US Navy Recruit Training Command - Keel Yearbook (Great Lakes, IL)

Page 8 text:

REAR ADMIRAI. HOWARD A. YEAGER, USN Commcmdant, Ninth Naval District

Page 7 text:

53 2 fi ' f T .wwmwfwwm 1 H , Q, ,WA V fr 4 13 9 , 4 5 5 Tha truz mzanmg nf dlsnpllnz I5 nut pumshmznt hut that me dzuzlnpmznt nf szlf cnntrnl and tzammurk mhlrh znahlzs mzn tu strmz fur pzrfzrtmn and arcnmplwh grzatnzss 'S , '? f V :,fwf:,,g ' fi 1, HZW? 'ff ' INTRUDUBTIUN A KEEL, as defined in Blueiacket Manual, is the backbone of a ship. In the Navy of today, as in the past, the enlisted man and his shipmates form the backbone of the NAVY. Recruit Training Command assumes the responsibility of transforming the young men of America into the earnest and dedicated sailors needed to man the fleets of the UNITED STATES NAVY. This book is a pictorial representation of the training re- ceived by every recruit as he is indoctrinated in the duties and responsibilities he must take up in the billet of a man- o'-warsman, and so it is called THE KEEL. ' ln future years, THE KEEL should prove a pleasant reminder of one of the most formative and important periods in a man's life whether he is a career Navy man or a civilian reminiscing over his hitch in the naval service. The weeks and months served in Recruit Training Command are not easy, but of necessity, are rigorous and demanding. This training is diligently planned and administered in order to develop the strength of character, loyalty, and patriotism in every trainee so as to prepare him to defend his country, its ideals and people, against any foreign aggressor.

Page 9 text:

THE UNITED STATES NAVY PUWER FUR PEACE Early in the seventeenth century Sir Walter Raleigh observed that Whosoever commands the sea, com- mands the trade, whosoever commands the trade of the world, commands the riches of the world and, consequently, the world itself. This principle is as true today as it was centuries ago. The startling advances in transportation and weapon technology have not lessened the importance of trade via the sea power to world freedom and our nation's pros- perity. The sea comprises over '70 percent of the world's surface. Over 99 percent of the tonnage imported or exported to or from the United States travels on the sea. Of the 77 raw materials considered strategic to our existence, 66 must be imported from nations across the seas. On any one day there are, on the average, over 2000 ships at sea engaged in bring- ing items to trade to and from our country and the friendly nations of the world. It would be impossible for our country, or any friendly country to survive today without the free use of the seas. As Napoleon learned to his sorrow, those storm tossed ships out there were the life- blood of his country's power, and without control of the seas, defense for any length of time was im- possible. A strong Navy, now and in the future, is our only real guarantee for a defense against aggression and the threat of communism. The communists, always good students of history, have learned the importance of a strong Navy to control the seaways too. They are building a Navy at a frantic pace. Presently the Russians are esti- mated to have more than 450 submarines, having learned from us and the Germans the importance of submarines in controlling the seas from World War Il. This number far exceeds Germany's submarines, numbering 57, which almost brought England to her knees in the early stages of World War ll-and ex- ceeds the number that we presently have.