The Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO) visited Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy’s only boot camp, to speak with leaders of Naval accessions training and serve as the reviewing officer for the Navy’s newest Sailors, Dec. 14-15. Dec.

This is Adm. Bill Moran’s second time as the reviewing official at RTC graduation since becoming VCNO, and third visit to the command, and in that time has seen major changes undertaken to focus Navy basic training on warfighting fundamentals.  Since his first visit in September of 2017, 60 percent% of recruit training curriculum has been updated, now focused on firefighting, damage control, watchstanding, seamanship and force protection, and on making sure Sailors are ready to use those skills in any circumstance.

“The improvements RTC has made in the past year and a half are tremendous,” said Moran.  “It’s a complete revolution in how we train our teams, focusing exclusively on the warfighting essentials in order to provide our nNation with Sailors who arrive to the fFleet ready on deck.”

Moran spent time speaking with Rear Adm. Mike Bernacchi, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) and Capt. Erik Thors, commanding officer, RTC.  They spoke about the impacts the changes to training have had as well as ongoing efforts to improve not only recruit training, but also Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) and Officer Training Command (OTC), which Bernacchi also oversees.

Moran also had breakfast with recruits still in training to hear their first-hand impressions of training and answer their questions about the Navy.

Finally, Moran oversaw the graduation of 920 of the Navy’s newest Sailors.  The graduation ceremony, attended by recruits’ friends and family and live-streamed to those who couldn’t attend in person, is the formal recognition of the end of their basic training, after which they will report to advanced training specific to their rating or to the fleet for their first commands.  This was the last graduation scheduled in 2018.

“To the Sailors here today remember what you have learned here over the last 8 weeks,” said Moran. “Take our core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment to the Fleet and carry it with pride.”

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 390,0000 recruits graduate annually from RTC and begin their Navy careers.

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

NSTC supports 98 percent% of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy. This includes RTC at Great Lakes, made up of more than 870 RDCs and instructors who oversee and train more than 39,000 recruits annually. There are NROTC units at more than 160 colleges and universities across the United States, with more than 5,900 midshipmen enrolled annually who are taught, guided and molded by more than 500 Navy and Marine Corps officer and enlisted instructors. OTC annually graduates more than 2,900 students per year under the instructing guidance of 39 RDCs, Marine Corps drill instructors and technical trainers. NSTC also oversees Navy Junior ROTC and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

For more information about NSTC, visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/ or visit the NSTC Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining/. 

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

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