Commissioned on July 1,1968, the Naval
Training Center, Orlando, was established to enhance the manpower training capabilities of
the United States Navy. Occupying the site of the former Orlando Air Force Base, the
Navy's third training center is rapidly becoming a show place among training commands in
the armed forces.
The Commander, Naval Training Center, is tasked with "providing
basic indoctrination for enlisted personnel, and primary, advanced, and specialized
training for officer and enlisted personnel of the Regular Navy and the Navy
Reserve."
A decision was made in the nation's capital to develop a third Naval
Training Center, and on December 6, 1966, the Honorable Robert H. B. Baldwin, then Under
Secretary of the Navy, announced that the city of Orlando had been chosen as the site of
the Navy's newest and most modern training facility.
Orlando was selected because of its year-round climate, availability of
transportation, sufficient family housing, and availability of the Orlando Air Force Base
under the Department of Defense Base Closure Program.
The newly constructed Recruit Training Command features modern and
functional buildings and presents a campus-like atmosphere. Commissioned with the Naval
Training Center, the Recruit Training Command provides a smooth transition from civilian
life for enlistees into the naval service.
Additionally, the Naval Training Center is host command for the Naval
Training Device Center, which is responsible for the research, development, production,'
maintenance, and modification of air, sea, subsurface, land, and space trainers applicable
to all types of military situations.
Another tenant command of the Naval Training Center is the Naval
Hospital, Orlando, currently a 200-bed facility. The Hospital's combined medical and
dental staff of over 400 supports the Naval Training Center and other military
installations in the Central Florida region, as well as dependents and retirees.
A modern "high rise" replacement hospital is planned for the
future, and this facility will provide the most modern and complete medical care to the
ever-increasing active duty and retired military population of the Central Florida area.
On November 1, 1969, the Service School Command was established. It
initially comprises two schools, the Naval Advanced Undersea Weapons School (AUWS) and the
Personnelman Class "A" School. The AUWS is housed in a new brick structure,
located on 6, 100 square feet of real estate, and encompasses 109,000 square feet of
classrooms, laboratories and an auditorium. The PN "A" School is housed in the
old Air Force Photo Squadron Building on the southwest shore of Lake Baldwin.
Another tenant unit is the Navy Finance Office, Orlando, which prior to
the commissioning of the Naval Training Center, was a branch of the main office at
Jacksonville, Florida. The Orlando Finance Office is responsible for disbursing support to
17 military activities in the Central Florida region, and renders civilian disbursing
services to six organizations.
Additionally, the Center hosts the Navy Printing and Publications
Service Branch Office, the Defense Contract Administration Services District, and the
Resident Officer-in-Charge of Construction.
Presently, the Recruit Training Command has an average on-board load of
about 3600 recruits occupying its five modern barracks, each of which houses 12 recruit
companies. These five barracks, plus a 4,600-man mess hall, a classroom building, a
recruit chapel, a training ship mock-up, and other facilities comprise the first camp of
the Recruit Training Command.
The second recruit camp will be identical to the first with five
barracks and additional support buildings for training purposes. Construction on the
second camp began in Fiscal Year 1969, with targeted completion date in mid-1973. The
recruit population will then exceed 8,000.
The two camps will be interconnected by a "central core,"
consisting of two 26-classroom training buildings connected by the Television Building,
which houses the closed-circuit television system. Television provides a basic supplement
to the academic instruction in recruit training.