Capt. Xavier Flament, Mexican Navy; Cmdr. Jorge Toso, Chilean Navy; Cmdr. Felipe Imamura, Brazilian Navy, and Cmdr. Fenando Sarmiento, Peruvian Navy and Lt. Colin Fox, foreign liaison officer program manager for the U.S. Navy; met with TSC's Capt. Mark Meskimen, command officer, Cmdr. Kevin Halfacre, executive officer, and Command Master Chief Randy Reid.

The purpose of the visit was to demonstrate the training used at TSC and LS that provides 24-hour supervision, leadership, training and professional development of accession Sailors prior to their arrival to the Fleet.

"It's important for us to maintain relationships with our partner navies by sharing first-hand our training, culture and diversity," Meskimen said. "It is our goal to continue sharing our ways of training tomorrow's Sailors so that we are better prepared for our continued alliances."

Following a visit to the Center for Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Diving (CEODD) where they viewed student training in the basics of in-water procedures, aquatic adaptabilities and water comfort, the tour continues at Center for Surface Combat Systems Unit (CSCSU) where the viewed Gunner's Mate 'A' School's Fire Arms Training Simulator and Electronics Technician/Fire Controlman 'A' school T1 RADAR partial task trainer.

After lunch with TSC and LS leadership, the tour continued at Surface Warfare Officers School Unit (SWOSU) Great Lakes, where they were shown the training facilities of Basic Engineering Common Core (BECC).

"Having the opportunity to showcase our facilities and training practices serves several purposes," said Cmdr. Eric Williams, commanding officer of SWOSU. "It strengthens ties with our allies by advancing an atmosphere of collaboration, and it gives us the opportunity to show how well we're able to turn out a consistent, well-trained and well-motivated Sailor for the fleet."

BECC balances Computer Based Training with hands-on labs, instructor-led classroom training with realistic simulations creating an Integrated Learning Environment. They also visited the LPD 17 Maintainer Course where students gain knowledge and skills to maintain engineering control systems in the fleet.

Following their visit at TSC, the senior foreign liaison members continued their tour at RTC; the Navy's only boot camp that trains 30,000 to 40,000 volunteer civilian recruits annually, transforming them into basically trained Sailors.

The first stop was to The Golden 13 In-processing Center, named after the first 13 African-American naval officers, where all recruits begin their Navy career. They also toured RTC's firefighting and damage control trainer, USS Chief.

On their second day of touring RTC, they arrived at the USS Trayer (BST-21) where they toured and observed a capping ceremony.

BST-21 is a 12-hour event where recruits complete 17 different shipboard scenarios. The state-of-the-art training facility uses theme park special effects technology to simulate a variety of shipboard emergencies, such as shipboard fires and compartment flooding.

Following their tour through BST-21 the group walked across the street to the USS Missouri Small Arms Marksmanship Trainer (SAMT). While there they had the opportunity to see how recruits learn to handle and fire the Navy's standard issue M9 Beretta pistol and the Mossberg 500 shotgun. SAMT uses red laser lights and pneumatic air to simulate the firing and hits on a computer target.

Next up, they visited the largest building on RTC, the 173,000 square-foot three-story Freedom Hall Physical Fitness facility. Freedom Hall is where recruits train and take their three Physical Fitness Assessments during boot camp.

After Freedom Hall they toured of one of the 13 recruit ships, or barracks, USS Arizona, the group saw how each is set up like a ship with galleys, classrooms, berthing compartments and offices. They observed how the daily routine for a recruit is similar to the routine on board a ship in the fleet.

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