University of Wisconsin Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) midshipmen visited Recruit Training Command (RTC) to observe recruit training evolutions and the weekly Pass-In-Review (PIR) Graduation for five divisions of new Sailors at Naval Station Great Lakes March 31.

Seventeen midshipmen attended the event along with the unit Commanding Officer and Professor of Navy Science, Capt. Christopher Murdoch, who was the Guest of Honor for the graduation. Gunnery Sergeant Francisco Olivas, Assistant Marine Officer Instructor (AMOI) for the unit, also attended the tour of RTC and PIR.

For many, the highlight of the visit was observing the recruits completing Battle Stations, which took place on board USS Trayer (BST 21), a 210-foot-long Arleigh Burke-class destroyer simulator. Battle Stations is the culmination of the instruction recruits have completed during their eight weeks of training. Recruits complete 12 hours of simulations based on some of the worst damage control scenarios in U.S. naval history. Scenarios include simulations of missile attacks, mine strikes, and terrorist bomb attacks. The scenarios require recruits to work closely together in a high-pressure environment in order to succeed. Following completion of the event, recruits are given their official U.S. Navy ball caps in an inspiring capping ceremony.

The "Badger Battalion" midshipmen also attended the recruits' graduation ceremony, during which 508 recruits graduated and officially became Sailors.

"This was an outstanding opportunity for my first class midshipmen to interact with the Sailors they will soon lead, and to better understand the training that they have gone through. It will make these midshipmen better leaders," Murdoch said.

Midshipman 1st Class Cogan Kirchenwitz, a senior from Pardeeville, Wisconsin, said, "I was amazed by how much effort and coordination went into the graduation. It was an awe-inspiring ceremony celebrating the hard work and dedication of every graduate."

Guest speaker Capt. Todd A. Gagnon, Commanding Officer, Naval Information Operations, welcomed the new Sailors into "the world's finest Navy." He then received a salute from each division before liberty was called and the very eager families got to congratulate their Sailors on their accomplishments.

"The graduation ceremony was an eye-opening experience to see how young these new Sailors are - Sailors whom many of us will lead in the coming years," said Midshipman 1st Class and senior Christopher Poellinger, from Coon Valley, Wisconsin. "I felt a renewed sense of dedication and gained important insight into the responsibility I will have as a Naval officer."

The NROTC program develops midshipmen mentally, morally and physically, to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, loyalty and Navy core values. The program provides college graduates an opportunity to commission as naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the naval service, and have potential for future development in mind and character, so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NROTC) and his NSTC staff, headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, oversee 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy's Citizenship Development Program. NSTC includes RTC, NROTC units at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command (OTC) at Naval Station Newport, R.I., and Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

RTC is primarily responsible for conducting the initial 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, 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. There are also lessons in Navy heritage, core values, teamwork and discipline. Since the closure of RTCs in Orlando and San Diego in 1994, RTC Great Lakes is now the Navy's only basic training location, and is known as "The Quarterdeck of the Navy." Today, 30,000 to 40,000 recruits graduate annually from RTC, beginning their Navy careers.

For more information about RTC, visit http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil/.

For more information about NROTC, visit https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/.

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

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

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