“We are patriots. This is an opportunity … to train these (sailor recruits) amongst the general population. These guys sacrifice so much and the fact that we can help them out just means everything to us.”
Great Lakes Naval Boot Camp is the U.S. Navy’s only recruit training-facility. There, the recruits develop the skills they need in order to advance in the Navy.
For some recruits, this is the step before BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL), a six-month special-warfare training program in Coronado, Calif., that hardens some and eliminates most. If they want to have a fighting chance at becoming a SEAL, they need to develop their fitness and skills while they’re in Great Lakes, Ill.
Just eight miles west of the base, Bret Hall and Justin Lawrence own and operate CrossFit Freedom. Hall and Lawrence feel it’s their duty to help every interested sailor and special-warfare student.
“We are patriots,” Lawrence says. “This is an opportunity … to train these (sailor recruits) amongst the general population. These guys sacrifice so much and the fact that we can help them out just means everything to us.”
While on base, the recruits run, weight train, go on rucksack marches along Lake Michigan and fulfill other training and duties. In the off hours, the recruits either relax or find a way to advance their training. For anyone hoping to become a SEAL, extra training can be the determining factor.
To make sure ambitious recruits get the extra training they need, Lawrence and Hall roll into the base in their grey 18-passenger soldier shuttle.
The CrossFit Freedom owners bought the van when they realized the recruits weren’t coming to their classes due to a lack of transportation.
“They were calling up and saying, ‘Man, we can’t get off base. We have no ride. Is there anything you can do?” Hall recalls.
Buying a van was a worthy investment, the owners believe.
“(Having recruits at CrossFit Freedom) adds so much to the atmosphere and the community here,” he says. “We don’t have separate classes for those guys either. They mix in with our regular members and our members love it. Just the intensity and the work ethic that those guys bring adds so much to everything.”
The aspiring SEALs push the boundaries, regularly asking to do the worst workouts or even creating their own grueling programming. Thanks to the first BUD/S group at CrossFit Freedom, the box is now home to Triple Murph.
“(The first BUD/S group) were here everyday for our first two months in operation. Then, before they left (for Coronado), one of the guys said, ‘We should do a Triple Murph,’” Hall recalls.
The BUD/S group convinced Hall and Lawrence to put Triple Murph on the schedule. When the day arrived, they did the workout and held a farewell BBQ.
As their main civilian contact while at the Great Lakes Naval Boot Camp, CrossFit Freedom becomes a home away from home for many recruits.
“(CrossFit) is an opportunity for those guys to get out of their day to day routine, and to interact with civilians,” Hall says. “It means a lot to them, too.”
Sad to see them go, but confident they’re well prepared, CrossFit Freedom does Murph and BBQs each time a group ships out.
“We almost feel guilty that we don’t do more,” Hall says.
