Seaman Recruit Kurtis Bacha, Division 287, graduated as the top Sailor from Recruit Training Command earning the Military Excellence Award (MEA) on Sept. 15.

Bacha, of Ringgold, Georgia joined the Navy to serve a country that has given him the freedom to serve his God openly, without fear of persecution, and to protect the nations of the world against tyranny and oppression. He was assigned the rate of Electronics Technician (ET).

The Navy Club of the United States' Military Excellence Award is the award presented to the top recruit of a 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 him at the pinnacle of today's newest Sailors and earned him a flag letter of commendation.

"I will always remember the moment when the Recruit Division Commander Senior Chief Warren Caverly, to whom I looked up to the most, told me that I would be given the privilege of receiving this award," Bacha said. "Pride began to swell in me, knowing that I had been able to represent my division and my RDCs with that kind of esteem."

Faith plays a major role in Bacha's life. Sharing that faith and trusting in others helped him in making his decision to become a Sailor.

"Before I came to RTC, I was a church intern at Silverdale Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee," Bacha said. "It seems like every day I allowed doubt into my mind about why I made the decision to join. Someone from that body of Christ would send me some kind of encouragement, pushing me to do my very best at all times. That's why I'm here right now. It's because of the people that poured their lives into my own, giving themselves up so that I would be successful."

The encouragement he received from his mother, Ginger Bacha, during an early phone call home inspired confidence in his boot camp leadership role.

"Being the [Recruit Leading Petty Officer] of my division forced me to be 'squared away' at all times for the sake of my shipmates," Bacha said. "After all, what right would I have to expect anything from my fellow sailors if I, myself, were not meeting the same standards of excellence I was pushing them toward? It was always a challenge to maintain both responsibilities of recruit and leader, but that's part of why I joined the Navy. I love a good challenge."

After graduation, Bacha will attend the ET rating course at Training Support Center, Great Lakes. During his schooling, he will learn, perform, manage and supervise preventive and corrective maintenance on electronic equipment; maintain, repair, calibrate, tune and adjust electronic equipment utilizing test equipment and technical drawings for Command, Control, Computer, Communication, and Intelligence (C4I) systems, cryptographic systems, radar systems, and navigation systems.

Boot camp is approximately eight weeks and all enlistees entering 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. About 30,000 to 40,000 recruits graduate annually from RTC and begin their Navy careers.

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