Recruit Training Center Orlando

NTC Orlando's primary mission was the training of young men and women for a career in the Unites States Navy.  This was done through the Recruit Training Center command (RTC), which occupied a large portion of the base.  NTC Orlando was commissioned on July 1, 1968 and began training recruits shortly thereafter. [1] Originally the Navy hoped to process 8,000 recruits a year through RTC Orlando, although this number was revised upward several times. 

In 1973, RTC Orlando became the first co-educational training center in the United States. Before 1973, female naval recruits trained seperatley at the US Naval Training Center in Bainbridge, Maryland.  The female recruits had seperate commanders, companies and barracks until 1985 when the navy integrated the recruit training process.

In 1993, NTC Orlando was scheduled for decommissioning and the RTC command was transferred to NTC Great Lakes.  On December 7, 1994, the Recruit Training Command graduated its last class.[2] However, during its twenty six years in operation, RTC Orlando touched the lives of thousands of yound men and women. 

The next several pages will examine the process the new recruits had to travese as they completed their journey from civilians to sailors.