World's Greatest Navy Part 3
Part 3 Of My Timeline In The World's Greatest Navy
Here is a general idea of our daily routine:
0400 Reveille
0500 Breakfast
0630 Exercise
0800 Morning Colors/Personnel Inspection/Marching Practice
1000 Academics Classroom Environment
1130 Lunch
1300 Flex Schedule (Used for non-routine training)
1430 Rifle Drills 15 lb rifles
1530 Barracks Cleanup
1800 Dinner
1930 Company Commander Time/Knot Training
2100 Taps
So the next day, the routine is in place, the first day of the Flex Schedule we all marched to the swimming pool.
Once again the Instructor was yelling at us.
we learned how to use our uniforms as a flotational devicce and how to tread water.
Everyone had to pass both phases by the end of the day or they would be processed out or set back to start bootcamp all over.
I think 2 people were gone at the end of the day.
During our morning Exercise time we would do push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, 8 count body builders and flutter kicks.
After all these exercise we would run 1 1/2 miles.
It was required by the end of bootcamp, you will have to do so many number of the exercises and run the 1 1/2 miles in less than 15 minutes.
If you were not able to do this, you would be set back a week or two or processed out.
Academics were also the same way, a 150 question exam was given the final week and if you failed, you were set back or processed out.
Academics we were taught our General Orders, Naval History, Basic Seamanship, Rank Recognition, Honor, Courage, Freedom, to take pride in the uniform, our country, the american flag and other Navy related topics.
During the day, while the Company is out of the barracks, another Company Commander is doing a barrracks inspection.
Any racks not made properly, or any items left are tossed outside, and the recruit(s) would have to gather them up when we returned to the barracks, then be punished by attending Marching Party.
I was lucky enough that none of my stuff was outside for the whole eight weeks, however, one time I did not acknowledge a Company Commander when he entered the barracks by yelling Attention On Deck! If you were the first to see the Company Commander enetering the barracks it is your responsibilty to yell attention On Deck.
Since I didn't yell it I had to report to Marching Party that night.
Marching Party was no party, it was 2 hours of phsyical punishment exercises the whole time.
It just so happened when I did my Partying, I had watch that night, so after the party, I reported back the barracks, took a shower was asleep by 1125.
At 1155, the Night watch came and woke me up for watch from Midanight to 0400.
The next Flex Schedule, we were all outside the Tear Gas Chamber, we were handed Mark V (5) Gas Masks and once again yelled at by the Instructor.
During this time when I was partying the recruits at the barracks were having a pillw fight with the lights on, during Taps, all lights out and everyone is in their racks.
The Company Commanders that I was partying with saw this from the Grinder, two of them ran to the barracks and busted the company for skylarking.
The next morning, our Company Commander had us out in front of the barracks in our athletic gear and said to us, "You may be a bunch of idiots, but you wou will be in shape by the time I am done with you morons in 7 weeks."
As he had us exercising he continued on with his yelling, " One recruit from another company tried to climb over the fence and escape, the idiot did not take his mattress with him to drape over the concertina wire and got snagged and cut. Another recruit tried to slash his wrist last night, dumb ass, instead of slicing length wise down the arm, he sliced across and the Hospital Coreman were able to save him. take my advice, if you are going to slash your wrist, do it length wise, it is harder to control the damage and bleeding."
I was being punished for not calling attention on deck, now punished for a pillow fight, I was not at the pillow fight because I was too busy partying.
He said, "You will don your gas masks and enter the chamber 15 at a time, so we all had to count, yelling out your sequential numbers." (mine was 22)
He continued yelling, "After you enter the chamber, tear gas will be pumped in the chamber, then you will be told to remove your masks, after the masks are off, you will recite one of the General Orders selected by the Instrucor inside the chamber."When you respond corectly, you will exit stage left, but you will not exit unti the correct response is given."
So I was in the second herd of cattle to enter the chamber, that stuff was so heavy and strong you could barely breathe, let alone think and recite a General Order, luckily ours was the Fifth General Order, To Quit My Post When Properly Relieved.
Our rifle Drills were designed to get us all in sequence for the graduation ceremony, there is one part I remember so vivid about this, where we had to stand perfecly still, the Company commander said to us "Remember these three words and will be okay through this phase of the rifle during graduation Don't Fuck Up."
On the next Flex Schedule, we mached to the USS Recruit, for Shipboard Firefighting, Line Handling, Navagation and under Attack.
Everyone took their turns throwing lines to the dock and chocking them.
Firefighting is some scary stuff, got a lot of respect for anyone who is a true firefighter.
Everyone did some Simuation Navigation.
Then we were under attack, the Company Commander pushed me from my back and yelled, 'You've been injurecd, fall to the deck."
So that's what I did, soon, I was loaded into a stretcher and taken to medical, where I stayed until the drill was completed, I played the part so well that I took a nap.
One time when I was standing watch on a bridge that seperated the schools from bootcamp, I was relieved late and missed dinner, I would have gone hungry that night, but because my sister baked some cookies and sent them to me I had something to eat.
After 6 weeks, we receive our first paycheck, mine was 213 dollars after taxes, so I knew I was going to receive this wealth every two weeks.
Since I was in the military, I was on call 24 hours a day/7 days a week, this pay broke down to 63 cents an hour.
People don't enlist for the great pay, they enlist for pride of the country and the love of their country.
When it was all said and done we started out with 95 recruits and graduated with 65.
I departed bootcamp on August 30th, 1983, my 18th birthday.
