Naval Training Center Orlando in Pictures

In the Beginning 

The history of the 1229-acre Orlando Naval Training Center Main Base, home of the Recruit Training Command, the Service School Command, and the Nuclear Power School, began well before it was officially established in 1968.  

1928 – Orlando Municipal Airport

The Orlando Municipal Airport was created in 1928 on 65 acres of land just north of Lake Underhill. The airport dedication was a fantastic two-day event that featured bands, concerts, a parade, the Dixie Aircraft Show, aeronautical stunts by visiting pilots, songs, invocations, Army and Marine aircraft formations and competitions, a 25-mile Curtis OX5 race and free for all, banquet at Orange Court for the aviators, a grand Ball at the Coliseum, local, state and military dignitaries, a Vaudeville show, band concert and fireworks at the airport and even an amusing dissertation by Orlando’s own “Will Rogers” – H. Carl Dann!

1940 – Orlando Army Air Force Base

On September 5,1940, the Army Air Corps arrived at Orlando Air Base to set up a training program that eventually produced 5,000 tactical fighter pilots.

Officially opened on December 1, 1940, by the Army Air Force, the base became the center of the Interceptor Command School. The Base served as a training center for pilots and fighter and bomber groups.

In November 1942, the B-17 bombers and their crews moved to the new Pine Castle Air Force Base and the Army Air Force, School of Applied Tactics moved to Orlando to meet the ever-increasing demand of training personnel to use new equipment and improving battle tactics. By that time, the Orlando Base had grown to 1000 acres including the land that became the Naval Training Center.

The base remained on stand-by basis by the U.S. Air Force and was reactivated in 1951 during the Korean War and continued as a training site for Aviation Engineers. Among the many units housed there, over the period of years, were the famous “Flying Tigers”; Aerospace Audio-Visual Service; Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service; 11th Tactical Missile Squadron; and the MAC Non-Commissioned Officers’ Academy.

The Air Force 1365 Photo Squadron and the Special Communications Unit remained on site until 1969.

1946 – Orlando Municipal Airport

In 1946, the Orlando Municipal Airport was returned to the City of Orlando. As the Army Air Station gradually reduced its operations, much of the property was sold and developed as the Audubon Park neighborhood, the Fashion Square Mall, and the Koger Office Center, to name a few of the larger developments.

The Army Air Station closed permanently in the early 1960s and on June 30, 1968, the remaining property was officially transferred from the Air Force to the Navy to become the third U.S. Naval Training Center. 

1968 – Transfer from USAF to USN

On June 30, 1968, Captain Enders P. Huey and Colonel W. W. Wilson, USAF, signed the official papers transferring the Orlando Air Force Base to the U.S. Navy.

Construction

Even before the official transfer of the base to the Navy, demolition of WWII era buildings was already underway, and construction begun on Navy projects to create what the U.S. Navy promised would be “the most modern military training campus in the world.”

The opening of NTC Orlando provided the Navy with the unique opportunity to build a training center from scratch. A major construction program–totaling in excess of $80 million by the mid-1970’s–was underway before the Center was commissioned.” (That’s about $688 million in 2026 dollars.)

Major Commands

The major commands of the Naval Training Center were the “Recruit Training Command, Service School Command, Nuclear Power School, Naval Regional Medical Center, Naval Regional Dental Center and the Naval Training Equipment Center.” In addition, seventeen tenant commands were housed at the Naval Training Center. In September 1981, “approximately 1,900 Navy men and women and 2,500 civilian employees” had permanent duty at the Naval Training Center. NTC’s non-permanent personnel, at that time, included an average on board count of 6,000 men and women recruits and 4,000 other officer and enlisted students. From “The Rudder” yearbook – NTC Recruit Training Command Graduation September 10, 1981 – Part 1 under DOCUMENTS, below.

Captain B. W. Brender was named the first Commanding Officer of the Recruit Training Command. The Commander, Naval Training Center, Orlando was tasked with “providing basic indoctrination for officer and enlisted personnel, and primary, advanced specialized training for officer and enlisted personnel in the Regular Navy and Navy Reserve.”

Recruit Training Command

On July 1,1968, the day following the transfer of the property to the Navy, “the Naval Training Center, Orlando, Florida was established to enhance the manpower training capabilities of the United States Navy.”

The Recruit Training Command, by 1981, had the capability of accommodating approximately 9,000 recruits at a time in seven male and two female divisions and one division for housing approximately 900 apprentice trainees.

The Recruit Training Command, the largest command at the Naval Training Center, conducted their first graduation of 400 male recruits on December 12, 1968.

Women began recruit training in Orlando in 1972 and on April 1, 1974, the Recruit Training Command (Women) and Recruit Training Command were consolidated and the Recruit Training Command, Orlando, became the only Navy command where both men and women were able to undergo basic training.

All buildings in the Recruit Training Command were designed for Florida climate with air conditioning and tile floors.

Building exteriors were buff bricks sandwiched between white mortar with a border of white concrete and sun-reflecting quartz chips. The design and arrangement of the buildings created an intentional “campus-like” atmosphere.

A 249-foot, landlocked training ship, the U.S.S. Bluejacket I, built on the site, and scaled to two-thirds the size of a Destroyer Escort, was at the end of the 12-acre drill field. The red dots on the image, below, show the location of the U.S.S. Bluejacket I.

Clearly visible in the photo below, are the huge concrete north and south “grinders,” often mentioned by graduates of the Recruit Training Center Orlando. The grinders along with all the other structures, were reduced to rubble after the base was decommissioned, creating for Orlando locals a remarkable sight.

Former recruits can easily identify the barracks, mess hall and other buildings to the right of the grinders in the photo, above. The parade grounds with the building housing the gymnasium and swimming pool dividing them is also identifiable by the blue pool. The buildings were connected by 20-foot-wide concrete walks, enabling recruits to march eight abreast as they went from class to class and utility lines, poles and overhead pipes were eliminated with trees and foliage preserved throughout the 100-acre site.

The major commands of the Naval Training Center were the Recruit Training Command, Service School Command, Nuclear Power School, Naval Regional Medical Center, Naval Regional Dental Center and the Naval Training Equipment Center.

1994 December – Mission Complete

On December 2, 1994, the Navy Training Center Orlando, Recruit Training Command conducted the final Pass in Review ceremony, completing their mission in Orlando.

Approximately 462,000 men and 188,000 woman recruits attended and graduated Navy bootcamp at the facility between December 12, 1968, and December 2, 1994.

An archive of NTC TRC Yearbooks traces some of the graduations between 1970 and 1986. Bear in mind that the yearbooks are personalized with photos of major events in the training process for each individual Training Unit at the back of the yearbook.

2000 – Demolition Begins

Beginning in April 2000, the grinders and buildings of the Recruit Training Center Orlando were reduced to rubble, creating the only mountain ever to be seen in Central Florida!

A newspaper article “Time’s Up: Bulldozers make base a memory,” published in the Orlando Sentinel on April 10, 2000, heralds the beginning of the transformation of the training center to Baldwin Park and features an image of the Stephen L. Rush Memorial Chapel.

The concrete was reused for drainage areas in the development that replaced the Navy Training Center and small pieces can be found when walking in Blue Jacket Park, even today.

Blue Jacket Park

The City of Orlando created a brief history of the Orlando Naval Training Center and the City of Orlando’s plans for the property once the NTC was disestablished.

As a tribute to all the recruits that passed through the Recruit Training Center from 1968 until the last graduates marched on the parade grounds in December 1994, the city designated a portion of the land to the Blue Jacket Park – a space that includes recreational areas plus two statues honoring the men and women who served and a 10-panel history of the Navy Training Center Orlando.

Orlando Remembers the Recruits

The Naval Training Center recruits were not the only ones transformed by their time in Orlando. An Orlando resident local shared how the Naval Training Center recruits impacted her family and how her family made the holidays brighter for recruits far from home.

Growing up in my house meant sharing the holidays with family, friends and sometimes complete strangers.  Although she could not bring all of them home for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, my grandmother would contact the USO at the Orlando Naval Training Center to invite two sailors who would not be able to travel home for the holidays.  Once we picked them up from the Navy base (as we called it), our military guests were treated just like family – a holiday feast of Southern favorites, a comfy spot on the couch to let the food settle, and sometimes a trip to the next relative’s house for Round 2 of feasting.

When we were little, my grandmother would always tell my sister and me as we passed the Orlando Naval Training Center on the way to the Fashion Square Mall, “Wink at the sailors.”  Years later my mother would be called to pick up young sailors who needed a ride to church.  The Naval Training Center made quite an exciting impact on the Orlando community and our family.  My sister met and married one of the very fine sailors who graduated from the Nuclear Power School there.

Information and many of the photos of the Navy Training Center Orlando above, are from the NTC Orlando VIP Edition Guide and the Rudder yearbook for Training Unit 184, 2nd Division, graduation 10 September 1981 – Part 1 and Part 2.

Peruse the IMAGES and DOCUMENTS below and share your COMMENTS with us all!