TG stands for Training Group (the group of Recruits that graduate on the same day). TG 47 will have Pass-in-Review (PIR) on 10/07/2011. They are the 47th TG to go through since last November. TG 01 had PIR on 11/19/2010. Actually, this is the 46th TG because there was not a PIR for TG 33--anyone who would have had PIR on that date was held over and participated in the Centenial Celebration on July 1.

A Division is approximately 88 recruits who live and train together. Their Division number is important, for lots of reasons, but it will ALWAYS define them. They write that number on their cover (sailor hat, aka dixie cup or lid) and that always stays with them, well after boot camp is over! Each Division, except the 800's and 900's Division/s, trains with a Brother Division.  Our Brother Divisions are Divisions 329 and 330, Divisions 331 and 332, Divisions 333 and 334, Divisions 335 and 336, Divisions 337 and 338, and Divisions 339 and 340. Division 947 is a performance division and includes singers, musicians, honor guards, and flag carriers. TG 47 does not have an 800's Division--a division for those in special operations.

Those first 4-10 days after they arrive are called Processing Days (P-days) and they are not assigned to Divisions until those are over.

When a group of new Recruits arrives at the RTC, they go through a simple sort - those with music or flag/drill experience are shunted off to a 900 division and those going into Special Ops are sent to the 800 division (they only do a dozen or so each year). The remaining recruits are assigned pretty randomly, mostly as they arrive. Once one division is full, they start filling another, so divisions often end up with groups of recruits from only a few areas. The Recruits' ratings do not influence which division they will be placed in except for those placed in a 800's or 900's division. Sometimes a division fills, and there are only one or two recruits remaining from the arrival group. They are held as the first recruits for the next division or there is a division that is not quite filled and they must wait until the next group of Recruits arrives to fill the division.  Some of the Recruits in Push Divisions will be at the RTC for 7 1/2 weeks rather than the 8 1/2 weeks that most of the others in the TG will be there because they were the last ones to fill a division. At this time, we do not appear to have any Recruits who were unlucky enough to have had to be held over an extra week at the beginning. (That doesn't appear to happen very often any more.)

Some Recruits were also selected by the Recruit Division Commanders (RDC) for the 947 Division after arrival at the RTC. These recruits did not have a musician rating, but showed some aptitude for perfomance, such as singing or carrying flag. These recruits often had some prior experience, such as choir or drill team. Once assigned to the division, these recruits go through the same training as other divisions in addition to performance duties.

The Ship number identifies the building their barracks are in. Each building also has a name of a famous US ship, but few refer to them by the name. It's the Division number that is the most important - they will write that on their sailor hat and everything in their Seabag and it will be there forever, throughout their Navy career, but the ship number is important when you send them letters because it helps to get the letters to them.

There are 14 different "ships" (barracks), and about 12 divisions in each ship, and every one of them has a different address.

Ship 02: USS Ruben James (Division 947 is here.)

Ship 03: USS Hopper (Divisions 333, 334, 335, and 336 are here.)

Ship 04: USS Arleigh Burke

Ship 05: USS Theodore Roosevelt

Ship 06: USS Constitution

Ship 07: USS Chicago (Divisions 339 and 340 are here.)

Ship 09: USS John F. Kennedy (Divisions 329, 330, 331, 332 , 337, and 338 are here.)

Ship 10: USS Enterprise

Ship11: USS Kearsarge

Ship 12: USS Triton

Ship 13: USS Marvin Shields

Ship 14: USS Arizona

Ship 2 houses the 900 Division. It contains all of the music practice rooms and instruments. One division per PIR group lives here.  900's division sailors

Ship 4 houses the 800 Divisions.  These are special ops divisions.

Ship 5 is for those recruits in the process of being discharged from Boot Camp. It is also for THU-Temporary Holding Unit-where new graduated Sailors go if they are on hold for "A" school. (They are in separate quarters from those being discharged and few are in THU since the change to Friday and Saturday Departures.)  Ship 5 Moms(Formerly Ship 17)

Ship 6 is the RCU-Recruit Convalescent Unit-where sick or injured recruits go to heal and be cycled back into another TG.  Ship 6 (Sick or Injured Recruits)waiting to return to a division to finish BC

Two other ships that are important for your recruit are the USS Marlinspike and the USS Trayer.  The USS Marlinspike is where recruits learn basic seamanship, line-handling, shipboard watch and teamwork. The USS Trayer is used for Battle Stations-21.

BTW, a great thing to do while your Recruit is in BC is to change your Username to include your Recruit's Ship and Division number. (Go to Settings in right hand corner of your My Page.) If others know your Division number and PIR group, they can identify you faster.