dreamcatcher27371
Member
Posts: 21
(6/10/01 7:21:13 pm)
| Del All Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You guys got any stories about boot camp? Here's a little
input from a friend of mine who went through 10 years after I did...Pretty interesting contrast of how one feels as the weeks progress......I'll keep his name undisclosed because I didn't ask if I could forward.......Boot camp was certainly a time we all remember....../larry/
"Drop your co*ks and grab your socks."
That's the first thing I learned on day one in Boot Camp at NTC in August of 1965.
It was about 0430 and the next thing we had to learn was how to march on the way to breakfast.
The next thing I learned in the Navy was that marching sucked. The next thing I learned was that term "hurry up and wait". After waiting for breakfast the next thing I learned was that breakfast wasn't worth waiting for.
I learned a whole lot that first day.
Shaved heads makes everyone equal.
Navy issued clothing doesn't fit.
Smoke 'em if ya' got 'em.
Don't spit in the butt kit.
It's hotter than shit on the grinder.
Lunch was a lot better than breakfast.
John Phillips Sousa wrote a whole lot of marches.
Boondockers give blisters.
Dinner was delicious.
Spitshining shoes is considered recreation.
Mid watch was punishment for a "job well done".
Reville is 0430 for seventeen weeks.
The first week I learned;
How to stay awake in classes.
How to do a "right oblique, hut."
What happens when you fuck up the Sixteen Count Manual.
The true weight of an M-1 Garrand is about that of a bale of wet hay.
Your Company Commander is Satan's Desciple.
There is no firing pin in your piece.
There's no ammo anyway.
Doing laundry is considered recreation.
And that Boot Camp had been cut to eleven weeks.
The third week I learned;
KP can be dangerous.
Fire Fighting can be dangerous.
The firing line can be dangerous.
Not saluting a Marine officer can be dangerous.
Seagull shit can be dangerous.
Navy nurses can be dangerous.
The chow in Sick Bay is always cold.
And that Boot Camp had been cut to five weeks.
The fourth week I learned.
That I scored a combined 72 on my ARI-GCT.
I was claustrophobic.
I had hearing loss.
I was not going to be a Submariner.
I had missed all my shots while in Sick Bay.
How sick all those shots make a 19 year old.
How fast a recovery I could make for Liberty Call.
The fifth week I learned;
We were pretty damn good at marching.
The Sixteen Count Manual was a thing of beauty.
Those Navy issue clothes fit.
My Company Commander was one hell of a Sailor.
John Phillips Sousa could bring tears to my eyes during the Graduation
ceremony.
low2go
*Senior Chief Moderator*
Posts: 407
(6/10/01 7:54:24 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My God Chief, I was at NTC San Diego fourteen years earlier, and little, if anything had changed from what you remembered from '65. I was used to Iowa farm cooking, and that first noon meal in the mess hall that Friday was fish (which I recognized and liked) honeydew mellon (which I thought was an too-early picked pumpkin) and that ungodly thing that resembled a rough cucumber, (found out later they called them avacados) and this guy that called himself the company commander threatened to 'tear-us-a-new-ass' if we didn't eat every bean and pea on the plate. He kept saying that expression--it was his joke--he was the only one who laughed about it--we were too damned scared to laugh--you get his joke "EAT EVERY BEAN AND PEA (PEE) ON THE PLATE"--. It was years before I really started to eat avacados and enjoy them--I could'a swore that foul tasting little fruit/vegetable/nut was as close as could be to tasting like s---!!!!! Wilborn.
dreamcatcher27371
Member
Posts: 22
(6/10/01 8:17:42 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
low2go, that entry was from a friend of mine who went through in 65...I went through GLakes in 55 and it seems that things didn't change much until post-Vietnam. I had never eaten shrimp before bootcamp but had to eat them there. Had some type of allergic reaction and didn't eat them again for over 30 years. Love them now. I remember we had a special company (800 Baker) for the misfits..they had their sideburns cut to the top of the ear for easy ID. Also had the punishment of having to wear redboxing gloves for 24 hours if one happened to get caught choking his chicken...It was hilarious watching those poor bastards marching and trying to the the manual at arms with those boxing gloves on!! Interesting days for a young country boy but damn good training. I'd like to see a mandatory 2-year hitch in the service of your choice (or have one picked for you) for all males turning 18. Wouldn't hurt a thing and would give us a ready corp in time of need...../larry/
Misterstan
Moderator
Posts: 258
(6/11/01 9:42:48 am)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I went to boot camp in April 1968 at NTC San Diego, CA, I remember not being able to go to bed that first day until about 0130.
Reveille was at 0430 and we were all awakened by the Company Commander banging a night stick on an empty garbage can yelling "Drop your C*cks and grab your socks!" just like your friend said.
From there it got worse. Our group - Company 275 - must have been the worst group of misfits that was ever assembled. We were called Squirrels and constantly told that we all missed our Mommies. We slept with our rifles in the beginning (they were called a "piece") and were told this was the only piece we were going to get for the next 12 weeks.
In a few weeks we started to look like a pretty well organized group of sailors. We acted as one and soon found out the guy who couldn't do anything right was an expert at spit shining shoes. We did the cleaning up every night while he sat and spit shined all our shoes.
When we assembled for muster each morning, we all had shoes that looked like someone had attached a mirror to the toes.
The marching was endless. It just didn't make any sense. Why would we do so much marching if we were going to be serving on a ship?
The results were crystal clear on graduation day. All the companies marched in perfect step wearing our beautiful dress blues and carrying our shining rifles on our shoulders. It was a sight to behold.
There were also a lot of absolutely gorgeous California girls in the crowds on graduation day. I remember clearly when I stood at parade rest it was the first time I had been aroused since I entered the gates three months before, just by holding my hand on my hips.
I believe they used something called saltpeter?
When I finished boot camp I felt I had truly accomplished something worthwhile. I gained about 15 pounds in spite of all the marching and physical training. The chow was pretty good, in my opinion.
I agree wholeheartedly with Larry Dunn about wishing everyone could have had the experience of boot camp. The training was designed to break us down and then show us that we possessed the inner strength to pull ourselves back up as individuals as well as improving our overall strength as a group.
Stan Lambert
St. Clair Shores, Michigan
Edited by: Misterstan at: 6/11/01 10:47:34 am
106RR196LIB
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 131
(6/11/01 2:16:42 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North Fort Lewis, Washington -- November 1966
I was drafted in a month when induction rate was 30,000 a month. We were told straight out that we were going to Vietnam.
1) We were sent to the state of Washington near the Canadian border in midwinter to prepare us for war in the tropics.
2) The Drill Sargeant has no sense of humor!
3) The Mess Sargeant has no sense of humor!
4) The Army is unfair!
5) PT Sucks!
6) The Drill Sargeants are freaks who like to watch 55 teenage boys in their underwear polish black leather boots.
7) Winter weather in Northern Washington sucks BIGTIME!
8] It is very difficult to get back out of the Army!
9) Basic Training is a positive experience despite it all.
I did find that the Army was corrupt. We had a mess hall menu posted as per Army regs. The Staff ate what was on the menu. The Trainees ate crap.
The "ham" on the menu turned into Bologna for trainees.
The "orange juice"was watered down until it tasted like orange water.
"Eggs to order" meant you were ordered to eat them.
We were routinely short rationed -- the portions were the smallest I have ever seen in a mess hall.
We complained to the commander and he denied it. We got extra duty. The Staff mess hall was burglarized. The stolen food was never recovered. The trainees ate it all immediately.
We all lost weight. We got extra duty for the burglary. They couldn't prosecute us without triggering an investigation.
We learned to deal with corruption ourselves. Mike H
Edited by: dap22 at: 6/11/01 5:55:06 pm
LarryJK
Senior Chief Moderator III
Posts: 140
(6/11/01 5:30:17 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't like getting up so damn early. And I sure as hell didn't like Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo...cold and windy!! I was not getting paid which means I didn't have money for cigs and beer. Thanks to Bode(from NJ...I think) for helping me out from time to time.
dirty423
Member
Posts: 4
(6/11/01 7:16:28 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I did basic at Fort Lewis in August and September of '67 then straight to Fort Polk for Infantry AIT, got a 27 day leave and then off off to my southeast Asian vacation on 4 Jan 68. My first five months in the Army have blurred a bit, I kind of learned my trade in the Tet offensive.
I had some pretty good teachers too, I saw one for the first time in 32 years just last August. I'll never forget him laughing one time at a particularly daring thing he'd done and saying, "If you're crazy they can't get ya."
The point of the spear
hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 424
(6/12/01 12:24:28 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dirty423,
I never thought I would meet anyone who could not remember their first few months in the military but I guess it is how we all looked at it. If it made an impression or not.
I remember Reveille at the beginning, then we found we had to get up before Reveille to get all of our work done so we didn't notice it too much anymore.
Then there was that awful KP. I managed to draw KP duty right off. Naturally I ended up on the pots and pans. At the time Fels Naptha (sp) bar soap was being used to wash them with. By the end of the day my hands had turned double in size and had blisters all over them. Went on sick call and the DR. said I was allergic to the soap and that was the last of the KP I ever had to pull in basic. I always had a soft spot in my heart for that soap...lol
dirty423
Member
Posts: 5
(6/12/01 7:49:17 pm)
| Del Forgive my nebulosity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's not that basic didn't make a lasting and permanent dent in my brain, it's just that the inappropriate nature of some of it became something to ridicule in the intensity of my later experience.
One story,
I have been handling firearms since I was four. My Dad owned a considerable number and at age eight I was expected to carry a .22 handgun in the bush, as well as practice with a long gun regularly.
Let's shorten this up. My Dad owned a Garand, I could strip and clean that when I was nine, so... when they handed me an M-14 and sat us in a class, I took mine apart and was marveling at the new stuff. When challenged by a rather irate drill sergeant to reassemble that weapon I did so. I learned to regret that facility in some interesting ways.
The point of the spear
Edited by: dirty423 at: 6/12/01 8:52:14 pm
hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 429
(6/13/01 12:24:36 am)
| Del Re: Forgive my nebulosity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dirty423,
Would like you to share some of those stories when you get a chance, if you don't mind. I can imagine you would probably have a lot of company on here discussing weapons and a lot of us would just plain enjoy reading them. I am sure you have a lot to offer.
Member
Posts: 21
(6/10/01 7:21:13 pm)
| Del All Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You guys got any stories about boot camp? Here's a little
input from a friend of mine who went through 10 years after I did...Pretty interesting contrast of how one feels as the weeks progress......I'll keep his name undisclosed because I didn't ask if I could forward.......Boot camp was certainly a time we all remember....../larry/
"Drop your co*ks and grab your socks."
That's the first thing I learned on day one in Boot Camp at NTC in August of 1965.
It was about 0430 and the next thing we had to learn was how to march on the way to breakfast.
The next thing I learned in the Navy was that marching sucked. The next thing I learned was that term "hurry up and wait". After waiting for breakfast the next thing I learned was that breakfast wasn't worth waiting for.
I learned a whole lot that first day.
Shaved heads makes everyone equal.
Navy issued clothing doesn't fit.
Smoke 'em if ya' got 'em.
Don't spit in the butt kit.
It's hotter than shit on the grinder.
Lunch was a lot better than breakfast.
John Phillips Sousa wrote a whole lot of marches.
Boondockers give blisters.
Dinner was delicious.
Spitshining shoes is considered recreation.
Mid watch was punishment for a "job well done".
Reville is 0430 for seventeen weeks.
The first week I learned;
How to stay awake in classes.
How to do a "right oblique, hut."
What happens when you fuck up the Sixteen Count Manual.
The true weight of an M-1 Garrand is about that of a bale of wet hay.
Your Company Commander is Satan's Desciple.
There is no firing pin in your piece.
There's no ammo anyway.
Doing laundry is considered recreation.
And that Boot Camp had been cut to eleven weeks.
The third week I learned;
KP can be dangerous.
Fire Fighting can be dangerous.
The firing line can be dangerous.
Not saluting a Marine officer can be dangerous.
Seagull shit can be dangerous.
Navy nurses can be dangerous.
The chow in Sick Bay is always cold.
And that Boot Camp had been cut to five weeks.
The fourth week I learned.
That I scored a combined 72 on my ARI-GCT.
I was claustrophobic.
I had hearing loss.
I was not going to be a Submariner.
I had missed all my shots while in Sick Bay.
How sick all those shots make a 19 year old.
How fast a recovery I could make for Liberty Call.
The fifth week I learned;
We were pretty damn good at marching.
The Sixteen Count Manual was a thing of beauty.
Those Navy issue clothes fit.
My Company Commander was one hell of a Sailor.
John Phillips Sousa could bring tears to my eyes during the Graduation
ceremony.
low2go
*Senior Chief Moderator*
Posts: 407
(6/10/01 7:54:24 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My God Chief, I was at NTC San Diego fourteen years earlier, and little, if anything had changed from what you remembered from '65. I was used to Iowa farm cooking, and that first noon meal in the mess hall that Friday was fish (which I recognized and liked) honeydew mellon (which I thought was an too-early picked pumpkin) and that ungodly thing that resembled a rough cucumber, (found out later they called them avacados) and this guy that called himself the company commander threatened to 'tear-us-a-new-ass' if we didn't eat every bean and pea on the plate. He kept saying that expression--it was his joke--he was the only one who laughed about it--we were too damned scared to laugh--you get his joke "EAT EVERY BEAN AND PEA (PEE) ON THE PLATE"--. It was years before I really started to eat avacados and enjoy them--I could'a swore that foul tasting little fruit/vegetable/nut was as close as could be to tasting like s---!!!!! Wilborn.
dreamcatcher27371
Member
Posts: 22
(6/10/01 8:17:42 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
low2go, that entry was from a friend of mine who went through in 65...I went through GLakes in 55 and it seems that things didn't change much until post-Vietnam. I had never eaten shrimp before bootcamp but had to eat them there. Had some type of allergic reaction and didn't eat them again for over 30 years. Love them now. I remember we had a special company (800 Baker) for the misfits..they had their sideburns cut to the top of the ear for easy ID. Also had the punishment of having to wear redboxing gloves for 24 hours if one happened to get caught choking his chicken...It was hilarious watching those poor bastards marching and trying to the the manual at arms with those boxing gloves on!! Interesting days for a young country boy but damn good training. I'd like to see a mandatory 2-year hitch in the service of your choice (or have one picked for you) for all males turning 18. Wouldn't hurt a thing and would give us a ready corp in time of need...../larry/
Misterstan
Moderator
Posts: 258
(6/11/01 9:42:48 am)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I went to boot camp in April 1968 at NTC San Diego, CA, I remember not being able to go to bed that first day until about 0130.
Reveille was at 0430 and we were all awakened by the Company Commander banging a night stick on an empty garbage can yelling "Drop your C*cks and grab your socks!" just like your friend said.
From there it got worse. Our group - Company 275 - must have been the worst group of misfits that was ever assembled. We were called Squirrels and constantly told that we all missed our Mommies. We slept with our rifles in the beginning (they were called a "piece") and were told this was the only piece we were going to get for the next 12 weeks.
In a few weeks we started to look like a pretty well organized group of sailors. We acted as one and soon found out the guy who couldn't do anything right was an expert at spit shining shoes. We did the cleaning up every night while he sat and spit shined all our shoes.
When we assembled for muster each morning, we all had shoes that looked like someone had attached a mirror to the toes.
The marching was endless. It just didn't make any sense. Why would we do so much marching if we were going to be serving on a ship?
The results were crystal clear on graduation day. All the companies marched in perfect step wearing our beautiful dress blues and carrying our shining rifles on our shoulders. It was a sight to behold.
There were also a lot of absolutely gorgeous California girls in the crowds on graduation day. I remember clearly when I stood at parade rest it was the first time I had been aroused since I entered the gates three months before, just by holding my hand on my hips.
I believe they used something called saltpeter?
When I finished boot camp I felt I had truly accomplished something worthwhile. I gained about 15 pounds in spite of all the marching and physical training. The chow was pretty good, in my opinion.
I agree wholeheartedly with Larry Dunn about wishing everyone could have had the experience of boot camp. The training was designed to break us down and then show us that we possessed the inner strength to pull ourselves back up as individuals as well as improving our overall strength as a group.
Stan Lambert
St. Clair Shores, Michigan
Edited by: Misterstan at: 6/11/01 10:47:34 am
106RR196LIB
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 131
(6/11/01 2:16:42 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North Fort Lewis, Washington -- November 1966
I was drafted in a month when induction rate was 30,000 a month. We were told straight out that we were going to Vietnam.
1) We were sent to the state of Washington near the Canadian border in midwinter to prepare us for war in the tropics.
2) The Drill Sargeant has no sense of humor!
3) The Mess Sargeant has no sense of humor!
4) The Army is unfair!
5) PT Sucks!
6) The Drill Sargeants are freaks who like to watch 55 teenage boys in their underwear polish black leather boots.
7) Winter weather in Northern Washington sucks BIGTIME!
8] It is very difficult to get back out of the Army!
9) Basic Training is a positive experience despite it all.
I did find that the Army was corrupt. We had a mess hall menu posted as per Army regs. The Staff ate what was on the menu. The Trainees ate crap.
The "ham" on the menu turned into Bologna for trainees.
The "orange juice"was watered down until it tasted like orange water.
"Eggs to order" meant you were ordered to eat them.
We were routinely short rationed -- the portions were the smallest I have ever seen in a mess hall.
We complained to the commander and he denied it. We got extra duty. The Staff mess hall was burglarized. The stolen food was never recovered. The trainees ate it all immediately.
We all lost weight. We got extra duty for the burglary. They couldn't prosecute us without triggering an investigation.
We learned to deal with corruption ourselves. Mike H
Edited by: dap22 at: 6/11/01 5:55:06 pm
LarryJK
Senior Chief Moderator III
Posts: 140
(6/11/01 5:30:17 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't like getting up so damn early. And I sure as hell didn't like Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo...cold and windy!! I was not getting paid which means I didn't have money for cigs and beer. Thanks to Bode(from NJ...I think) for helping me out from time to time.
dirty423
Member
Posts: 4
(6/11/01 7:16:28 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I did basic at Fort Lewis in August and September of '67 then straight to Fort Polk for Infantry AIT, got a 27 day leave and then off off to my southeast Asian vacation on 4 Jan 68. My first five months in the Army have blurred a bit, I kind of learned my trade in the Tet offensive.
I had some pretty good teachers too, I saw one for the first time in 32 years just last August. I'll never forget him laughing one time at a particularly daring thing he'd done and saying, "If you're crazy they can't get ya."
The point of the spear
hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 424
(6/12/01 12:24:28 pm)
| Del Re: Boot Camp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dirty423,
I never thought I would meet anyone who could not remember their first few months in the military but I guess it is how we all looked at it. If it made an impression or not.
I remember Reveille at the beginning, then we found we had to get up before Reveille to get all of our work done so we didn't notice it too much anymore.
Then there was that awful KP. I managed to draw KP duty right off. Naturally I ended up on the pots and pans. At the time Fels Naptha (sp) bar soap was being used to wash them with. By the end of the day my hands had turned double in size and had blisters all over them. Went on sick call and the DR. said I was allergic to the soap and that was the last of the KP I ever had to pull in basic. I always had a soft spot in my heart for that soap...lol
dirty423
Member
Posts: 5
(6/12/01 7:49:17 pm)
| Del Forgive my nebulosity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's not that basic didn't make a lasting and permanent dent in my brain, it's just that the inappropriate nature of some of it became something to ridicule in the intensity of my later experience.
One story,
I have been handling firearms since I was four. My Dad owned a considerable number and at age eight I was expected to carry a .22 handgun in the bush, as well as practice with a long gun regularly.
Let's shorten this up. My Dad owned a Garand, I could strip and clean that when I was nine, so... when they handed me an M-14 and sat us in a class, I took mine apart and was marveling at the new stuff. When challenged by a rather irate drill sergeant to reassemble that weapon I did so. I learned to regret that facility in some interesting ways.
The point of the spear
Edited by: dirty423 at: 6/12/01 8:52:14 pm
hope6970
Moderator
Posts: 429
(6/13/01 12:24:36 am)
| Del Re: Forgive my nebulosity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dirty423,
Would like you to share some of those stories when you get a chance, if you don't mind. I can imagine you would probably have a lot of company on here discussing weapons and a lot of us would just plain enjoy reading them. I am sure you have a lot to offer.