Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) hosted seven interns from the Republic of Korea (ROK) Parliament at Naval Station Great Lakes July 30. The visit was part of an annual cultural exchange between college student interns from the ROK Parliament and the United States Congress.
    “We hope the interns see the friendship between our two countries and the long history the United States has with South Korea,” said Eric Miller, senior district representative for Congressman Robert J. Dold, U. S. representative of the Illinois 10th district, who was sponsoring the group while on the naval station.
    “The visit also gives them an opportunity to see first hand the military that has been defending South Korea since the Korean War.”
    The group started their tour at the Navy’s only boot camp, Recruit Training Command (RTC). They were shown where recruits live, work out and train
    “The technology is very impressive especially with the ship simulator,” said Jung Min Kang, 23, an intern and student at Yonsei University in Seoul. “The smells and scenarios on the ship seemed to provide good quality training and education.”
    The ship and scenarios Kang was talking about are aboard USS Trayer (BST 21), the Navy’s largest simulator, a 210-foot-long Arleigh Burke-class destroyer mockup where recruits go through Battle Stations, a grueling 12-hour culmination of basic training and the last evolution recruits accomplish before they graduate.