Staff in the Spotlight: Meet Hospital Corpsman Second Class Blake Hollier

Meet Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Blake Hollier, a Recruit Division Commander (RDC) and "C" School instructor at Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes, the Navy's only boot camp.

A native of St. Amant, Louisiana, Hollier joined the Navy 13 years ago with a straightforward goal: advance his medical training. What he found was something he hadn't accounted for.

"I originally joined to further my medical training," Hollier said. "Once I was in, I realized how great the community was, and that this was the career path I needed in my life."

That realization crystallized years later at the Officer Candidates School clinic in Quantico, Virginia, where Hollier and his team cared for Marine Corps officer candidates through the daily demands of training. One case still stands out.

A candidate was brought in unconscious and unresponsive, with a core temperature so high the clinic's equipment could not register it. The team had a narrow window for treatment.

"We worked diligently to get that patient cooled to an acceptable temperature, and we saved their life with no long-term effects," Hollier said. "Knowing I was part of a team that could do that, not just for one candidate but for others in the same situation, made working there extremely rewarding."

The leadership philosophy he carries came from a mentor who told him something he has never forgotten.

"Sometimes being the leader that's needed means doing things that some, or even most, people won't like," Hollier said. "It's your responsibility to make sure the job gets done correctly. Sometimes that will cost you friends, but you've been entrusted to get it done."

Today, Hollier trains the Navy's newest RDCs, leading them through a 13-week course that prepares them to take divisions of their own.

"I get to reach people in my own community and in others," he said. "Seeing the advice I give actually being used, knowing I've been able to help my peers and even those senior to me, that's what I enjoy most."

The hardest part of the work, he said, is that no two people arrive the same way.

"Some recruits show up prepared and ready to learn, and some are the opposite," Hollier said. "Figuring out how to get the unmotivated ones to care and become part of the team is a challenge, because everyone is different."

One recruit taught him what that difference can look like. The recruit was struggling to adapt to military life, and Hollier decided to sit down and talk with him.

"I found out he came from a rough background, no real family to speak of, and this was his last hope to stay off the streets," Hollier said. "After that conversation, I understood how to train and mentor him."

The recruit went on to become one of the strongest performers in the division.

"Knowing he could have ended up on the street, and that this was the path that changed his life for the better, that one hit a little harder," Hollier said.

Moments like that are what keep him in the fight on difficult days.

"I know I'm making a positive change in the future of the military," Hollier said. "Even if one day I leave the Navy, I know I've done my part to train the future of this service, and that lasts for years."

Looking ahead, Hollier hopes to advance to chief petty officer and continue doing what he does now.

"My goal is to keep changing the lives of the people around me in a positive way," he said. "I want to keep being that positive influence and keep training those under me."

Hollier continues to support RTC's mission by preparing the Sailors who will train the next generation, ensuring recruits leave boot camp with the discipline, confidence, and foundation needed to succeed in the fleet.

Training at RTC lasts approximately nine weeks, and all enlisted Sailors begin their Navy careers at the command. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy's only boot camp.