Taking a break with NASCAR star at Great Lakes Naval Station
NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. is expected to make another visit soon to see recruits who are in a division with his name attached to it at Great Lakes Naval Station near North Chicago.
Under an $800,000 deal, the stock car driver appeared in television commercials and participated in other efforts to attract the 88 recruits to the Navy's Dale Earnhardt Jr. Division. They are expected to graduate from boot camp Oct. 17.
Earnhardt visited the recruits before they began daily training in late August. He plans to return and check their progress before graduation.
While in taking a break in the recruits' mess hall at Great Lakes, Earnhardt casually chatted for roughly 30 minutes. Here is an edited transcript.
Q: What's going through your mind after seeing recruits in the division that has your name on it?
A: It's a lot of responsibility. They made a commitment to be here and to enlist. What they'll see in the next (few) weeks in the first half of boot camp will be some of the toughest weeks of their lives. They'll be tested mentally as well as physically. They'll go through some difficult situations.
Q: What do you think of your commercials being the lure for the recruits?
A: That's really what the marketing plan was, so I guess it was a success. In one way, you try to be creative with marketing. When the Navy decides to work in motor sports, they're thinking that's a good demographic to target to get more people to enlist in the Navy. That's what they want. So the Jr. Division is another way to make that happen and it seems to have been really successful.
Q: Have you ever had the desire to join the military?
A: I haven't, no. I think everybody, when we were going to the first Gulf war, I was 22, 23, 24 years old. And I think when you're that age, everybody feels a certain amount of responsibility, that if they were called into service or asked to go defend your country on foreign soil, you would. You would feel that obligation. I felt that way a little bit when this (current) war started. But I personally never really had an interest in the military.
Q: Do you think you could make it through Navy boot camp?
A: Sure. You look at these kids and I understand that boot camp is a way to filter out some of the people who are mentally or physically inept to be in the military. I understand that. But it's not really just a way to knock people out and clean house. I understand it's a tough deal.
Q: Do you have a new appreciation for the military now that you've visited Great Lakes a couple of times?
A: You go on trips like this and you really kind of see the inner working mechanics of the military, and how they operate and how a guy comes straight out of high school and ends up a fine-tuned military machine. It's pretty impressive. I have utmost respect for the military and the commitment and sacrifice that's made to have a career in the military. You're basically giving up everything you know, and your family and time away from everybody and everything. It's difficult.
Q; Do you have a sense of responsibility for your recruits?
A: I think it's very similar to understanding the ramifications of driving a race car. It's a dangerous sport. Being in the military - depending on what your expertise is - can be very dangerous. You can put yourself in being in life-threatening situations, obviously. But ... you don't join or enlist in the Navy unknowingly, walking in oblivious to all of those dangers. I guess there definitely is a sense of pride in having the division and having kids who signed up specifically for that division.