What Navy Recruits Go Through In Boot Camp | Boot Camp | Business Insider
[Applause] this division of u.s navy recruits is in week three of their 10-week boot camp get em up holcomb it's supposed to hurt they're enduring what's known as an intensive training exercise or ite session push-ups get there it lasts for about 40 minutes without a break opposition i told you yesterday i was going to get mine y'all been pissing me off for a week between not working together thinking it's a joke and it's not you arguing not wanting to step up to lead you're the leader you follow that simple stop with this individuality and work as a team it takes everyone a little bit i think to realize the big message we are one family we are one team there are no more individuals i.t is not fun it's to help you remember what you did wrong so that you don't do it again we had enough yes we have it this is navy boot camp every year more than 40 000 recruits graduate before becoming sailors and officially joining the fleet it happens here at recruit training command great lakes located about 35 miles north of chicago rtc great lakes is the only boot camp for enlisted u.s
navy sailors who's going to a submarine yeah why more money more money absolutely 100 base pay for enlisted sailors is about 22 000 a year sailors commit to actively serve for at least four to six years depending on their specialty or rate there is no special skills required prior to signing that commitment we were able to take any civilian off the street and transform them into a smartly disciplined physically fit basically trained sailor boot camp begins with the night of arrival let's go hurry up hurry up hurry up hurry up hurry up let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go buses driving from o'hare airport bring about 100 new recruits to the recruit in processing facility let's go we want to put them in a stressful environment to show them that even though it might be stressful for them they can get through it you're moving too slow and then it kind of like sets the tone for the rest of training what the are you looking at guy where did i tell you to look where where did i tell you to look welcome to recruit training command i'm chief walters i'll be one of your facilitators this evening when i tell you to you will remove your cell phone you're going to call home call your parents call your recruiter i don't care who but you're going to let them know that you arrived here safely you have one minute go hey i just made it in um i don't have long to speak but i just want to tell you that i made it safely but i'm okay got 45 seconds hurry up i'll get through it i gotta go mom i called my mom it was definitely emotional though because you kind of know that's the last time you're going to be able to contact your family for a little bit love you very much you guys have a good one you understand the words coming out of my mouth yeah what are you saying yep it's yes what is your problem guy what is your problem why are you moving so slow you're on my time now not your time hurry up it was brutal i won't lie it was a culture shock you are learning pretty much how to be a new human you do not know what the you're supposed to be doing at any given time you will stand in attention until told to do otherwise at no point in time will you look a staff member in the eyes that's rude and disrespectful and that's the quickest way to piss us off is that understood how about some motivation is that understood recruits receive their ditty bags hey hurry up let's go get your socks off my table let's go which hold their different uniforms hygiene products and basic items they'll need for boot camp recruits must provide urine samples to make sure they have no drugs in their systems those who can't immediately provide a sample are ordered to hydrate until they can although male and female recruits sleep in different compartments some train in gender integrated divisions after being assigned to divisions recruits wait to meet their recruit division commanders or rdcs signified by their red shoulder cords these rdcs will be with the division until they graduate from boot camp did we say you could talk they want to be here to be sailors so that's our job to train them to help them get there why are we so slow hey you isn't he taller than you yes chief no chief eye chief we're not their friends we're here to make them sailors why are you looking at recruits do i owe you anything you want them to be uncomfortable right you want to get them out of their comfort zone woocommerce hard but when you go out to the fleet if you make a mistake you're going to kill somebody right now it's life's our stake so we want them to understand that the bigger picture male recruits have to shave their heads female recruits can pull their hair back in a bun or wear it down as long as it does not extend below the back of the collar the new recruits pay their first visit to the galley where they eat in silence and stare straight ahead until they're dismissed get up and get out they'll need their strength for their first test of boot camp an initial physical assessment known as the pacer test [Music] timed intervals of push-ups planks and running [Music] not every recruit shows up where they need to be that's okay that's what we're here for put your hands by your side look at everybody else next to you fix yourself if we identify individuals that are struggling then we can curtail the training to make sure everyone's on a level play playing field to be successful recruits have two chances to pass the test if they fail they're recycled into another division where they'll keep trying until they can move forward in week one recruits are tested on their ability to swim god forbid you're in that abandonship scenario where you do have to leave the safety of your ship the navy has deemed that we need to be able to implement a swim qualification to ensure your safety and the safety your shipmates everyone in the navy has to have a third class swim qualification the third class qualification consists of stepping from an elevated platform surfacing unassisted swimming 50 yards then doing a five minute prone on your front known as a prone float or on your back known as a supine float i knew it's the navy you're going to need to know how to swim a little bit i had swam before but i never jumped off a diving board hitting the water you're like whoa i wasn't expecting that to shock but not all recruits are ready to take the lead some have to be pulled from the water during the test and sent to remedial swimming where they learn the basics of being comfortable in the water we're just asking you to try to actually calm yourself down and realize that the water is not going to drag you under you know you have to cooperate with it we have a 99.97 pass rate we have a higher pass rate for recruits that can't swim than the navy has of making civilians in the sailors during week three recruits report to the marlin spike trainer where they get their first taste of what it's like to be aboard a navy ship hand over hand positive control y'all literally just did this what is the problem make your eggs one figure eight at a time once they do get to us there's that nervousness they don't know anything about a ship it's scary it's a big old vessel in the water remove the bird's neck we teach them about how to communicate on a ship how to tie a knot transitioning them to be a sailor this walk through that was the easy part now the pressure's on each recruit is assigned a role that corresponds to a real member of a ship's crew make all preparations for getting underway with the objectives of getting a ship underway and bringing it safely into port make all preparations for entry port [Applause] so at the bridge at the very top you have the bolts mate and then we have our bridge phone talker lines three and four single dots they're going to be having comms with the other three phone talking stations down on the actual ship attention on deck attention on pier and the petty officers in charge relayed that message to the line captain fake down line going inboard fake down line going inboard line captains have that script saying single up all lines take in all lines it's loud it's chaotic it's hectic because when they're on the actual ship when they have actual waves moving that ship they need to be calm cool and collected and resort back to their training when i say prepare heaving line for evening that's when he comes over here i'm gonna hold this so he can tie the knot right it's all about communication as well as following all the safety precautions anything that can get you injured you need to make sure you're aware of what that is make sure your teammates aren't doing it either watch your feet watch people just standing there they can be injured somebody can go overboard somebody can trip up on a line take it for myself because i've i've eaten complete crap before like falling on the deck of a ship and it was not fun one two three remove figure eights and round turn take figure eights off and then round turns move to safety but seamanship starts in the classroom what's a vest mean stop stop okay next what's next single up all lines folks will i all stations single up all lines all stations bridge all stations bridge single up all lines single up ball single up all lines it's like speaking a different language you got to get the hang of it it helps that everyone else is doing it with you so the more you hear it it's all around you eventually you won't even think about it just tell him the message bridge single up all lines it's barney style we we break it down barney style like the dinosaur yes pretty much perfect just like that this is called the confidence chamber i don't call it the gas chamber i don't call it the torture chamber it's none of that stuff it is the confidence chamber the reason you go through this is so we can prove to you that the mask works does that make sense yes in week four recruits are exposed to cs gas or tear gas in the confidence chamber who's nervous right now somebody tell me why you're nervous i'm nervous about how my body's gonna react eye's gonna react it's gonna react accordingly after learning how to properly don and clear the masks the recruits head inside the chamber and wait for their turn to step to the line at the front of the room [Music] an instructor pours the powder inside the cs capsules onto a hot plate filling the room with gas let's go get that masked up get that top up when they take off the mask it only takes a few seconds before they feel the effects of the gas some recruits don't seem affected by it but most struggle they cup their hands under their chins to prevent bodily fluids from leaking onto the floor what does it feel like when you take that mask off it hurts burns a lot it's a good sinus clear if you're sick you'll be able to breathe once you leave there sierra criminals vision 205 hooyah after about 15 seconds of exposure they're allowed to exit the chamber it definitely wasn't fun definitely wouldn't you know sign up to do it again but it wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be oh yeah easy day yo where you all at where am i later in week four recruits are trained to fight fires you never know when a simple fire will break out aboard the ship any sailor needs to be ready to combat that fire to save the ship aircraft submarine you name it controlled fires fueled by propane tanks simulate different types of fires that could occur on a ship a lot of them don't understand that pressure that comes through the hose as soon as you open up that nozzle all that pressure starts to push you backwards they kind of hold it nonchalantly a little bit it was one of the most hands-on experiences we got to do part of the teamwork that helps you realize that there's going to be points where your life is going to be in the hands of another person it's important to pay attention because if you're not doing things correctly you're putting someone else in danger [Music] recruits trained to safely fire the m9 beretta pistol as well as to assemble and disassemble it a lot of people that come through here have minimal to zero experience if something's incorrect we we fix it right away if we see that some of them are kind of just a little bit too nervous we'll talk to them make sure that they're mentally okay and make sure that they feel safe and they feel like they're in a good environment why should navy sailors need to be qualified to shoot weapons i would say most typically on watch that's when we have to stand watch and provide some sort of security if someone steps on board a vessel anything seems kind of weird kind of sketchy then we would have to employ that weapon if things start to escalate [Music] boot camp culminates with an event known as battle stations it happens inside this building which may not look like much from the outside but inside the recruits encounter this the uss trayer it's a two-thirds scale replica of a navy destroyer ship designed and built by companies that created attractions for walt disney world battle stations is an accumulation of every training evolution you've done throughout basic mixed with a little bit of sleep deprivation so i think it's the closest thing any of us are going to get to what being on a ship's like although the navy agreed to let our crew film parts of the battle stations event we weren't allowed to show major details of the scenarios or solutions to the problems recruits have to solve so it goes over 17 different scenarios from firefighting to seamanship first aid so all those combined into one special night a special and long night recruits are not allowed to sleep during the event what are you talking about are you telling me are you telling petty officer or are you telling your cls tell the cls don't worry go class when they say when you get the fleet you gotta be able to handle sleep deprivation you really do you have to be able to handle doing the right thing even when it's very stressful even when you're cold wet tired sleepy and even when your peers may not be in the right mindset either the first scenario we saw involved a burst water pipe in a room full of ammunition shells that recruits had to move while trying to patch the pipe if you can't do it alone ask for help they use their fire fighting skills to put out a fire that breaks out on board we have all the sound effects the lighting the smoke just because we want to make sure it's as realistic as possible once you go out to the ship if there was ever you know emergency situation that happened we want to kind of reflect that here we were allowed to film inside one of the training areas built to resemble the damage suffered by the uss cole in the deadly attack in october of 2000 with details down to the clock on the wall which is stopped on the minute the real attack occurred but when the scenario starts recruits don't notice such details dying they have to locate and evacuate a casualty through thick smoke over obstacles and in total darkness some people like working on distress because they say pressure either produces diamonds or butters pipes it was really fun i would definitely do it again maybe after a full night's rest but i would 100 do battle stations again it's a night i will never forget [Music] [Applause] after battle stations is complete recruits line up in front of the uss trayer to receive their navy ball cap symbolizing their transition from recruits to navy sailors [Music] they realize everything that they have done thus far all the blood sweat and tears they shed they finally earned their navy ball cap and it's a proud moment for all of them that morning was extremely emotional i was definitely more proud of that than anything i've ever done before nothing compares to that moment [Music] friends and family gather to witness their new sailors graduate before joining the fleet you see the change you have some recruits that you never thought they were going to make it past training but once they graduate and you see that while they grasp the point of this you know they're going to be out there out in the fleet it's really rewarding seeing recruits come off the bus with long hair not knowing their left to the right not knowing how to wear a uniform and seeing that transition that they make from a civilian to a recruit to a sailor is truly eye-watering and truly a blessing oh [Music] [Music]
2022-06-13 23:10
