GREAT LAKES, Ill. - Seaman Recruit Christian Caraway, a Goodyear, Arizona, native, graduated as top Sailor from Recruit Training Command, Division 409, earning the Military Excellence Award on October 19.
“Winning the MEA is a huge honor and is a good reminder to me that hard work pays off,” Caraway said. “It helps to reassure that this is the right path and direction for my life and motivates me to stay the course. I will definitely treasure this whole experience going forward and I am truly humbled to be receiving this award.”
The Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award is the top award presented to the No. 1 recruit of their graduating training group. The MEA is awarded to the recruit that best exemplifies the qualities of enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing and teamwork. The award placed Foster at the pinnacle of today’s newest Sailors; he was awarded a flag letter of commendation for his achievements.
Caraway, 19, is a 2017 graduate of The Odyssey Institute for Advanced and International Studies in Buckeye, Arizona. He attended Arizona State University, pursuing a degree in political science. Caraway was a member of the United States Air Force Explorers and his interests include playing and teaching piano and playing baseball.
Caraway said he had a lifelong interest in the military and was persuaded to join the Navy by a family friend.
“I always had an interest in joining the military and what really influenced my decision was a family friend, Kevin Steck, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy,” Caraway said. “I was always interested in the brotherhood in the military, and I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I wanted to become a better man and demonstrate the qualities and good moral character I saw in our family friend.”
Caraway credited his Recruit Division Commanders, Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Jeremy Freehling, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Charles Conant, and Master-at-Arms 1st Class Kimberly Hardy for their guidance and leadership.
“Petty Officer Conant had a huge influence on my motivation,” Caraway said. “He was really good at making those real life connections to all our training and helping us understand what it truly means to be part of that military brother/sisterhood.”
Caraway said his accomplishment would not have been possible without his parents, Matthew and Kristin Caraway.
“They played a huge role in motivating me through everything,” he said. “They instilled in me that desire to always finish what you start and I hope to one day pass their guidance to my children someday.”
The biggest challenge of Caraway’s boot camp experience came during the first week.
“I think the toughest part was being away from home and the initial shock of the transition into a military environment,” he said. “I felt somewhat prepared going into it, but was humbled when we got off of that bus and jumped straight into our new life. It became real, really fast.”
Boot camp is approximately eight weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. More than 30,0000 recruits graduate annually from RTC and begin their Navy careers.
Caraway is assigned the rate of intelligence specialist and after graduation, he will attend Intelligence Specialist School in Dam Neck, Virginia.
Intelligence Specialists assist in every phase of the planning, collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence information. They assemble and analyze multi-source operational intelligence in support of all warfare areas, assist in support of intelligence briefings, reporting, and analytical programs.
For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/rtc/.