Staff in the Spotlight - UT1 Sydney Thorne

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher OGrady | Utilitiesman 1st Class Sydney Thorne, a Recruit Division Commander at Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy’s only boot camp, poses for a photograph in Great Lakes, Illinois. 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. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Christopher M. O’Grady)  

UNITED STATES

03.30.2023

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher OGrady 

U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command

Meet Utilitiesman 1st Class Sydney Thorne! She is currently a Recruit Division Commander (RDC) at Recruit Training Command (RTC).

“Being an RDC was something I wanted to make sure that I did in my Navy career. I’ve definitely grown as a person, a Sailor and also a leader working on the other side of bootcamp.”

Thorne attributes this desire of being an RDC to the first people who mentored her. The RDC’s who pushed her through bootcamp.

“I had really good RDC’s when I went through bootcamp. They were the ones that inspired me and I looked up to and gave me advice that I followed throughout my career. I want to pay that care and mentorship back to my recruits what my RDC’s gave to me in the ten weeks that I have with them.”

One of those ways she pays back to her recruits is through the simple act of actively listening.

“Too often people judge a situation of a person by what they hear from others,” said Thorne. “Sitting down and listening to a person and their situation might be what that person needs to really help them out. Listening lets your people know that you are actively invested and care about your people.”

It’s that care and investment into her recruits that she brings out the human aspect of her recruits.

“When my recruits get out to the fleet the stress is going to change,” said Thorne. “It’s not going to be the bootcamp environment. At the end of the day our mission is to make sure our recruits are cared for. So when they go out to the fleet and have a problem come out, they feel like they can go to their leaders. Their Chiefs, their petty officers, their peers they need to know they will be taken care of.”

In building that trust with her recruits she sets them up for a challenge. The challenge of being better than the day before.

“I’ve challenged all the divisions I’ve pushed with the “1% mindset,” said Thorne. “I always challenge them to do something everything that will at least make them 1% better in some aspect of their lives. Some days they might be able to more than that, but as long as they get 1%, they will have succeeded.”

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: 03.30.2023
• Date Posted: 03.30.2023 12:57
• Story ID: 441576
• Location: US