Motorcycle enthusiasts from Recruit Training Command joined together May 14, for their first command-sponsored ride in the Great Lakes area.

About 20 personnel participated in the ride as a way to promote camaraderie and for the opportunity to do a group ride together with experienced motorcycle riders and the less experienced riders.

The event also met the requirements of RTC’s Motorcycle Mentorship program, which mandates motorcyclists must organize at least one command motorcycle ride per year. The command ride must include a pre-ride safety/ride brief, a planned route with stops, and a post-ride critique.

For Chief Electrician’s Mate Scott Weber, who has been riding for five years, this was his first command ride, which he helped to organize.

“Though we as a command often get together for events, we may not know who each other is that rides,” said Weber. “With this organized ride, we can gage a little bit of each person’s experience level and ride in a controlled environment instead of just letting people out in the Wild West, where people are trying to run you over.”

The event originated on top of the command’s parking garage deck with a safety brief and a blessing of the bikes by one of command’s chaplains — complete with holy water — and ended about 45 minutes later at the Hickory Pit restaurant, in McHenry, about 22 miles from the base. 

“I’ve never ridden in a group setting before and I was probably one of the least experienced riders there, but I’m very experienced in planning events,” said Fire Control Technician 1st Class Kyle King, who helped coordinate the event. “We even had the idea to give trophies to the top people for different things such loudest bike, most miles and dirtiest bike. It made it very fun.”

Weber stated the group hopes to capture the interest of more of the less-experienced riders.

“It seemed that the riders who came out for this ride were the ones that were a little more experienced,” said Weber. “If we can capture some of the less experienced riders, maybe we can find people with less experience and keep them safe.”

King is hoping to get the word out more to those who may not be aware of the group rides. He even created a Facebook page in hopes of reaching others since there are those working in certain areas on the base where they may not be able to frequently check their emails for alerts regarding the rides.

“I believe we will gain greater interest in the rides as I heard there were people who were upset they missed it and hoping we’d plan another,” said King. “Though we all may have different jobs here on base, riding is something many of us have in common.”

While this most recent ride was held on a Tuesday, King stated they are planning for the next ride to be held on a Friday so more riders may participate.

“This ride was successful enough that the CO told me to come by his office and start planning more rides this year,” said King.

Plans are already in the works for the next ride to take place in June.

Boot camp is approximately eight weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. More than 35,000 recruits are trained annually at RTC and begin their Navy careers.

For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/

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