Do it now, let's go.
Your backpack that's on the table.
Next, you're going to open your box up. Open it up.
Hanging on your box, there's a lock on it.
It has a chain on it.
You're going to wear it like a necklace.
Put it on, let's go.
I am Petty Officer Comeaux,
and tonight I'm going to be going through
and explaining every item that new recruits
receive here tonight in their ditty box,
Great Lakes RTC night of arrival.
Ditty is going to be the first issue of uniform items
that new recruits receive once they come here
to Great Lakes RTC for basic training.
It's going to be uniform items, hygiene products,
and shoes, anything that they might need here,
basic necessities that they need throughout boot camp.
For me personally, it was very shocking
because I've never had to move this fast.
Like, getting dressed and putting on
all of these different outer garments
and weathers and covers and hats and things like that.
Well, first thing we're going to start with,
we'll start with the socks.
They're Pro Feet moisture socks.
Keep your feet from sweating.
Just cotton athletic socks, yes.
No. They're just able to put two pair on
if it gets too cold.
The next item will be shoes.
They get brand-new pair of shoes,
so that everyone have a similar-brand shoe.
They use these shoes doing PT sessions,
doing outside runs, inside runs at Freedom Hall.
So now they have a option of wearing tennis shoes
throughout boot camp.
These are SAS running shoes,
but we have three or four different options.
Next, we're going to go in what's called the knit bag.
The knit bag is where we collect the laundry,
but for now we're holding all the items
that they're going to be issued here at night of arrival.
Inside the large knit bag, we have sweats.
We call them Smurfs here at Great Lakes RTC boot camp.
And it's basically just a sweatsuit, top and bottom.
Your Smurfs. It's just a funny nickname
because they all look like little Smurfs
walking around base.
All right, next here, we have PT shorts.
These are what they use
when they go to Freedom Hall to do workouts,
when they do their little exercise in-house.
They're just basic shorts with little pockets on it.
The ID-card holder that's on the inside here.
That way they can put their little ID in there
when they're wearing them.
They don't have to have a whole wallet
or carry it in their hand or anything like that.
They also use these when they go and do the initial swim.
Comeaux: Yes.
No.
Next item would be the yellow PT shirt.
These shirts are used for PT
with the PT shorts that we received earlier.
Just a cotton material with the "NAVY" on the front left.
Big "NAVY" in the front back.
The collar's not too tight to me, personally.
I know they just did a upgrade,
so they got a new shipment in.
I don't know if it's just the fabric
or the material they use or if they switched it.
But I have not had any issues with the shirts myself,
personally.
Next, we have the brown T-shirts, the coyote brown.
These here are going to be the one that you wear
under your type III,
which is the uniform that I'm wearing now.
It's a cotton T-shirt,
and you just wear it under your type IIIs.
Next here, we have the skivvies, known as underwear.
And they're just the basic plain white underwear
for the male and female recruits to wear.
Later on in boot camp,
you are able to buy regular boxers if you would like,
but these are just standard-issued boxers that,
I mean briefs, that every recruit gets
once they come through boot camp.
Boot camp is temporary.
It's only the basic things that you need.
So if you can deal with these for two to three months,
and then go on about your life
and get whichever ones you want.
These are the bare minimum that you need.
You get eight pair.
The laundry gets done by the recruits theirselves.
They have what's called a laundry crew.
They collect all the uniform items
that they wear throughout the day,
and they turn it in to the laundry crew.
Laundry crew have these bags, and they just take them up.
After they do hygiene, they do laundry in-house,
then they pass it back out later on in the nighttime.
Now, here is the large white knit bag
that I was telling you about earlier.
You're going to stencil this also.
And this is also where you put your dirty laundry
once you get to the ship.
So, you're issued it here, and you can,
once again, you're going to put your name on it,
and all your dirty laundry will just go inside.
It opens up like a little laundry bag.
We have shower shoes. The shower shoes are used
for when they're going to take a shower, hygiene.
They're just little shower shoes
so they can go from their rack to the shower and then back.
And then they can change into their socks and their shoes.
Next, we have the backpack.
The backpack is issued because they're going to have
multiple items they need to carry.
Up next we have the hydration tool, your water bottle,
and pretty much, you're just going to put your name on it,
and then you're going to carry this around
everywhere you go whenever you leave.
That way you're able to hydrate as required.
Comeaux: It's a big deal because we do a lot of PT.
Even though it's wintertime,
your body still needs to hydrate.
A lot of people think just because it's wintertime,
I'm not sweating, that I'm not losing water,
but you actually are losing just as much
as you do in the summer.
They have the electrolytes and the Pedialyte
for muscle recovery, to help you with the soreness.
And you're able to drink that also inside of here.
Next item we have here is going to be the glow belt.
Each recruit is issued a glow belt.
That way, once they're out by theirself
and they're not with the division,
they're able to be identified.
All it is, is it goes around your backpack,
or if you don't have your backpack with you,
it goes around your waist.
And it's just a little belt so you can be identified
when you're walking throughout the streets.
Next here we have the garment bag.
The garment bag is used to put your dress uniforms in.
That way they don't get dirty or any stains
or anything like that on it.
When you're traveling, when you're walking around,
when you're going from different command.
And it just unzips, you put your hangers in there,
and your dress uniforms go in, you zip it up,
and then you're able to hang it up to prevent them
from getting dirty or dust or anything like that on them.
No, they do that in week two.
Next here we have "The Bluejacket's Manual."
It's all the important dates in history
of the United States Navy,
and it's for them to read so they can study
and have a basic knowledge of what's happened
with the recruits and sailors before them.
Yes, there is, but there's also another book
that they are going to be issued
when they take their first test.
But this here goes more in depth.
The one that they're going to get
is specifically just for here.
Yes, me personally, I still have mine.
I still have my stamp here with my name on it,
division number. I still have my whole seabag
with everything that I was issued when I left here.
It's history. I want to be able to say,
"Hey, I had all these things,"
because I see that things are changing.
They don't have things that we had,
and we don't have things that the ones before us had.
So I like to keep part of history with me.
Next, we have here the ditty box,
with a lot more items in it.
The first one here is a small white knit bag.
And on the inside of this small white knit bag,
we have pens and Sharpies.
The pens are going to be standard recruit ballpoint pens,
and they're just used for them to fill out
all their paperwork, all the information,
write down whatever they need to write.
Here we have Sharpies.
The Sharpies are used to fill out
their name on certain items.
Later on, when they get their box,
they're going to put their name and things on the box,
so they're going to use a Sharpie also.
Also inside of this bag,
you have a plastic bag with a key.
They're going to be issued a standard Master Lock
for their personal lock, their personal drawer,
and they're just going to be able to lock it up
and carry the key around.
The spare key will be kept with the RDCs,
just in case they lose the one that they're issued
that they keep up with throughout boot camp.
This lock is used to keep all the valuables.
Their personal stuff, their wallets, their IDs,
their cash, their money, anything that has value.
Next we have the seabag.
The seabag is where they're going to put
every single item that they're issued tonight here,
with exception of their backpack.
And they're just able to put it inside of here.
And it also has a spot for their lock to go on here,
so no one can get inside and mess with their valuables
or they lose anything.
It has straps here,
and they just put them on just like a regular backpack.
Yes, it has a little flap in here on the inside.
So when you go in and close it,
you can put this over the top
so the water doesn't get on the inside also.
Next, we have the covers. Recruit ball caps.
The first one here is going to be
the standard Navy recruit ball cap.
This is going to be the one that they're going to
wear around unless it's inclement weather,
then they're going to get the watch cap,
which they're going to wear in cold weather.
But this one here is the one that they're going to wear
anytime they exit a building.
The next one here would be the Navy ball cap.
This is going to be the one
that they're going to get emotional for
once they get to graduation
and they get to actually wear the one
that says that they're actually a US Navy sailor.
Comeaux: So, they have to complete what's called
battle stations. It's very intense. It's all night.
They just pretty much do everything that they were taught
in the eight-plus weeks,
and they have to do it all within 24 hours.
And they have to go through
and complete every single station
in order to become a US sailor.
And that's when they get to actually put this one on.
Putting on the Navy cap meant that I was part
of a bigger force, part of something
that was bigger than myself.
Just being able to say, hey,
the people, the RDCs that trained me, taught me,
I'm able to say, "Hey, I'm part of the US Navy
just like you are now."
Yes, absolutely. A lot of sailors,
once they're able to put these on,
a lot of them lose their voice because they're crying,
they're tear-eyed, their eyes are all red.
Like I say, it's a big moment for a lot of people.
Next, here we have a shoe-shine kit.
Inside this shoe-shine kit is going to be all the items
that you need to shine your dress shoes
and also your drill boots
you're going to be issued at a later date also.
It just has the shoe-shine polish, the brushes,
everything that you need to make your shoes nice and shiny
for your inspections or just walking around base.
A lot of the recruits, once they come in,
a lot of them already know
because they look it up on YouTube and things like that,
but RDCs, at a certain point in time,
they also do, like, mentoring
and they teach the recruits how to shine boots,
give them little tips and pointers
on how to actually make it look better.
Next here, inside another small white knit bag,
the first item is going to be a stamp kit.
The stamp kit is going to be used for them
to put their name on it.
It has little letters.
They're just going to put their last name on here
with the little letters that are provided.
Then they're going to put their division number
down here in the center,
and then they're able to stamp every single item
that has a spot for them to stamp it.
And that way they can keep up with their stuff,
identify their stuff when they're doing laundry
or just in case anything gets mixed up
while they're doing whatever.
Also inside of this bag, you have
a sewing kit.
Just a basic sewing kit,
so just in case one of your buttons pop off,
you can put the button back on.
You don't have to send it out anywhere and get it done.
So you can do sewing jobs on the spot.
And this one here, we have the shoelaces.
The shoelaces here are going to be used
to tie up some of the items that you're going to be
issued later on in boot camp.
We fold it a certain way.
We put the shoelaces on there and tie it.
That way it doesn't come unfolded.
The next item is ChapStick.
We have ChapStick because you need
to keep your lips moisturized
from all the water you're going to be drinking.
That way your lips are not getting crusted
and they're not bleeding, you have to go to medical
and have to be set back in training also.
You also have here floss for your hygiene,
your personal hygiene.
Brush your teeth, wash your face,
shower, hygiene, floss your teeth.
That way you're taking care of your personal hygiene.
Next we have fingernail clippers.
You have fingernail clippers for one reason,
because of initial swim.
You're required to cut your fingernails to a certain length,
so when you jump in the pool
you don't scratch up any of the instructors
or any other recruit while you're in the pool.
Also, the Navy has a standard
of how short you should have your fingernails.
That way you can keep and maintain your fingernails
to a certain length.
Inside the next small knit bag,
we have laundry detergent, so that they can wash
all the uniform items that they're issued.
Each recruit is issued one bag,
and they just collect them all at one time
and wash all the stuff together.
And this is how they get their stuff washed nice and clean.
Next here, we have a towel.
This towel here is for them to dry off
once they get out of the shower.
Just a plain white basic towel.
They're also going to put their name on it,
because they're going to turn them in
so that they can be sent out to the NEX to be washed.
Next here, we have in this little knit bag,
we have their stationery stuff.
Papers, envelopes, stamps.
That way they can write letters home.
Study material inside the little
checkpoint notebook here for inspections.
That way they can have little cheat sheets.
We also, like I say, we have envelopes here,
and we have a notepad here,
so they can write notes and letters and stuff home
to their family members and loved ones.
The last knit bag we have here,
we have two towels for them to bathe with
when they get in the shower for hygiene.
Two little blue washcloth towels.
Wash your face in the morning, whatever.
And we have lotion
because of the windy weather, the bad weather.
Stay moisturized, keep your skin nice and moisturized.
We have razors,
so that every recruit can shave every single day.
We also have shaving cream, so they can use shaving cream,
so their face doesn't get bumped up,
they don't have razor bumps or anything like that.
So we give them shaving cream so they can shave their face.
Here, we have bodywash.
The bodywash is so that they can, once again, hygiene.
Once a day, they're required to hygiene.
When they go to the pool, they hygiene at the pool.
And this is the basic soap that they get
so they can do their hygiene.
Next here, we have shampoo.
It's shampoo so that they can wash their hair.
Like I say, they're going to go to the pool,
so when they come back and they want to get
the chlorine out their hair,
they just have shampoo to wash it.
Next, we have deodorant.
The deodorant is so that they can put on after they hygiene
and once they get done with PT
they're not all sweaty and stinky,
so that they can all be around each other.
We also have toothpaste.
Basic toothpaste so they can, in the morning,
whenever they need to, go and brush their teeth.
We also have toothbrushes in the bag.
You have two toothbrushes.
That way you can change out throughout boot camp,
and they're just there so recruits can wake up
in the morning, brush their teeth;
before bedtime, brush their teeth;
do it whenever they need to.
After they do hygiene, they do laundry in-house.
Then they pass it back out later on in the nighttime.
The last item inside this bag is a toothbrush holder.
Toothbrush holder is just so that they can
put their toothbrush inside of this little plastic tube.
That way it's not exposed and getting dirty
and getting other dirty items on the toothbrush.
Keep it clean.
Comeaux: They don't physically pay here.
It's taken out of their first check,
and then eventually it's put back in their check
so that they don't have to actually pay for it.
These are all the items that they're issued
in their ditty box on the first night
here at Great Lakes RTC.
This is everything they're going to need.
The basic necessities to begin their journey at RTC.