Seaman Kristin Thorneloe Earns Military Excellence Award
by U.S. Navy Marc Lindsay
Recruit Training Command
December 8, 2025

Seaman Kristin Thorneloe graduated as the top Sailor from Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes, earning the Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award (MEA) on November 26, 2025.

Thorneloe, 23, from Blountville, Tennessee, said the honor represents the culmination of a calling she had felt since childhood, shaped by her upbringing in a proud military family.

“I always had the sense I’d join the military someday,” Thorneloe said. “My dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Army, and he raised me with that tough, service-minded mentality ... telling me to ‘rub some dirt in it’ whenever things got hard. But I wasn’t ready to commit right after high school. It wasn’t until college and traveling abroad that I truly realized how fortunate we are as Americans, and the call to serve grew stronger.”

The MEA is presented to the recruit who best demonstrates enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing, and teamwork. The award places Thorneloe among the top of today’s newest Sailors. As part of her recognition, she is awarded a flag letter of commendation.

For Thorneloe, the MEA reinforced a lesson she now intends to carry throughout her Navy career.

“Boot camp taught us that you can choose to do the bare minimum or you can push yourself to go above and beyond,” she said. “Not for recognition, but because that’s what service should look like. This award showed me that it really does pay to push yourself, pay attention to the details, and give your full effort every day. I want to honor the values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment in everything I do moving forward.”

A graduate of Dobyns-Bennett High School, Thorneloe was the drum major of her marching band ... a role that first introduced her to leadership, communication under pressure, and guiding a diverse group toward a shared goal. She later attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she completed her degree before deciding the time was right to pursue military service.

At RTC, Thorneloe said her greatest motivation came from her faith and her father.

“My biggest motivation throughout boot camp was God,” she said. “He guided me through every challenge and reminded me that none of this is for my glory ... it’s for His. And my dad motivated me every step of the way. He swore me in, just like his father swore him in, and I wanted to make him proud. His letters, phone calls, prayers, and even the pictures he sent of my golden retriever Toby gave me strength on the hardest days.”

Thorneloe’s Recruit Division Commanders (RDCs) were Senior Chief Builder (BUCS) Kristina Iliescu, Naval Aircrewman Operator 1st Class (AWO1) Stephen Mott, and Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (GM2) Victor Dukes.

She said her RDCs played a defining role in her success.

“At the very start of training, Senior Chief Iliescu put me in a leadership position in charge of 40 of my shipmates,” Thorneloe said. “It was only the third day of boot camp, and suddenly I was responsible for a team of women from all different backgrounds, with different communication styles and ways of handling stress. Learning how to guide them, communicate clearly, and make decisions even when we disagreed was difficult at times. I’m grateful that my RDCs had faith in me and pushed me to be a better person.”

Over time, she said, that challenge became her greatest growth.

“Boot camp is a high-stress environment, but leading others taught me how to unite people, how to adapt, and how to bring out their best traits,” she said. “I learned more about leadership in my time here than I ever expected.”

After graduation, Thorneloe will continue her training in Great Lakes, Illinois.

Training at RTC is approximately nine weeks long, and all enlistees in the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy’s only boot camp.

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