed the previous year.Īll enlistees into the U.S. It is a tenant command of Naval Station Great Lakes in the city of North Chicago, Illinois, in Lake County, north of Chicago.Ĭalled "The Quarterdeck of the Navy" since it opened in July 1911, RTC Great Lakes has been the service's only enlisted basic training location since 1994, when the Recruit Training Command in Orlando, Florida, was closed under the BRAC process. It is part of Naval Service Training Command. Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes (RTC Great Lakes), is a unit within the United States Navy primarily responsible for conducting the initial orientation and indoctrination of incoming recruits, also known as boot camp and recruit training, or RTC.
