John Suits is a New Palestine native.
Submitted photo
GREAT LAKES, Ill. — Petty Officer 1st Class John Suits, a native of New Palestine, is stationed at the Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill., a boot camp to train sailors with the U.S. Navy.
Suits, a 2003 graduate of New Palestine High School, joined the Navy 19 years ago. Suits is also a 2018 graduate of the Art Institute of Indianapolis.
“I joined the Navy to experience life outside my hometown and create memories I would remember forever,” said Suits in a press release from the Navy Office of Community Outreach.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in New Palestine.
“Coming from a small town, I learned the value of being humble yet hungry and to make an impact no matter the size,” said Suits.
During the 10 weeks at RTC Great Lakes, sailors learn five warfighting competencies: firefighting, damage control, seamanship, watchstanding, and small arms marksmanship.
NSGL is the Navy’s largest training installation and the home of the Navy’s only boot camp. Located on over 1,600 acres overlooking Lake Michigan, the installation includes 1,153 buildings with 39 on the National Register of Historic Places. NSGL supports more than 50 tenant commands and elements as well as more than 20,000 sailors, Marines, Soldiers, and DoD civilians who live and work on the installation.
Two commands at NSGL are Surface Warfare Engineering School Command Great Lakes (SWESC GL) and Surface Combat Systems Training Command Great Lakes (SCSTC GL). Every surface Navy engineer, quartermaster, boatswain’s mate and deck seaman attends SWESC GL for technical training. These sailors leave SWESC GL as surface warriors, ready to perform aboard ships operating around the globe.
“What I enjoy most is that I get to see boot camp from the other side and inspire the next generation of sailors wearing the cloth of our nation,” said Suits.
With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea fiber optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people across America.
“I’m the first in my family to enlist,” said Suits. “So to me, serving means representing not only my family but my hometown too. I also want to lead by example for my nieces, Jolie Halston, and future nephew. Although they’re too young to understand, I hope they will one day be inspired to serve their country in some form.”
Suits is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I would like to thank my cousin, Dan, who helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life,” he said. “He inspired me to forge my history. I also want to thank my dad and mom, John and Della, who helped foster my creativity in becoming a mass communication specialist. I also want to thank my late grandfather, Kenneth E. Heath, who passed away before I decided to enlist. I’d like to thank my great uncle, Cecil, as well. He was the first person that I ever told that I enlisted in the Navy and I’ll never forget his first words, ‘Welcome to the Navy shipmate.’ He served as a cook in both the Coast Guard and the Navy during WWII.”
