USS Recruit was a landlocked "dummy" training ship of the United States Navy, located at the Naval Training Center in the Point Loma area of San Diego. She was built to scale, two-thirds the size of a destroyer escort, and was commissioned on July 27, 1949. Recruit was commissioned for 18 years, for much of that period the only landlocked ship to hold that status in the U.S. Navy."Sailing" on a sea of concrete at the Naval Training Center, she assisted with the training of over 50,000 new recruits per year, providing an education in the fundamentals of shipboard drills and procedures, using standard deck and bridge gear like that found on all naval vessels, including lifelines, accommodation ladders, signal halyards, searchlights, the engine order telegraph and the helm. However, due to her landlocked status, Recruit lacked an engine or screw, and therefore was affectionately nicknamed the "USS Neversail." Reflecting her dual identity as both a ship and a building, she was also known as Building 430, located on Geary Drive between Evans and Chauncey roads.Recruit was decommissioned in March 1967, due to the inability to classify the unique ship in a computerized registry of Navy vessels. However she was later recommissioned in 1982, and refurbished to look like an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate. Commissioned or otherwise, she served continuously as a training facility from her construction in 1949 until the base was closed by the BRAC commission in 1997.
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific provides the Navy with research, development, delivery and support of integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, cyber and space systems and capabilities across all warfighting domains. The only Naval technical center headquartered in a major fleet concentration area, SSC Pacific manages strategic locations both in the Pacific theater and around the world. The diverse, multi-disciplinary workforce of more than 4,175 scientists, engineers and support personnel work hand-in-hand with more than 200 Fleet operators and active duty service members to ensure SSC Pacific solutions are Fleet-and warfighter-ready.With expertise in network architecture and system design, SSC Pacific is leading the design and deployment of the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services program --- the single largest, most complex upgrade to C4I cyber systems in U.S. Navy history. The Center's numerous unique facilities, test beds and experimentation platforms serve as the launching pad for game-changing innovations.SSC Pacific is advancing the Navy's employment of next generation unmanned systems and autonomous vehicles, large data management, antenna design, clean and renewable energy sources, and both offensive and defensive cyber programs. As the primary research arm of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, SSC Pacific supports basic research and prototype development, basic and applied science, extensive test and evaluation services, systems engineering and integration, installation and full spectrum life-cycle support of fielded systems. With world-wide connectivity and numerous partnerships with private industry and academia, SSC Pacific addresses warfighting requirements for Navy, Joint, National and Coalition war fighters.
"The Right Resource,The Right Way,The First Time" Connecting Service Members, Families and Retirees with the right information. The Information and Referral [ I&R ] program is an efficient way to find information or services that are right for you. In addition to answering questions about military and civilian programs and services, your I&R Specialist will also research information and find other resources for you. Telephone calls and walk in visitors are always welcome!! A wealth of information is available at Marine & Family Services, so come by and pick up fact sheets, flyers and other printed materials.
"The Right Resource,The Right Way,The First Time" Connecting Service Members, Families and Retirees with the right information. The Information and Referral [ I&R ] program is an efficient way to find information or services that are right for you. In addition to answering questions about military and civilian programs and services, your I&R Specialist will also research information and find other resources for you. Telephone calls and walk in visitors are always welcome!! A wealth of information is available at Marine & Family Services, so come by and pick up fact sheets, flyers and other printed materials.
The Naval Training Center, San Diego had its inception in 1916 when Mr. William Kettner, Congressman from the Eleventh Congressional District of California and spokesman for the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, interested the Honorable Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, in establishing a naval training activity on the shores of San Diego Bay. Due to the Nation's entry into World War I, further development of permanent site plan was postponed until 1919, when Congress authorized acceptance by the Navy of the present site of the Training Center. However in 1917 the City of San Diego made way for a temporary Naval Training Station. The station at Balboa Park ensured the a permanent naval training installation in San Diego. The original grant for the permanent site consisted of 135 acres of highland donated by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce and 142 acres of tideland given by the City of San Diego. Construction work began in 1921, and on 1 June 1923 the U. S. Naval Training Station, San Diego, was placed in commission under the command of Captain (later Rear Admiral) David F. Sellers, U. S. Navy. At the time of its commissioning in 1923 the station bore little resemblance to its present size or arrangement. At that time Camp Paul Jones housed the entire population of the station and the maximum recruit strength was 1,500. The period of recruit training was then sixteen weeks. The shore line of San Diego Bay extended considerably further inland than at present, and the land now occupied by Preble Field, the North Athletic Area and Camp Farragut was entirely under water. The recruit parade ground was located on the present site of the Public Works garage. During the 1920's the Recruit Receiving and Outgoing Units were housed in the Detention Unit, known as Camp Ingram, which consisted of a group of walled tents adjacent to the south boundary of Camp Paul Jones. Until Camp Lawrence was completed in 1936, recruits spent their first three weeks of training under canvas in this Detention Unit. In 1939 a construction program was commenced which within three years was to increase the capacity of the station four-fold. This expansion went hand in glove with a large scale program of harbor improvements by means of which the channel and anchorages in San Diego Bay were deepened and 130 acres of filled land were added to the eastern boundaries of the station. By 1941 Camp Luce had been completed, and the construction of Camps Mahan, Decatur, and Farragut was already well under way when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Virtually all this construction work was completed by September, 1942, when the capacity of the station had reached its wartime peak of 33,000 men, 25,000 of whom were recruits. The period of recruit training during World War 11 varied between three weeks and seven weeks. In April, 1944, the Secretary of the Navy changed the status of the Training Station to that of a group command and redesignated it the U. S. Naval Training Center, San Diego. Under the Center Commander were established three subordinate commands: The Recruit Training Command, The Service School Command and the Administrative Command. The years immediately following World War II saw a considerable reduction in population of the Training Center despite a post-war expansion of the Service Schools, and by the end of 1949 the population of the Center had dropped to a twenty-year low of 5,800 men. Six months later, when the Communists invaded the Republic of Korea, an immediate expansion of all Naval training activities took place and by September of 1950 the Center was again operating at nearly full capacity. During the early months of the Korean conflict it became apparent that the demand for trained personnel in the rapidly growing Pacific Fleet would require further expansion of this training center. Accordingly steps were taken by the Navy Department to reactivate Camp Elliott, formerly a World War II Marine Corps training camp which is located ten miles north of San Diego on Kearny Mesa. On 15 January 1951 Camp Elliott was placed in commission as Elliott Annex of the Naval Training Center for the purpose of conducting the primary phases of recruit training. In March, 1953, in line with the planned reduction in size of the Navy, training at Elliott Annex was discontinued and it was placed in an inactive status. During its two years of operation, over 150,000 recruits received training there. Late in 1952 projects were approved to convert some recruit barracks into classrooms and extend training facilities by construction of a permanent recruit camp on the undeveloped Training Center land lying to the south and east of the estuary. The six converted barracks went into service as recruit classrooms in April, 1953, and construction work on the new camp was completed in 1955. With the completion of this project the Naval Training Center filled out to its present boundaries of 435 acres. In the furtherance of its mission of supplying trained naval personnel to the fleets and ships of the United States Navy, each of the three subordinate commands of the Naval Training Center has important roles to fill. The Administrative Command has the responsibility of conducting most of the Center's administrative business and furnishing a wide range of services necessary to the daily life of the large community which the Center has become. The Administrative Command has the responsibility of maintaining the Center's buildings and grounds, and through its facilities all personnel on the Center are house, fed, clothed and paid, and receive their medical and dental car The Administrative Command also provides such other community services as recreational and Navy Exchange facilities; communications, postal and transportation services; and police all fire protection. Under the Service School Command are grouped more than twenty Navy Schools in which recruits as well as men from the fleet receive training in the specialized duties of certain ratings. Most of these are Class "A" schools, where non-rated men learn the skills and information necessary to them to perform a specific pet officer rating. Among these schools are those which train firecontrol technicians, electricians mates, radiomen, yeomen, commissarymen and stewards. Other schools teach specialized skills such as motion picture operation, teletype maintenance and stenography. The present capacity of the Service Schools is about 5,000 men. The largest of the three commands at the Training Center is the Recruit Training Command. Here the recruit undergoes his transition from civilian to military life; learns the history, tradition customs and regulations of his chosen service; and receives instruction in naval skills and subjects which will be basic information throughout his period of naval service. Most of the facilities of the Recruit Training Command are centered on Bainbridge Court and occupy the western half of the Training Center. Here are concentrated the barracks and headquarters of the recruit brigade, and nearby are located the mess halls, classrooms, athletic fields and recreation buildings used by the recruits. Now in its forty second year of service to the Navy, the Naval Training Center, San Diego, faces with confidence the challenges an unsettled world. (The Anchor, United States Naval Training Center, San Diego California - 1964) Before 1993 NTC expanded to over 300 buildings with nearly 3 million square feet of space occupying almost 550 acres onsite plus training buildings at 32nd Street Naval Station. Hundreds of thousands of civilian and military passed through the gates of Naval Training Center in the course of it's history. This base remains a proud memory for over a million civilian and military personnel who provided support functions, taught or received training here. Contributing to the Economy In annual payroll alone -- for both military and civilian personnel -- NTC contributed almost $80 million per year to the San Diego economy, according to the Navy's proposed 1994 budget. More than 28,000 visitors a year came to graduations at RTC, and 80 percent of these visitors were from out of town and contributed almost $7 million annually to the local economy. Beyond these payroll and visitor expenditures, the Navy spent an additional $10 million for base operation support contracts. With all finances taken into consideration, NTC provided over 2 billion dollars to the local economy over it's lifetime.
A burgeoning hub for life and culture in San Diego, ARTS DISTRICT Liberty Station is a unique destination filled with nearly 120 galleries, museums, artists, studios, makers, creators and distinctive dining experiences. This new gathering place within 360 waterfront acres of the former Naval Training Center features historic Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, vast landscaped open spaces and plenty of free parking. ARTS DISTRICT Liberty Station is a destination where visitors and locals can stroll the 28 park-like acres, discover something new each time and collect beautiful moments. Many of the 38 historic buildings are now bursting with authenticity, creativity, heritage and innovation. Always changing and evolving, ARTS DISTRICT is a place to create, connect, learn, shop, dine, meet, explore and buy local art. From artists and dancers to boutique shops, a historic golf course, seasonal holiday ice rink, an array of community event venues, luxury cinemas, local restaurants and a public market, the ARTS DISTRICT abounds with entertainment, annual festivals and innovative cultural and culinary experiences.