Boot Camp Info

[mamawalrus]

The First Half of Navy Boot Camp I hope you're ready for an intense time. Your experience at Boot Camp begins as soon as you step off of the bus and are met by one of your Division Commanders. If you show up at Boot Camp having not prepared physically for the experience, you are in for a wild ride on that front. Be prepared, mentally, to be picked apart for being different. Here is a brief run-down on what you'll experience in the next eight to nine weeks:

 

 1. Week One - During week one you will go through processing. You will fill out a lot of forms regarding health, benefits, wages, direct deposit, insurance, the Montgomery G.I. Bill and much more. If you haven't yet memorized your social security number, you will want to before you leave for boot camp, you'll be writing it on everything. Once you've finished processing, then the real fun starts.

 2. Week Two - Week two finds you tired, irritable and wondering what the heck you got yourself into. You will get used to waking up at 0600, I promise. This week you will begin physical conditioning and participate in a confidence course. The focus for this week of training is team-building. You will learn to rely on your shipmates, and the confidence course is a big start.

3. Week Three - In a hands-on environment, this week you will learn first aid techniques, signalling with flags, the proper procedure to board and disembark a ship, and basic seamanship. You will do this training on a real ship situated in a large hangar. Your first PT (physical training) test is administered during week three, the areas tested are 1.5 mile run, push-ups and sit-ups. This is often called the PT0, because it is the starting point from which you will improve.

4. Week Four - Time for weapon training. You will go through safety training, then weapon training in a supervised range environment. This is the halfway point in your academic training, as well as the week during which you will take your graduation photos in preparation for your Pass and Review ceremony.

 

 The Second Half of Boot Camp You've reached the home stretch at this point, with four more weeks to go! Here's what you'll do during the second half of boot camp:

 

1. Week Five - More classes, more training, and a lot more PT. By this point you've learned how to do everything the way the Navy wants you too, and though you may not feel like it -- you've changed. Rigorous training and a restricted diet, a fast paced and active training style in and out of the classroom, and a behavioral structure deeply rooted in forming a team bond between you and up to 100 total strangers have all contributed to your change, and in most cases this change is for the best.

2. Week Six - Fire fighting training, and shipboard damage control classes. This week you will learn how to put fires out, how to properly don fire safety gear in case you must fight a fire onboard ship, how to open and close watertight doors, and operate fire fighting equipment. This week also finds you and your shipmates inside the gas chamber, being exposed to tear gas while you and everyone else recites name and social security number. You will also go through the confidence course again, further solidifying the concept of teamwork and comraderie.

 3. Week Seven - At this point, you're nearly finished with boot camp. Excitement sets in and now you're ready for the final test: Battle Stations. Battle Stations is a twelve hour event held to test your entire division on how well you've absorbed everything you've learned so far. If you are present at the call for Battle Stations, this means you have successfully passed all academic and physical challenges presented to you up to this point, and are ready for this final test. You will be pushed to the very brink here, and will find that once it is over and you stand in the finishing room, dirty, beyond weary, emotional and drained. All that fades away as the Commanding Officer in charge of RTC Great Lakes comes in to personally congratulate you, presenting you and your division with your new status as a United States Sailor -- your Navy ball cap.

4. Week Eight - Graduation/Pass and Review. Aside from everything mentioned above, part of your training has been in drill and ceremony. That portion of your training will come in to play here, where you march proudly, shoulders squared and with a bolstered confidence before friends, family, and thousands of supportive individuals from all walks of life. There is nothing like it in the whole world. What happens after boot camp?

After pass and review, your newly capped Sailor will pack his or her bags, be given orders and travel information for their next level of training - "A" School - and be on a much more mundane journey to learning their actual JOB while they serve their time.

During "A" school they'll experience life as a Sailor in a whole new way...

[grandmac]

This was great!  Thanks for posting.  You are a wealth of information and I have read each and every one of your postings.  Thank you again.  Looking forward to meeting you at the Meet and Greet!

Carol

[mamawalrus]

Your welcome Grandmac,,,, I like your name,, my mom is Grandmag to my kids...;)

[Lexsmom]

mamawalrus- I found this online as well, more infomation for us moms.  KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!

THE FINAL WEEKS OF NAVY BOOT CAMP - WHAT THE FAMILY CAN EXPECT

Graduation Packet - About four weeks before the end of boot camp, recruits send their family a packet of information about graduation. It includes an invitation brochure, a parking pass, and advertisements. The invitation is a photocopied brochure with the PIR date, a schedule of events, and information about attending the ceremony. On this brochure, the recruit will have written his or her list of four 'suggested guests'. The packet also includes a full color brochure of area hotels and opportunities to purchase items commemorating the event and to honor the new Sailor.

Boot Camp Pictures - Toward the end of boot camp, formal pictures are made of the recruit in the dress uniform. The recruit has the option of purchasing packages of these pictures, as well as a DVD of the PIR ceremony. Money for the pictures is taken directly from the recruit's bank account.

The Final PFA - Recruits take their initial Physical Fitness Assessment around week four of boot camp. Shortly before Battle Stations is the Final PFA. Recruits must be able to meet these minimum requirements:

Age Run Sit Ups Push Ups Age Run Sit Ups Push Ups
Males Females
17 - 19 12:15 54 46 17 - 19 14:45 54 20
20 - 24 13:15 15 42 20 - 24 15:15 50 17
25 - 29 13:45 47 38 25 - 29 15:45 47 15
30 - 34 14:15 44 35 30 - 34 16:15 44 13

Recruits are given lots of encouragement and extra help to be able to pass the PFA. If a recruit is having difficulty, someone will often run with the recruit to help set the pace. If a recruit does not pass, he or she may be given another chance, or may be set back, or "ASMO'd". In the very worst case, scenario, they are sent to the FIT division, and given several chances to meet the standards.

Gas Chamber - The dreaded gas chamber visit takes place around week 6 of boot camp. Recruits must put on and then remove their gas masks in a gas filled chamber. Throwing up seems to be the most extreme reaction to the gas, and although it's uncomfortable for every one, the vast majority of recruits get through just fine.

Captain's Cup - On the Saturday before Battle Stations, all divisions graduating together compete for the Captain's Cup. Captain's Cup is basically a field day, with competitions in sit ups, push ups, running, throwing, swimming, obstacle courses, relays, and more. It's a fun day, and winning the Captain's Cup is a matter of great pride to the winning division.

Battle Stations - In the last week before graduation, recruits have a final test…Battle Stations. Battle Stations is a twelve hour long simulation of battles, crises, and ship life. It's a make or break event. If the recruits pass, they graduate from boot camp, and are allowed to trade in their recruit cap for a Navy cap in a very moving ceremony.

Battle Stations takes place on The USS Trayer, a state of the art simulated 210 foot guided missile destroyer designed by Universal Studios. Special effects make the virtual reality experience look, feel, sound and smell like an actual ship. During their time on the USS Trayer, recruits will proceed through 17 different shipboard scenarios based on actual historical crises and events. As they go through Battle Stations, recruits draw on everything they have learned during boot camp. Here's a cool video, that - for those patriotic souls - might choke you up a bit: Battle Stations.

PIR - Pass in Review. Navy Graduation is called PIR. Families of the new Sailors are invited to see this final formal military ceremony. Each division, in dress uniforms, marches into Constitution Hall, carrying their division flags. Special performing divisions entertain the crowd with song, rifle drills, and flag displays. Awards are given to outstanding divisions and individual Sailors. After a keynote speech, liberty is called, and the Sailors are reunited with their families.

PIR is one of the proudest moment in a Sailor's career. The ceremony is a moving experience for the guests as well

[frazcom21]

My SR already took the PTO so that means this week is weapons training! they are so close!

[mamawalrus]

I am curious to hear how they do on the gas Chamber...LOL