Navy basic training takes place at one location for every enlisted recruit in the country: Recruit Training Command (RTC) at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois. Unlike the Army or Marine Corps, the Navy runs a single boot camp, and more than 42,000 sailors graduated from it in fiscal year 2025 alone. The program currently runs nine weeks and turns civilians into fleet-ready sailors through a mix of classroom work, physical training, swim qualification, and hands-on shipboard drills.
The Only Navy Boot Camp in the Country
The Navy used to run multiple recruit training centers, but a 1993 Base Realignment and Closure decision consolidated everything at Great Lakes. The San Diego training command was decommissioned in March 1994, and the Orlando facility closed in April 1999.1Navy BRAC. Former Naval Training Center San Diego2Navy BRAC. Former Naval Training Center Orlando Since then, every enlisted recruit has shipped to the same place.
Naval Station Great Lakes sits on more than 1,600 acres along the shore of Lake Michigan and includes over 1,150 buildings. Known as “The Quarterdeck of the Navy,” it supports more than 50 tenant commands and is the Navy’s largest training installation.3Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic. NAVSTA Great Lakes – About RTC is the command inside that station that runs boot camp, and it is the only place in the United States where enlisted Navy basic training happens.4U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. Contact Us
What to Bring and What to Leave Home
You ship with a specific set of documents. Bring a photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport, your Social Security card, and immunization records. If you’re married, have dependents, or have been divorced, bring those certificates and any related birth certificates. You also need a Direct Deposit System form with your bank account information so the Navy can start your pay.5U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. Reporting
Pack light. One small gym or travel bag is the limit, because barracks storage is minimal. Approved personal items are short: a wristwatch, a wedding ring, a small religious medallion or pocket-sized religious text, and less than $10 in cash.5U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. Reporting
The banned list is long. It covers all aerosol containers, alcohol-based products, any civilian clothing beyond what you wear on arrival day, portable electronics such as MP3 players and video game devices, food, non-prescription medications, razors, lighters, tobacco and vaping products, glass containers, and weapons of any kind.5U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. Reporting Your cell phone falls under electronics. When you arrive, it is boxed up with the rest of your personal belongings and stored until the day before graduation.6U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. FAQ
Physical preparation matters, too. The Navy expects you to arrive meeting body composition standards and able to handle a baseline level of fitness. If you enlisted through the Delayed Entry Program, you are also barred from getting new tattoos until you finish basic training.7Navy Recruiting Command. Future Sailor START Guide The Physical Fitness Assessment at boot camp uses a plank hold, push-ups, and a 1.5-mile run.8MyNavyHR. Guide-5A Physical Readiness Test
What Happens When You Get There
When you step off the bus at RTC, the transition starts immediately. Recruit Division Commanders begin issuing instructions, and your day is no longer your own. The first stretch is called “P-days,” short for processing days. Over roughly a week, you work through paperwork verification, medical and dental screenings, your first uniform issue, and your initial military haircut. On the night you arrive, you make a brief phone call home so your family knows you got there safely.9U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. What to Expect
During P-days you also go through the “Moment of Truth,” a chance to disclose anything in your background, legal, medical, or otherwise, that you did not tell your recruiter. Outcomes vary. Some recruits receive waivers and continue; others are separated, depending on what they disclose.
The Nine-Week Training Program
In January 2025, the Navy tightened basic training from ten weeks to nine, keeping the core modules intact and emphasizing seamanship, firefighting, warrior toughness, and watchstanding.10United States Navy. U.S. Navy Optimizes Basic Military Training Program to 9 Weeks
A sizable portion of boot camp is classroom instruction and computer-based training. You will be tested on naval history, rank and rate recognition, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, first aid, uniforms and grooming, military customs and courtesies, weapons familiarization, and the Thrift Savings Plan, among other subjects.9U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. What to Expect Academic exams count, and failing them can set you back.
Physical training runs throughout the program. The official PFA happens in week seven, and passing it is a graduation requirement.11U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. CO’s Welcome Letter Every recruit also has to pass a swim qualification. The Third Class Swim Test includes a deep-water jump, a 50-yard swim using any stroke, and a five-minute prone float. A second module tests your ability to inflate your shirt and trousers in the water to create makeshift flotation. For recruits who have never been strong swimmers this is often the most anxious part of training, but remedial swim instruction is available.
Hands-on training covers the skills you would actually use at sea. You learn line handling and basic seamanship on simulated vessels, fight real fires and manage flooding in damage-control drills, and handle service pistols in weapons familiarization.
The capstone is Battle Stations 21, a 12-hour overnight exercise aboard the USS Trayer (BST-21), a shore-based training ship that simulates a destroyer. Divisions cycle through scenarios that test everything learned to that point: loading stores, handling mooring lines, standing watches, manning general quarters, fighting fires, and stopping floods.12United States Navy. Sailors Making Sailors – Battle Stations-21 Recruits who fail are remediated or set back to an earlier training group and will not graduate on time.6U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. FAQ
Staying in Touch With Family
Your recruit will not have a cell phone during training, so communication runs on letters and scheduled phone calls. The first call is the night of arrival. After that, calls are spaced roughly every couple of weeks: after division assignment a few days in, around week two, week four, after passing the PFA in week seven, and after passing Battle Stations in week eight. Letters are the main connection in between, and RTC encourages families to write often. For emergencies, families can email RTC’s Recruit Customer Service team or use the American Red Cross worldwide messaging service to reach a recruit.11U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. CO’s Welcome Letter
Pay Starts Day One
You start earning base pay the day you arrive, including during P-days. The 2026 base pay for an E-1 (Seaman Recruit) with less than four months of active duty is $2,225.70 per month, rising to $2,407.20 per month after four months.13Defense Finance and Accounting Service. 2025 Basic Pay – Enlisted
Recruits with dependents may qualify for Basic Allowance for Housing, which depends on grade, dependency status, and where your dependents live. Single recruits living in RTC barracks do not get BAH. Bring documentation of any dependents when you ship.14MyNavyHR. Basic Allowance for Housing SOP Some recruits arrive at a higher pay grade than E-1 if they completed qualifying programs beforehand, including JROTC, college credits, Sea Cadets, or referral programs during the Delayed Entry Program.7Navy Recruiting Command. Future Sailor START Guide
If You Fall Behind
Failing a major milestone like Battle Stations or the PFA does not automatically end your Navy career. The usual consequence is a “setback,” where you move to a training group a few weeks behind yours, repeat the portion you failed, and attempt the test again. That pushes your graduation date, which is why RTC recommends refundable travel tickets for family planning to attend.6U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. FAQ
If a recruit cannot meet standards after remediation, or if issues come up such as medical problems, disciplinary infractions, or disclosures from the Moment of Truth, the Navy may initiate an Entry Level Separation. An ELS applies to anyone within their first 365 days of continuous active service and results in an uncharacterized discharge, meaning the discharge is neither honorable nor dishonorable.15MyNavyHR. MILPERSMAN 1910-308 – Entry-Level and Uncharacterized Separations
Graduation and Where You Go Next
Graduation is a formal ceremony at RTC. Each recruit gets a limited number of guests, typically three to four depending on division size, and your sailor will know the exact count in advance. Security is tight. Adults need a REAL ID, a valid passport, or another approved combination to pick up tickets, and all attendees pass through metal detectors. Large bags, backpacks, gift bags, posters, signs, and flowers are not allowed in the ceremony.16U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. Graduation
Graduation is a transition, not an end point. Almost every new sailor moves on to an “A” school for technical training in their rating. Sailors going to A-school at Great Lakes typically transfer the same day as graduation. Sailors heading to schools in other states usually leave the following morning. The Navy arranges all travel to your next command. You cannot drive yourself, use a personal vehicle, or travel on tickets your family bought. The day after graduation sailors have liberty from 0800 to 2100, so families heading to the airport can meet their sailor the morning of departure.16U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. Graduation New sailors wear full uniform leaving and returning to RTC, though they can change into civilian clothes once off base, and alcohol is off-limits regardless of age.