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Bears offensive linemen Bill Murray and Jake Curhan spent their day off Tuesday at Naval Station Great Lakes, touring the facility and meeting military members.
Located approximately 10 miles north of Halas Hall, Naval Station Great Lakes is the Navy's largest training facility and home to the Navy's only boot camp. It sits on 1,600 acres next to Lake Michigan and includes 1,153 buildings – 39 of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Murray and Curhan made their visit in conjunction with USAA and in advance of the Bears' Salute to Service game on Nov. 10 against the Patriots at Soldier Field.
“However we can give back is the most important thing,” Murray said. “It's great to be here and see everyone looking forward to hanging out with us for a while. It was really cool just seeing everything that was going on.”
The tour's first stop was at a swimming pool, where the recruits participated in intensive water training.
“That was incredibly impressive,” said Murray. “You try to swim back and forth treading water for 30 minutes. And then when you're done, you start doing pull-ups and push-ups. It’s just hard.”
“I really enjoyed the training we attended,” Curhan added. “Half of them were doing pull-ups and other bodyweight exercises while the other half were in the pool getting yelled at and splashed on. I just wanted to jump in with them and see how I would do. I feel like that’s a lot.” of [football players] are wired.
“It gives me a lot of appreciation for what they do. It is by no means easy. They're in the pool flailing and the trainers are spraying them with water and spraying them with water. That's a tough thing, and I definitely see her developing character.”
The next stops on the tour were a competitive gym and a destroyer simulator, where recruits are trained to handle various combat scenarios.
