The Farragut Naval Training Station, located near Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, was only operational between 1942 and 1946, but during that time it was the largest city in Idaho, the largest business in Idaho, and the second-largest U.S. naval training station. Named for Civil War hero Adm. David G. Farragut, it trained sailors from 23 different states and by June 15, 1946, the day its doors closed, a total of 293,381 recruits, or "boots," and over 25,943 service-school sailors had passed through its doors. At least two Medal of Honor recipients and one Navy Cross recipient, along with a future governor of Idaho, spent time at the station. After its decommissioning, it served as the Farragut College and Technical Institute. Today it is the site of Farragut State Park and a small U.S. Navy acoustic research detachment.
Author and historian Gayle E. Alvarez is the producer of Pass In Review, the Idaho Military Historical Society/Museum's newsletter, and author of Idaho's Men of Valor. A board member of the society since 1994, she has drawn from the society's and Farragut State Park's extensive photographic collections and partnered with Dennis Woolford, a 15-year veteran park ranger at Farragut, to document its impressive history.