Photo By Chief Petty Officer William Gaskill | Gunner's Mate 1st Class Alma Gallegos poses for a photo at the "Golden Thirteen"...... read more read more
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Meet Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Alma Gallegos, a Recruit Division Commander (RDC) assigned to Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes, the Navy's only boot camp.
Gallegos grew up in Newman, California, listening to her father talk about his time in the Marines: the travel, the people, the way it shaped him. Eventually, she decided she wanted that for herself, too.
"My dad talked about the opportunities he had, the chance to meet people from all different backgrounds and see the world from a different perspective," Gallegos said. "Hearing those stories made me want the same thing. The Navy has given me that."
But her father gave her more than inspiration. He gave her a standard.
"Growing up, my dad didn't accept excuses, laziness, or complacency," Gallegos said. "He always told me 'con ganas' — do everything with enthusiasm, passion, and effort. And if you're going to do something, do it right the first time. Those lessons shaped everything about how I work."
She carried those lessons into boot camp as a recruit, where a single conversation would stay with her for years. Halfway through training, tensions were running high among the women in her division. Her RDC brought in HM2 Robbins to speak to them.
"She told us how difficult the Navy is, but also how much harder it becomes when you tear other women down," Gallegos said. "Those words stuck with me."
In 2024, during summer surge at RTC, Gallegos found herself face to face with the now-HMC Robbins.
"It was a full-circle moment," Gallegos said. "Standing there, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be."
Currently between recruit training periods, Gallegos is assigned to Student Control's In-processing Division, a role at the center of RTC's mission. She is responsible for planning, projecting, and tracking data for the more than 46,000 recruits who arrive annually, while also managing records for approximately 1,200 staff members.
"My role is central to making sure recruits transition into the Navy successfully," she said. "The data side of this job is more complex than most people realize, but getting it right matters for every single person coming through that gate."
What drives her most, though, happens on the deck, not behind a desk. As an RDC in charge of leading divisions in training, she describes watching recruits arrive timid, uncertain, and sometimes struggling, and then witnessing the moment something shifts.
"Many recruits come in with real challenges: insecurity, a poor attitude, low confidence," Gallegos said. "Through training, you guide them, push them, and watch them shed all of that. Seeing someone who was once scared and unsure walk with their head held high is the ultimate fulfillment of being a leader."
One moment crystallized that for her. A recruit had already accomplished something extraordinary before ever setting foot at RTC, losing 100 pounds just to qualify for boot camp. When her final physical fitness assessment arrived, she was terrified she wouldn't make the run time.
Gallegos ran alongside her.
"She cried and kept telling me she couldn't go on," Gallegos said. "I just kept telling her to keep moving. She not only finished, she finished with time to spare. Crossing that line with her and watching that switch flip in her mind, that's why this job matters."
The challenges of the work are real. Maintaining the discipline and structure that make recruit training effective requires consistency, and Gallegos believes that holding that line is one of the most important things she can do for the recruits in her charge.
"The standards exist for a reason," she said. "When we hold recruits to those standards, we're not being hard for the sake of it. We're preparing them for what's ahead. That responsibility keeps me focused."
Off duty, Gallegos trades the structure of RTC for something quieter. She spends her free time hunting estate sales and refurbishing old wood furniture, restoring things other people have overlooked and finding value in what's already there.
It isn't hard to see the parallel.
On her most difficult days, she returns to the same foundation her father built.
"My motivation comes from a belief in what this uniform represents," Gallegos said. "Freedom, country, the promise of the American dream. That conviction doesn't waver, even on the hardest days."
Looking ahead, Gallegos has clear goals on both fronts. Professionally, she is focused on earning her chief's anchors and growing into new leadership roles. Personally, she hopes to start a family and welcome her first child.
"I want to be a well-rounded leader and a chief petty officer someday," she said. "And on a personal level, starting a family is my greatest aspiration."
Gallegos continues to support RTC's mission by training the next generation of Sailors, ensuring they leave boot camp with the discipline, confidence, and foundation needed to succeed in the fleet.
Training at RTC lasts approximately nine weeks, and all enlisted Sailors begin their Navy careers at the command. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy's only boot camp.
| Date Taken: | 05.29.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.29.2026 14:55 |
| Story ID: | 566331 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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