GREAT LAKES (NNS) – Seaman Apprentice Wilson Justice graduated as the top Sailor from Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes, earning the Military Excellence Award (MEA) May 14, 2026.
Justice, of West Liberty, Kentucky, said the award was the result of a simple but deliberate mindset he carried into every task at boot camp.
“Winning this award means I did what I was supposed to do and gave everything I had,” Justice said. “Before I left, my father said, ‘Be in the right place at the right time in the right uniform, and you will be just fine.’ I held onto that. My first RDC, Chief Kellum, told us early on that all we had to do was listen to our RDCs. Those two things guided me every day.”
The Military Excellence Award is presented to the recruit who best demonstrates enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing and teamwork throughout training. As part of the recognition, recipients receive a flag letter of commendation.
For Justice, the award reflected something he had practiced long before arriving at RTC — showing up fully, regardless of the task.
“Throughout boot camp I treated every challenge like it was the most important thing in front of me,” he said. “Whether it was a uniform inspection or time in the drill hall, I wanted to do my best. I became competitive, not against other people, but against the standard.”
Service was woven into his family before it became his own path. Justice’s father, mother and stepfather all served, along with many others in his extended family. When his daughter was born, the decision to enlist took on new weight.
“I joined to serve my country and to provide a better life for my family,” he said. “I’ve seen what the military can do for a family, and I wanted that for my daughter. I wanted to uphold what the people before me built.”
The people who pushed him hardest during training were the ones waiting at home. Any time boot camp tested him, Justice said he turned to the same image.
“Whenever something was hard, I thought of my wife and my daughter,” he said. “Picturing them was all the motivation I needed to keep going and give my best for them.”
His RDCs, Chief Utilitiesman Jerone Kellum, Aviation Survival Equipmentman 1st Class Deja Jenkins and Fire Controlman 1st Class Cristine Hovis, reinforced that drive from a different angle. Justice said he felt a sense of pride in Division 198 that pushed him to be more than just a participant.
“Some days were harder than others, and I could see it across the division,” he said. “I wanted to be someone who helped keep the energy going, not just get through it myself, but help others push through it too.”
When the separation from his wife and daughter became the hardest thing to carry, he found familiar ways to close the distance. Letters. Phone calls. Prayer.
“The toughest part was being away from my family,” Justice said. “Writing letters, getting updates on my daughter through the mail, hearing their voices on the phone — those things kept me grounded. Knowing the day I’d see them again was getting closer made it easier to keep going.”
Growing up, team sports taught him something boot camp would later confirm.
“Every team I was on felt more like a family than just a group of people playing a sport,” he said. “Everyone had a role, and the team only worked when everyone played theirs. I felt the same way about my division. I was one piece of the puzzle, and we needed every piece to succeed.”
Following graduation, Justice will report to the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center in Newport, Rhode Island, for Religious Program Specialist “A” school.
Training at RTC is approximately nine weeks long, and all enlistees in the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy’s only boot camp.