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180629-N-IK959-508

GREAT LAKES, Ill., (June 29, 2018) Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), the Honorable Richard V. Spencer, congratulates recruits at the Navy’s only boot camp, Recruit Training Command (RTC). SECNAV was making his second visit to RTC, but his first as the reviewing officer for the weekly Pass-in-Review graduation, since being named SECNAV August 3, 2017. Spencer toured USS Trayer (BST 21), the Navy’s largest simulator, where Battle Stations is conducted. Battle Stations is the final evolution that marks a recruit’s rite of passage into the Navy and is a culmination of all training received by recruits at RTC. It is a grueling 12-hour test, now held entirely in Trayer, of a recruit’s skills in several shipboard evolutions, including fire-fighting and stopping flooding. The recruits had just completed Battle Stations 21 (BST-21) onboard Trayer, a 210-foot-long Arleigh Burke-class destroyer simulator. After their successful completion of Battle Stations, the recruits took part in a capping ceremony where they were presented with Navy ball caps to replace their recruit ball caps to signify they are now Sailors. (U.S. Navy photo by Scott A. Thornbloom/Released)