Photo By Chief Petty Officer Stephane Belcher | Machinist's Mate 1st Class Zachary Dancy, a Recruit Division Commander and Midway...... read more read more
Subscribe
Meet Machinist's Mate 1st Class Zachary Dancy! He’s a Recruit Division Commander (RDC) and Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall’s leading petty officer at Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy’s only boot camp.
Dancy is one of the drill team instructors for the triple-threat division which includes the recruit band, choir, and drill team. He also helps with the state flags unit and the color guard, since he used to be a ceremonial guardsman.
Even though he’s a machinist’s mate, his passion in the Navy is working with the expeditionary units. He’s been in the Navy for fifteen years, and nine of those were with Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Units One, Three, and Five.
“It’s kind of like a smaller part of the Navy that a lot of people don’t see,” said Dancy. “They do more with less. Everyone’s cross-trained to do everyone else’s job.”
“Working with the teams and being a good coxswain boat driver,” he added. “I did that for nine years; that’s my passion.”
Before becoming an RDC, Dancy was recruiting in Dallas. He chose several ships when he was up for these orders. However, he was selected for RTC, and says it’s rewarding even though he works long hours.
“I really enjoy this work,” he said. “It’s really neat to take civilians that want to excel in life. They come here for many different reasons; it’s really cool to see them along in their journey and help them get to their next goals in becoming Sailors. It’s very fulfilling. I wanted to come back.”
Outside of work, Dancy uses his mechanical background to work on cars. Before transferring to RTC, he sold a Chevrolet Corvette (C6) and a Honda Prelude in Texas. Now he has five vehicles, including another Prelude, a Jeep, a left-hand drive MK4 Toyota Supra, and a Dodge Ram.
He also has a couple of dirt bikes and street bikes, and an all-terrain vehicle.
“It’s something I kind of excel in,” Dancy said. “I enjoy working on cars and trucks. I mean, they’re nothing special. They're all like 1990s Hondas, Toyotas and diesels. I enjoy tinkering with and playing with them.”
“It’s a hobby and they’re projects, but all of them run. It’s what I enjoy.”
Boot camp is approximately 10 weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes five warfighting competencies of firefighting, damage control, seamanship, watchstanding, and small arms handling and marksmanship along with physical fitness and lessons in Navy heritage and core values, Warrior Toughness, Life Skills, teamwork and discipline. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy’s only boot camp.
For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/rtc
| Date Taken: | 03.24.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.24.2023 12:13 |
| Story ID: | 441140 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 383 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Staff in the Spotlight, by CPO Stephane Belcher, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
