Seaman Recruit Michelle Pecucci, Division 019, graduated as the top Sailor from Recruit Training Command, earning the Military Excellence Award on November 21.

Pecucci, from Des Plaines, Illinois, joined the Navy to discover a new career and sense of purpose.

“I joined the Navy to provide myself with a solid career path,” she said. “I always knew that I needed a career that had a purpose and meaning. To me, there’s no greater purpose in the world than to serve your country. By doing so, I am able to give back to the entire nation as a whole.”

Pecucci, 29, is a 2008 graduate of Maine West High School in Des Plaines, Illinois. She previously worked in the service and hospitality industry.

Pecucci is assigned the rate of Electrician’s Mate.

The Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award is the top award presented to the No. 1 recruit of their graduating training group. The MEA is awarded to the recruit that best exemplifies the qualities of enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing and teamwork. The award placed her at the pinnacle of today’s newest Sailors. Pecucci is awarded a flag letter of commendation.

Pecucci said she is honored to earn the MEA.

“At times in boot camp, you tend to question whether your performance is adequate or is exceeding expectations, and winning the MEA is the proof to show that all the hard work I put in has paid off,” she said.

Pecucci credited her Recruit Division Commanders, Chief Builder Michael Bettencourt, Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Marialeona Guerrero, and Aviation Structural Mechanic Marcus Ford for their leadership and guidance.

Pecucci said she was inspired by her parents, Phil and Judy Pecucci.

“They were my biggest driving force at boot camp,” she said. “Their constant motivation and encouragement pushed me every day to give 100 percent, even when things got tough. Knowing they were at home, thinking of me and rooting for me, pushed me to not want to let them down and to be able to see them on graduation and tell them with pride I did the absolute best I could do while at RTC.”

While at boot camp, Pecucci said she found a second family in her shipmates.

“The hardest part about boot camp wasn’t having to learn all the information or the physical activity, but being away from family,” she said. “Family is No. 1 to me. However, during this experience, I have come to realize that I have gained a new family within my fellow shipmates that helps fill the hole of missing my family at home.”

After graduation, Pecucci will attend “A’ School at Great Lakes. Electrician's Mates (non-nuclear) are responsible for the operation of a ship's electrical power generation systems, lighting systems, electrical equipment and electrical appliances.

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 30,0000 recruits graduate annually from RTC and begin their Navy careers.

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

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