USA > Illinois > Lake County > Great Lakes > The Keel ; the story of initial training in the United States Navy, 1965 > Part 1
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Keel
UNITED STATES NAVAL TRAINING CENTER GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS
D
ISN
COMPANY 734
RECRUIT TRAINING COMMAND
1965
LENGRE
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 07475 2616
GC 977.302 G798US, 1965A
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NAVY CREDO
THE UNITED STATES NAVY GUARDIAN OF OUR COUNTRY
The United States Navy is responsible for maintaining control of the sea and is a ready force on water at home and overseas, capable of strong action to preserve the peace or of instant offensive action to win in war.
It is upon the maintenance of this control that our country's glorious future depends. The United States Navy exists to make it so.
WE SERVE WITH HONOR
Tradition, valor, and victory are the Navy's heritage from the past. To these may be added dedication, discipline, and vigilance as the watchwords of the present and future.
At home or on distant stations we serve with pride, confident in the respect of our country, our shipmates, and our families.
Our responsibilities sober us; our adversities strengthen us.
Service to God and Country is our special privilege. We serve with honor.
THE FUTURE OF THE NAVY
The Navy will always employ new weapons, new techniques, and greater power to protect and defend the United States on the sea, under the sea, and in the air.
Now and in the future, control of the sea gives the United States her greatest advantage for the maintenance of peace and for victory in war.
Mobility, surprise, dispersal, and offensive power are the keynotes to the new Navy. The roots of the Navy lie in a strong belief in the future, in continued dedication to our tasks, and in reflection on our heritage from the past. Never have our opportunities and our responsibilities been greater.
THE KEEL
THE STORY OF RECRUIT TRAINING IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY AT GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS
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All Rights Reserved
Albert Love Enterprises Inc. Atlanta, Georgia
The true meaning of discipline is not punishment, but that development of self control and teamwork which enables men to strive for perfection and accomplish greatness.
INTRODUCTION
A KEEL, as defined in Bluejacket Manual, is "the backbone of a ship." In the Navy of today, as in the past, the enlisted man and his shipmates form the backbone of the NAVY. Recruit Training Command assumes the responsibility of transforming the young men of America into the earnest and dedicated sailors needed to man the fleets of the UNITED STATES NAVY.
This book is a pictorial representation of the training re- ceived by every recruit as he is indoctrinated in the duties and responsibilities he must take up in the billet of a man- o'-warsman, and so it is called THE KEEL.
In future years, THE KEEL should prove a pleasant reminder of one of the most formative and important periods in a man's life whether he is a career Navy man or a civilian reminiscing over his "hitch" in the naval service.
The weeks and months served in Recruit Training Command are not easy, but of necessity, are rigorous and demanding. This training is diligently planned and administered in order to develop the strength of character, loyalty, and patriotism in every trainee so as to prepare him to defend his country, its ideals and people, against any foreign aggressor.
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REAR ADMIRAL HOWARD A. YEAGER, USN Commandant, Ninth Naval District
THE UNITED STATES NAVY POWER FOR PEACE
Early in the seventeenth century Sir Walter Raleigh observed that "Whosoever commands the sea, com- mands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world, commands the riches of the world and, consequently, the world itself." This principle is as true today as it was centuries ago. The startling advances in transportation and weapon technology have not lessened the importance of trade via the sea power to world freedom and our nation's pros- perity.
The sea comprises over 70 percent of the world's surface. Over 99 percent of the tonnage imported or exported to or from the United States travels on the sea. Of the 77 raw materials considered strategic to our existence, 66 must be imported from nations across the seas. On any one day there are, on the average, over 2000 ships at sea engaged in bring- ing items to trade to and from our country and the friendly nations of the world.
It would be impossible for our country or any friendly country to survive today without the free use of the seas. As Napoleon learned to his sorrow, "those storm tossed ships out there" were the life- blood of his country's power, and without control of the seas, defense for any length of time was im- possible. A strong Navy, now and in the future, is our only real guarantee for a defense against aggression and the threat of communism.
The communists, always good students of history, have learned the importance of a strong Navy to control the seaways too. They are building a Navy at a frantic pace. Presently the Russians are esti- mated to have more than 450 submarines, having learned from us and the Germans the importance of submarines in controlling the seas from World War II. This number far exceeds Germany's submarines, numbering 57, which almost brought England to her knees in the early stages of World War II-and ex- ceeds the number that we presently have.
Navy Strategy & Tactics
In the face of the constant aggression of commu- nism, the United States has geared her offensive and defensive power to retaliate regardless of the type of aggression, be it cold war, brush fire incidents, political revolution or all-out atomic war. In all of these areas, the Navy plays the principle part in maintaining the freedom of the friendly nations of the world.
Lebanon is an excellent example. Our Sixth Fleet carriers and Marines were there within seven hours of the call for help.
Our Seventh Fleet has demonstrated that aggression can be thwarted by the presence of our fast carrier attack force in and around Formosa, Korea and other Asiatic nations.
Our Polaris-launching submarines spell the absolute deterrant to atomic war, providing hidden mobile nuclear ballistic missile bases all over the world capable of striking enemy bases on a moment's notice.
The Navy insures our position as the leading sea power by being strong in three tactical areas:
a. Fast moving carrier task forces, dispersed in action over an area the size of New York State, capable of delivering nuclear weapons against dis- tant targets or, in limited wars, unleashing just the right amount of punch to terminate aggression. These task forces can destroy enemy targets without endangering our allies. They can also land Marine troops through helicopter "vertical envelopement" to take and occupy critical disputed areas. Today one carrier based supersonic plan is capable of de- livering explosive power equivalent to that of all bombs used in World War II.
b. Highly technical and fast moving anti-submarine warfare task forces to search out and destroy enemy submarines threatening merchant sea lanes and our carrier task forces. This group combines the talents of killer submarines, a versatile air combina- tion of bombers, helicopters and fast moving car- riers; and modern, highly technical surface search ships. These units are equipped with underwater destructive devices capable of locating, homing and destroying enemy submarines.
c. Ballistic missile submarines capable of unleash- ing atomic missile attacks against any target in the world from unknown, mobile and submerged loca- tions-constant hidden monitors for world peace.
The Role of the Navy's Men
Control of the sea by means of the Navy's modern and constantly improving weaponry would not be possible without the skills and devotion to duty of the Navy's enlisted men and officers. In this day of electronic devices, missiles, nuclear power plants, megaton bombs, and supersonic planes the need for intelligent, highly trained and qualified personnel to man the ships, submarines and aircraft is now greater than ever before.
To insure the "know how" that Navy men need, the Navy has an extensive school program to train today's specialists in the theory, operation, and maintenance of the Navy's ships facilities and equip- ment. Extensive training is needed in order to possess the strongest and greatest Navy the world has ever known.
This schooling in some instances requires up to two year's time. Navy men are the best trained technical men in the world today; few industrial concerns give equivalent training to their people to prepare them for industrial jobs. Navy training allows Navy men to take responsible positions in industry upon
their return to civilian life.
Moral Leadership
The technical side of the Navy man is only part of the success side of the picture. The more powerful that weapons become, the more important becomes the will and character of the men who must use them. The advance of technology in warfare has put one item at an absolute premium-dedicated man- power. The Navy has instituted under "General Order 21" the Moral Leadership program, a series of discussion topics to excite young men's minds with the real meaning of America and the intrinsic value of the individual human being; America's mission in the world; the specific mission of the Navy; and the desperately urgent need for men who will give their best efforts, indeed their very lives, to the perpetuation of the American ideal.
Essentially the Moral Leadership program puts the total responsibility for Navy men with the line officers and petty officers who must lead these men in battle. Now, besides seeing to it that men are merely well-trained for combat, Naval leaders are charged with bringing their men to a peak of effi- ciency and keeping them there. This program is more important to our combat readiness than any weapons system ever developed. This time we are dealing with the very heart of our whole combat capability-the man.
The New Concept of Recruit Training
The recruit of today differs somewhat from his World War II counterpart. Today most of the men in recruit training are under twenty years of age. These men are young and open minded; many of them are entering the Navy with a definite intent to make the Navy their career. Thus it is very im-
portant to the Navy and these young men that their careers get the best possible start in this new venture.
The transition from civilian life to military life must be smooth; indoctrination in the customs, traditions, and regulations of the Navy must be thorough. Basic Navy knowledge and skills must be taught and developed. Pride in and love for the Navy and their country must be carefully and logically cultivated.
In time of peace there must be increased emphasis placed on the mental, moral and social develop- ment of the individual. He must be led to a desire for self-improvement and advancement, to a reali- zation of his status in and his importance to the Navy-a sense of belonging, and to an understand- ing of his place in a democracy as a citizen as well as a part of the Navy. He needs also to be led to a full appreciation of the American way of life and to adopt, for himself, high standards of responsi- bility, military performance, leadership and conduct.
The Navy's stake in the recruit's development is tremendous. From these men will come the petty officers, the warrant officers and an important part of the Officers of the Navy of the future. The Navy cannot be better than the men and women who comprise it.
The goals set forth above are stated in terms of ideals and may never be totally realized. However, it is in recruit training that these goals are set and the roots established and nurtured. Continued de- velopment and progress, wherever these men may be throughout the Navy, will ultimately produce the strong, effective manpower and leadership re- quired for our great Navy and its role of maintaining POWER FOR PEACE.
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NAVY
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HISTORY OF GREAT LAKES
Great Lakes is the Midwest's largest Naval installa- tion.
A veteran of two world wars and the Korean con- flict, Great Lakes has served primarily as a recruit training establishment-bridging the gap from civi- lian to military life-by introducing recruits to Naval customs and discipline, and preparing them through intensive training for the requirements of Naval service.
During World War II, approximately 1,000,000 Bluejackets were trained at Great Lakes-about one out of every three in the wartime fleet, and twice the number trained at any other installation.
In addition to its primary function of training re- cruits, Great Lakes provides, at Service School's Command, advanced training in various technical schools for the numerous specialists required in today's modern and complex Navy. In these schools, men of the fleet learn to be electronic technicians, machinists, gunners, enginemen, electricians, dental technicians, boilermen and hospitalmen, to name a few of the specialties. The Dental Technician School is one of the few Armed Forces schools offering instruction to Army and Air Force personnel as well as Navy. The Hospital Corps School, which can ac- commodate 1600 students, is a part of the U. S. Naval Hospital at Great Lakes.
The Naval Hospital is one of the Navy's major hospitals for treatment and care of ill and injured personnel. At the height of the Korean fighting, more than 700 battle casualties were under treat- ment here.
The establishment of two large Naval supply ac- tivities here in recent years has increased Great Lakes' importance as a Naval supply center. Numer- ous Naval activities throughout the Midwest, as well as ships of the fleet, obtain equipment through the enlarged Naval Supply Depot. In addition, a large Electronic Supply Office at Great Lakes controls the procurement and distribution of repair parts re- quired for the maintenance of electronic equipment at shore stations and in Navy ships.
Great Lakes also is the headquarters of the Ninth Naval District-the largest Naval district in the na- tion, encompassing 13 midwestern states. The Com- mandant of the Ninth Naval District directs the hundreds of Naval activities in this land-locked area. Included among these activities is administration of the large Naval Reserve program in the Midwest, where civilians who are Naval Reservists receive practical instruction in weekly drills at 72 training centers. They also participate in annual cruises aboard ships of the Great Lakes training squadron.
Other activities at Great Lakes have all-Navy functions. These include: 1) the Naval Examining Center, which prepares and processes rating exami- nations for the entire Navy; 2) Fleet Home Town News Center, which receives news stories and photographs of Naval personnel from all parts of
the world and distributes them to hometown newspapers; and 3) Navy Medical Research Unit No. 4, which conducts research into the cause, cure, and control of respiratory diseases.
Waves have been stationed at Great Lakes since the Navy volunteer women's organization was established in 1942. A Wave recruit training school was located here from 1948 to 1951. In addition to filling essential jobs at Great Lakes, Waves also attended some of the specialty schools here.
Great Lakes' history dates back to 1904, when a board appointed by the President selected the site of the Naval Training Center from among 37 locations on the Great Lakes. The Merchants' Club of Chicago raised the funds to purchase the property, and the land was presented to the Government as a gift from the people of Chicago.
On 1 July 1911-six years to the day after construction began-Great Lakes was commissioned. It consisted of 39 buildings, with a capacity of 1,500 men. During World War I, the training center was expanded to 775 buildings with a capacity of almost 50,000 trainees. More than 125,000 men received their first Navy training here during World War I.
Great Lakes' population dropped sharply during the years between wars, but population and construction began a rapid increase after President Roosevelt proclaimed a national emergency on 9 September 1939. Pearl Harbor threw the expansion program into high gear, with 13,000 civilians working in shifts, seven days a week, to build additional barracks, mess halls, and training facilities. A
total of 675 buildings had been erected by the end of 1942 and in 1944 the population reached a peak of more than 100,000.
At the end of World War II, Great Lakes consisted of approximately 1,000 buildings. Since then much new construction has been accomplished in a continuing modernization program. New barracks, a new mess hall and other modern buildings are replacing the World War II wooden construction.
In keeping geared to modern methods, the Recruit Training Command has installed a closed circuit tele- vision channel in the classrooms of its up-to-date class- room building. With sets in each room 2400 men can be taught at once using only one cameraman and one instructor-and it has been found that this method of instruction is far more efficient than the older methods.
From its earliest beginnings the base on the shore of Lake Michigan-the Great Lakes Naval Training Center -has been a major bastion in the Navy's ever-continu- ing progress forward in training. Today, as in the past, it maintains its position as both the largest center for the training of recruits and as a major center of advanced technical training.
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CAPTAIN JEWETT O. PHILLIPS Commanding Officer, U. S. Naval Training Center
CAPTAIN CURG W. HARRISON Commanding Officer, Recruit Training Command
COMMANDER RICHARD H. WELLER Executive Officer
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COMPETITIVE FLAGS
THE HALL OF FAME FLAG is the supreme award that a recruit company may win. It is awarded to that com- pany within the brigade which by earning the requisite number of the following flags, and by maintaining consistently high standards as prescribed by the com- mand, satisfies the requirements for entrance into the Recruit Training Command Hall of Fame.
COLOR COMPANY FLAG is awarded to the company attaining the highest overall average among the group of companies with which it will graduate. The com- pany that wins the distinction of being Color Company at its graduation will "Post the Colors" at the Grad- uation Review.
THE BRIGADE EFFICIENCY FLAG is awarded weekly to the company with the highest overall excellence in recruit training.
THE BATTALION EFFICIENCY FLAG is awarded weekly to the battalion which compiles the highest overall average in all branches of competition.
THE REGIMENTAL EFFICIENCY FLAG is awarded weekly to a company within the regiment with the highest average in all phases of recruit training.
THE BRIGADE DRILL FLAG is awarded weekly to the company in recruit training demonstrating the greatest proficiency in close order drill.
THE REGIMENTAL DRILL FLAG is awarded weekly to the Battalion Drill Flag winner in each active regiment compiling the highest average in a drill competition
conducted among the Battalion Drill Flag winners within that competitive grouping.
THE BATTALION DRILL FLAG is awarded each week to the recruit company within each battalion compiling the highest average in a drill competition based on military drill, manual of arms, and physical drill under arms.
THE BRIGADE STAR FLAG is awarded each week to the recruit company compiling the highest average in the field of cleanliness, as determined by competitive bar- racks, locker, and personnel inspections.
THE REGIMENTAL STAR FLAG is awarded each week to the Battalion Star Flag winner in each regiment com- piling the highest average in the field of cleanliness, as determined by competitive barracks, locker, and personnel inspections.
THE BRIGADE "I" FLAG is awarded each week to the recruit company within the command compiling the highest academic average on the scheduled weekly examination.
THE BATTALION "I" FLAG is awarded each week to the recruit company within each active battalion com- piling the highest academic average on the scheduled weekly examination.
THE "A" FLAG is awarded each week to the Recruit Company within each battalion compiling the most points in those athletic events specified by the command.
THE UNITED STATES NAVAL HERITAGE
USS CONSTITUTION AND HMS JAVA DECEMBER 28, 1812
Don't give up the ship . . James Lawrence
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead . . David G. Farragut
We have met the enemy and they are ours . . Oliver Hazard Perry
Surrender? I have not yet begun to fight .. John Paul Jones
Hit hard, hit fast, and hit often . . Adm. "Bull" Halsey, U.S.N.
Pick the biggest one and fire .. Edward Joseph Moran, Capt., USN
JOHN PAUL JONES, 1747-1792 (CECELIA BEAUX)
QUALIFICATIONS OF THE NAVAL OFFICER
TT IS BY NO MEANS enough that an officer of the Navy should be a capable mariner. He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor.
He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention or be left to pass without its reward, even if the re- ward is only a word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though, at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency, and well meant shortcoming from heedless or stupid blunder.
(Reproduction of paintings in this section are by courtesy of the U. S. Naval Academy Museum, the United States Naval Institute, the Naval Photographic Center, Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Electric Boat Company.)
NAVAL HERITAGE
JOHN PAUL JONES set the pattern for aggressive, resolute fight-
ing which has always been the ideal of the U.S. Navy. The heritage of our modern Navy is a vast montage of individual maritime achievements. Whether the ship be wooden, sail, ar- mored, or atom powered, the indomitable spirit of fighting, sea faring, American men have made our country the bastion of the free world today.
To John Paul Jones went the honor of first hoisting the Stars and Stripes over an American man-of-war, the USS RANGER, of receiving the first national salute in Quiberon Bay on Feb- ruary 14, 1778, from France. In command of the BONHOMME RICHARD he defeated and captured the SERAPIS off Flam- borough Head, giving our Navy its famous fighting words upon an invitation to surrender, "I have not yet begun to fight."
With such inspiration thousands of American sailors have followed in his wake, making individual courage collectively the spirit of our Navy. Commodore Edward Preble, like John Paul Jones, filled his officers and men with esprit and fighting courage. Some of "Preble's boys" became the great leaders of the War of 1812, Stephen Decatur, James Lawrence, Thomas Macdonough. Perry swept the British sea power off Lake Erie. Hull and Bainbridge in the CONSTITUTION, along with Decatur in the UNITED STATES, established American naval power on the high seas during the first year of the War of 1812.
As our nation grew in stature in the family of nations, so did our naval officers grow in stature as diplomats. Typical of their exploits was Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry's nego- tiations with the Emperor of Japan in 1853-54.
Our war between the states developed the same kind of fight- ing men. David Dixon Porter became famous on the Mississippi River. Captain Raphael Semmes in the commerce raider, CSS ALABAMA, alone captured sixty-nine union ships before he was destroyed off Cherbourg, France by Winslow in the USS KEARSAGE. Perhaps the outstanding Civil War naval hero was David Glasgow Farragut ("Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"), whose fleets enforced the blockade of the Confederacy.
One generation of fighting men breeds its successors. Dewey, and Sampson, our naval leaders in the Spanish-American War at the turn of the century, led and bred the naval leaders of our next war. Wilson, Simms, Hart, Taussig, and many others next guided our Navy in the defeat of the German U-boat menace and convoyed our armies safely to France in the war with Germany during 1917 and 1918.
THE RETURN OF THE MAYFLOWER. COMMANDER J. K. TAUSSIG, U. S. NAVY, LEADS THE FIRST DIVISION OF DESTROYERS INTO QUEENSTOWN, IRELAND, MAY 4, 1917, TO COMMENCE OUR ANTISUBMARINE WARFARE IN WORLD WAR !.
Between the wars the Navy devoted its meager resources and manpower, ships and funds to research and development in aviation and submarine warfare. Stricken at Pearl Harbor and the Philippines in 1941, practically blockaded by German sub- marines operating off our East coast ports; the nation built, in three short years, the most powerful naval force in the history of the world. The indomitable spirit of our carrier dive bomber and torpedo plane pilots turned the tide of the war in the Pacific in the Battle of Midway, June 4th, 1942. From that day on, naval power in the Pacific slowly but surely drove the Japanese imperial forces into their home waters. Powerful Am- phibious forces, protected alike by carrier air power and our submarine forces, swept the Japanese armies off the Pacific Islands. Our fast carrier task forces destroyed the Japanese Fleets. Possibly the greatest air battle in the naval annals was the "Mariannas Turkey Shoot," in June 1944, in which the car- rier pilots of Admiral Marc Mitcher's Task Force 58 and anti- aircraft fire accounted for most of the 346 Japanese planes destroyed. After the war the exploits of our "silent service," the men who fought under the sea in our submarines, was finally publicized. Ranging throughout the Pacific and into the very harbors of Japan itself our fighting submarines sank 214 Jap- anese naval vessels (577,626 tons) and 1,178 merchant vessels (5,053,491 tons), a monument to the greatest submarine force in history.
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