Comments

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  donald wayne nichols September 25, 2009 at 8:03pm

  I was in Company 179, 1st Regiment, 4th Battalion 1 Sept.- 14 Nov. 1969.Construction was still going on then. Company Commander was ENC Hoyt D. Purvis. We didn't get stress cards back then! We had a very understanding company commander! Ha Ha.
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  Derek Johnson September 24, 2009 at 12:17am

  Mr. Wilson:
  
  Chief Oliva was a very fun loving yet a very professional recruit trainer as you indicate. His jokes and use of Italian words and phrases were always there, but Lord help you if you were the slightest (and I do mean the slightest) out of line in his presence as a recruit.
  
  I later heard about the use of "stress cards" in basic (whether urban legend or not), and my first thought was Chief Oliva. If there was ever a uniformed man involved in military training that nobody in their right mind would dare present a so-called "stress card" to, it would be him...the mushroom cloud would be seen from Pensacola.
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  RMC John Joseph, Ret. September 23, 2009 at 11:59pm

  Hey Shannon, I think you mean the "Blue Jacket" (ship) at the far end of the grinder. I went to 2 weeks of AT training because I had orders to the fleet (USS John F Kennedy) before attending RM "A" School. It seems they sent all of us to AT due to those circumstances. The recruits go through "Battle Stations" as the last evolution of their basic training. It is a very great thing.
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  RMC John Joseph, Ret. September 23, 2009 at 11:52pm

  Jacquelyn, I hope you and your friends aren't Quartermasters. I remember leave was just a day at Disney on the bus from RTC. They don't have anything like that to Six Flags in Great Lakes. It's down to business for a solid 8 weeks. Most of it is inside. The new facilities spare our young recruits from the nasty winter. I hear the cost is $800 million and construction is still on going. My son just finished on 03 SEP 09.
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  Jacquelyn Rae Martin/Gobelet September 23, 2009 at 4:56pm

  Over night liberty was cancelled by the time that I got to AT land. Any one who was not an E-4 (may be and E-5) or higher had to be back by midnight and could not go any where outside a 50 mile radius. Got in trouble once for not getting back until 1:00 am because my friends and I got lost on the way back to base.
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  GSEC (SW) Brooks Wilson September 22, 2009 at 2:54pm

  Yes, they did combine the genders after I was transferred from RTC Orlando in '91. Even though it saddens me RTC Orlando closed, I was happy to be transferred when I did, for my own good. The training standards were changing, and being used to training to a more stringent standard, I did not agree with it much. My life was placed in danger a few times by slackers in the fleet before I became a Recruit Company Commander in Orlando from '87 to '91.
  I was determined to not allow a single person to walk out those gates on 8-3 day, until they personally proved to me they belonged in the World's Finest Navy. I also wanted a recruit to understand the rigors of even the most difficult duty stations, and to temper them in preparation for a worst case scenario. If a recruit didn't meet my criteria, I did what I had to do to get them out of there. I even pulled a few off the before the bus before it left before leaving for their first duty station to be set back, just to show the long reach of accountability in the military. Recruits of my companies graduating were proud to pass in review, and I was proud of them. I hope those who did not graduate at least learned something from the experience. I did pt with my companies, and inspired them by leading by example when doing pushup and pullup contests with them. I helped my fellow CC's shape their companies also on 1-5 day, and also as an IT instructor when I was doing swim and PT testing.
  Before I left, my division officer was discouraging when informing me my freelance training was no longer needed, for there was no more war. That was five months before Desert Storm.
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  GSEC (SW) Brooks Wilson September 22, 2009 at 1:42pm

  I worked with a Chief Oliva at WS&PT from 89 to 90. He was a very professional, but a fun loving guy. But I seen it from a fellow CC view. I trained C120 about the same time Derek Johnson graduated from basic, and maybe was in the same training group.
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  Derek Johnson September 20, 2009 at 11:20pm

  Hi Glenn,
  
  "Navy world" was a special place indeed, and I became who I am on that south grinder, vying for alpha male by way of arm wrestling in the chow hall [I never lost, btw ;) ], standing up to avoid falling asleep in class, 02:00 to 04:00 watches, getting/giving the eye from/to female sailors, a thousand other things relating to comradery and teamwork, and finally PIR.
  
  I wouldn't trade my memory of RTC Orlando for anything, and even the mighty Marine Corps has never had a DI who could intimidate as well as our company commander Chief Petty Officer Oliva...not even close. Like you shipmate, I'm very glad I did it. There, in Orlando, did I learn the secret to success: 100% focussed persistence and an unrelenting work ethic that never gives up, and never quits.
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  Jeff September 20, 2009 at 2:17pm

  Hi Tracy :-)
  
  I don't know if there was ever gender integration for PT at Orlando. It certainly would have made running in a straight line easier, since your body tends to follow your visual focus. LOL
  
  Jeff
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  AK3 Glenn Carter September 20, 2009 at 7:11am

  Greetings Derek:
  
  I love the picture, not only are you standing on "Navy World" sacred ground, but it takes me back to that time. I traveled through those passageways and Grinders same as you, and was participating in my own "pass in review" only 6 months before yours. I know that all of us sailors around the world have all had fond memories of their RTC days wherever that may have been, whether Great Lakes, San Diego, or Orlando. But I am very certain that for all of us who passed through the Portals of RTC and even apprenticeship training in Orlando, feel that we experienced a truly special experience in Orlando. The Base was Gorgeous, it made you happy you decided to join the NAV...and I am sure we all felt blessed at the fact that we were apart of the few that were greatly blessed to go there and be taken into the Navy way of life once we reached our first, second, third and so on Commands. In many chats with shipmates from Great Lakes and even San Diego, their stories just seemed to pale in comparison to "NAVY WORLD". I often imagine being there again and wouldn't change not one experience, I purely loved it, the people, the company commanders, the guys from all over, how at first the girls were hideous at first and then in two weeks how many of the guys were signaling and cyphering messages to all of them, and vice versa. I remember thinking how I thought that the U.S.S. Bluejacket embodied my "vision" of what it would be like at sea on a deployment (lol). Perimeter road, division officers sidewalk, my blue folder that was perfectly creased in my back right pocket, and on and on...we all share one of life's truly wonderful one-time experiences, and none of us has ever forgotten. I don't know you, but we are kindred, and forever will be. I will be forever thankful to the recruiter who pushed me to sign those papers, he has given me and all of you a wonderful gift. I always thought that I would one day be able to return there and visit and reminisce, it breaks my heart what has become of that Special Place all of us know only too well. As you can tell, I get long winded, and have very very fond memories, but please excuse my long words. Peace be with you all and may God bless all of us.