Sailor’s Tales:

 Stories of San Diego’s Navy Community and the

 Naval Training Center

Sailors’ Tales: Stories of San Diego’s Navy Community and the Naval Training Center is a collection of stories from the veterans who trained at or who served at San Diego’s Naval Training Center (NTC) from its opening in 1923 until the base closure in 1997.  More than a collection of personal stories, this project brings together the parallel histories of the growth and development of San Diego and the Naval Training Center.  This collaborative project between National University, the San Diego Historical Society, and the Naval Training Center Foundation is key to finding and preserving a history of a community which once thrived in San Diego. The base closed in 1997, but is now being converted into a multi-use property site (with a historic preservation component). 

For seventy-four years, more than two million Navy recruits and sailors trained at the Naval Training Center (NTC) San Diego.  In their time at NTC San Diego, these young men and women matured and received the knowledge and skills required for the challenges of military duty and adult life.  Many of them formed friendships that would last a lifetime.  Some met their future spouses and others learned career and job skills.   Today, long after their ships have docked and their tours of duty ended they are telling their stories, the good, the bad, the funny and sad to preserve the memories of this community.  Through the recordings of personal accounts from sailors, civilians, company commanders, residents from the Point Loma neighborhood which housed NTC, and civic leaders, we are developing a rich history of ordinary people who participated in the San Diego Navy community and helped to develop the surrounding Point Loma community in San Diego.  The experience of millions of people over seventy-four years was pivotal in designating San Diego a “Navy Town.”  

Our project is capturing some of this experience through the collection of in-depth oral histories by means of audio and video recordings.  Please explore our website.

This project is generously funded by The California Council for the Humanities (#CSF06-157), National University and the Navel Training Center Foundation.

Some who have told their stories:

James M. Hoover Carl Creager
Jim Redfield Fred Speece


Jim Fryckman Vicente Garcia Lew Witherspoon

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