Navy boot camp fun facts

(Yes, yes I did:  I put the words fun and boot camp into the same phrase.)

To get from Camp Moffett to Camp Porter at RTC, recruits march under the main road through a tunnel singing verse one of "Anchors Aweigh."  They sing the second verse when they go from Camp Porter to Camp Moffett.

Each division generally contains 88 Seaman Recruits.  Each division trains with a brother division, so by the end of boot camp, our SR should know very well nearly 200 new people.  In Christianne's training group, there are 9 divisions, so her graduation will have up to 792 sailors.

Barracks at RTC are named after ships.  Christianne is housed in Ship 11, also known as USS Kearsarge, which is actually named after four ships (which are in turn named after Mount Kearsage in New Hampshire).  The first was a sloop of war from the Civil War era.  The second was a battleship (BB-5) that served in both the first and second world wars.  Two aircraft carriers also shared the name, though the first (CV-12) was renamed USS Hornet; the other (CV-33) served in the Korean and Vietnam wars.  A Wasp-class amphibious assault ship (LHD-3) currently bears the name.

American hero Danny Dietz (Lone Survivor) was sworn in to the United States Navy from the same MEPS center in Denver in which Christianne was sworn.  His parents donated his medals to the MEPS and the ceremony room where recruits take their oaths is now dedicated to him.  Pat Tillman was also sworn in at the same MEPS.

(I'm not sure why that picture won't come out any larger.  Sorry.  I will work on editing it so if you'd like to see it better, be sure to check back.)

This video is a little long (24 minutes or so) but is a wonderful overview of what boot camp is like:  Faces of Boot Camp.  Definitely worth the time.

Hooyah!