Swamp Fox

Swamp Fox

My favorite warbird is the P-51 Mustang. It has everything, beauty, speed, and power. This plane was designed and flew in 102 days in 1940. They served until the Korean war. More than 15,000 were built in all.

There is so much that can be said about these planes. They are as beautiful in flight as they are on the ground. The sound of their engine is unmistakable for those who have seen them fly. I took this picture during the Atlant Warbird Weekend a couple years ago.

Sawmp Fox Swamp Fox Face Book

P-51 General Info  General Info

Surviving P-51 Mustangs Surviving Mustangs

Our Compartment

C077/K051  Feb 21 – Apr 25, 1990

I have not spoken about our amazing living quarters. My particular company spent its 8 weeks of boot camp in the bottom floor of the north wing of Division 4. There were two sets of racks on both sides of the compartment. I believe there was 44 total, so 88 future sailors max. Each rack had space for two individuals.

Not totally sure how we got to the rack we did, but my bunkmate for boot camp was a young guy last name, Dash. He eventually became a flag bearer, carried the company flag.

Each rack had its own locker in front of it. Remember how we slept? Alternating feet and heads? Hmm, social distancing? Sorry, I had to add that. I was right next to an AC vent. The last week there, it kicked in, and I got that darn crud again. Anyone remember how we got Recruit crud when we first got to Orlando? Basically, a nasty cold that did go away?


Down the middle of the compartment were several tables, centerboards. There were also rack holding our rifles. Now, I remember the rifles racks having a rather unique name. I might have gotten this from a movie. If so, I am sure I will get corrected. But, they were called Whorehouses, and they held our pieces.

For a civilian, we had the floor, walls, ceiling, bathroom, benches, drinking fountain, right, left, front, back.
OH, HELL, NO!

We had a deck, bulkheads, overhead, centerboard, port, starboard, forward, aft, and scuttlebutt.

I think there are still people who do not know port and starboard. We had some hard headed people in our group.

We had a lounge, the head, and the CC’s office. There was a large mobile blackboard where our POD was written each night. We also used this for educational purposes. It was used to write down Sefl Destruct rules too. Push up, sit-ups, 8 counts, and other stuff. Start at 25 each, then 24 each, until you reached 1. You had to really mess up to get that.

OK, the first rule about the compartment, no sitting on your rack at any time, unless it is bedtime. The second rule about the compartment, no sitting on your rack at any time, unless it is bedtime. You must earn the privilege of the lounge and centerboard. Kind of sounds like the Fight Clubs rules as I write them.

We had to keep the place inspection ready at all times. That took a little training to get to that level, but we did get there. Every night we rotated the daily cleaning list. Who else would torpedo under the racks while laying on the blanket?

We spent a good deal of time making sure the deck was spotless too. Neutral shoe polish was our friend for all the black marks our boondockers put down. Some days were worse than others.

We all spent 8 weeks in our compartment. Our company lost some people, and we gained some people back in. 

Remember how to gain entry directly into the compartment from the street?
Knock on the door, wait for the watch to shout, “Sound Off!”
“Seaman Recruit returning from Chow in Detail.”

“Carry on in detail.”

I always thought that was interesting.

Outside our entry door, there was a rack to stow our guidon and flags. As we got more, it looked better and better.

We never had a hurricane in our compartment. We did return a couple times, and individual bunks or lockers were gone through. Those persons paid for their infractions.

Example of a hurricane.
(sorry for the poor picture)

Although we were cycles many times, we never did make it rain inside. We did have to do PT inside a couple times because of heavy rain. We pushed the racks back and did it. It was pretty humid inside afterward.

None of us liked to hear the entry door being kicked open. That was a sign of nothing good coming.

Just outside the door that went into the division, each company painted a brick. Ours probably had a theme for our CC MMCS Engley since we were his last company.

I wondered how often those were painted over. Near the door heading into division, we had our watch station. I never did stand match much. Not sure why, but I only remember maybe 3 times. I stood division watch a few times, always as the rover.

Every night after lights out, the red lights went on. The watch would rove the compartment and check the outlets.

So, that is the gist of it. We spent 8 weeks in those elegant accommodations. One morning we walked in with our seabags stuffed with clothes. That final morning we walked out with our seabag and some killer memories.




#usn #navy #usnavy #bootcamp #rtc #rtcorlando #ntcorlando #navyworld #navyworldorlando

Redo Medical/Dental

C077/K051 Feb 21-Apr 25, 1990

We remember how MEPS was with the medical there. It was a long day, and we were examined pretty well. Did we expect to be looked at all over again when we went to Orlando? I know I was a little surprised.

First, Dental.
Off to dental, we all went one fine muggy Orlando morning. We were told no talking as we all stood in line to be checked out by a Navy Dentist. We all had the full mouth X-rays taken. That had a double purpose. First, check for dental issues. Second, in case the worst happened. They could be used to identify remains.

Side not on that. When I was in my accident I ended up in Germany at the Wiesbaden Air Force Hospital. My records did find me there, a guy from my ship flew up with them for me. When I was getting ready to fly back to the states, the Navy Liasion lady told me to tell them I did not have my dental records. The Navy kept copies of those in the states. The Airforce did not keep copies. Anyone flying on an Airforce plane was not allowed to carry their dental records in case the worst happened. I can say this a C-141 is not a comfortable flight. I know you wanted to know all of that.

So, we also had to brush our teeth and chew the red tablet to see how good/bad we did. Also, at Dental, we had our teeth evaluated and were scheduled for dental work during work week as needed. We all were scheduled for cleanings. I feel lucky, I had wisdom teeth pulled, and fillings. But did not have the horror stories I have seen sine them. I had some Lt(jg) pull my wisdom teeth, he did not seem too knowledgable. But it was done. For my fillings, I had a different female Lt(jg) each time. The guy in the company agreed with me, they were rather nice looking too. I know, enlisted guys would not be talking about the cute Lt(jg) filling our teeth.

OK, medical. The biggest thing I remember there was the colorblindness test that we received. I did not realize some with colorblindness could pass the initial tests. But, the light test was not so easy to bluff your way through. I believe we had a few people get dropped from their classes because of color blindness. I think we also had to retake the hearing test.

On a separate day, we had to go for shots. I and the others older than 21 had to get a booster for one shot. Then we doffed our shirts and made an assembly line. I recall one gun in each arm and then smallpox.

We were told about smallpox when it started to scab up. Basically, do not touch it and try not to rub it when drying off. Guys in our company had a wide range of reactions to it. From very mild to really nasty looking. A couple would get the guck oozing through their shirts during the day. I believe they went o medical to get gauze to stop that. Sorry for this next part. One moron actually rubbed the guck in his eyes! Yeah, smooth move bone head. If it was the guy, I am thinking about he was kind of a slacker and overall idiot. I think he might have eventually been given a 2-week extension as well. But, medical cleaned his eyes up for him.

We possibly had another round of shots, I vaguely remember two rounds. Some of us had more vision tests and then a series of psych evals, that’s for another time.

One other medical-related visit we had was BMI. Waist and neck measurement combined with weight gave the BMI. I was always borderline because I have a smaller neck. One guy was a rail, and he had a skinny neck. But, his BMI was over the limit. The CC was like WTF? They did another check, and he was actually OK.

I know the term used for those over BMI is not proper today, but it was the Fat Boy Club in our day. Those members had to wear blue headbands during PT. As did the redheads, along with those black guys who were positive for sickle cell trait.

One particular guy in our company SR Rider dropped a boatload of weight. He had to have all his uniforms redone because of it. On our second PI, he had to wear dungarees because all of his other uniforms were being tailored.

When  the inspector got to him, he asked, “You on the fat guy program?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Damn good job, son.”
I recall Rider smiling at the inspector. Nothing was said then. He was reminded of his military bearing afterward.

Our Sister Company

C077/K051 Fed 21-Apr 25, 1990

I knew very little about what was going to happen at RTC Orlando before arriving. I was informed by my recruiter, and by MEPS, there are women there. It was also impressed on me, NO CONTACT.

While discussing my upcoming training with my family, I mentioned the women being at Orlando, and well, my fiancé was none too happy.

If memory served me when we arrived in Orlando, the guys and girls stood in separate lines in the RIF hallway. Then when we went into the large room where we had to do some paperwork, they were on the other side of the room from us.

The ladies were to become K051. They were the third female company in Traning Group 21.

Now admittedly, I really know next to nothing about their day to day experiences. They attended class with us in the academic building. Sometimes we would arrive first, other days they would. We were told time and again, no contact with the ladies. But, young people being the way they are, we figured out how to contact one another.

Of course, note-passing was a thing, sounds pretty high school level, doesn't it? But, we also had a wrinkle on that. A boyfriend and girlfriend in the companies knew sign language. They shared the address, and people could write directly. But, we still passed notes along the way. From first-hand experience, it was the thrill of pulling one over on your CC's. I handled a few during work week and also during some of the following weeks.

Our first notable interaction happened at swim qualifications. I think we were all too scared to even look at the girls. Plus, it was rather cold outside. Typically when there were 80 girls around in bathing suits, guys took notice.

Slowly over the weeks, we started to take notice more and more. Yeah, there were some rather attractive young ladies in our sister company. One afternoon when we arrived in class, we noticed something a little strange in the classroom. It seemed the girls had done something worthy of a reward. They each got one spray from a bottle of perfume.

Now, I bet we can all agree that perfume or cologne is rather appealing to the senses. Usually, we would probably not notice its impact on us. Now, think for a moment when your significant other puts on that unique perfume to spice things up. OK, got that in your head. Now imagine 80+ young guys who had not enjoyed the pleasant aroma of a young lady for far too many days. Then make that 80+ young ladies. Well, just let your imaginations wander for a moment.

In talking to a lady was in our sister company about the perfume she said it was not necessarily a good thing. From their standpoint. She told me their CC came in and said, "Eyes UP!" She told me it was cheap stinky stuff. Hell, the guys didn't care it was better than the locker room smell we were used to. 

Yeah, it was really nice getting our olfactory senses stimulated like that. Sorry, I like using big words at times.

Workweek had the potential for special treatment, 2 weeks to the reach. March! But none of our company nor our sister company received that one. We did enjoy the actual ability to have conversations with the girls. I know I did enjoy speaking with the young lady, SR Ribbet (I hope that is her name. If you ever read this, I am sorry if I messed it up.)

I helped her clean her tables after I was done with my milk station. She and I facilitated a good many cross company notes getting back and forth.

After workweek, we still had training, but things between the companies seemed to get gearing up toward the upcoming Liberty weekends. There was a push to get the girls to go with us to Wet n' Wild for controlled liberty, but that did not happen. More on that when I cover controlled liberty.

Now, I will say this. I did talk to a couple other girls from the company, but I cannot remember their names to save my life. One was older, maybe my age or so, I was 22. I spoke to her a good deal at Sports. What I found odd was she knew my name, the first name too. There was another young lady I spoke to from time to time after work week on occasion. She got me in the dog house during parents' night.

I was talking with my mom and fiancee. She came over and introduced me to her mom and dad. So, I introduce her to my mom and fiancee. We talk a little, and they leave. My mom excused herself to have a smoke. Oh hell, I got a major "Who the F was that?" I did my best to smooth it over. Not sure how I did, but she didn't hit me or anything.

Was training better on us have the girls around? Probably not, but it was nice seeing them every day.

Our CC's did set up a pizza party with the girls near the end of the training. We were all set. 80+ guys, 80+ girls, 80+ pizzas, and the field house. BUT, damn central Florida thunderstorm killed that idea. Instead, we sat in our compartments separately to eat our own pizza. It would have been nice to sit with one of our sisters, but darn weather.

One of the CC's for the ladies was a real bear. From what I have heard, she was a real B to be around. Even her counterpart CC did not like being around her. She eventually was fired just after we had our Pass In Review, PIR.


One particular girl, we nicknamed Barbie. She was rather shapely. The guy in our company was tried to pass the initial SEAL test had the hots for her. The feeling was mutual we found out. During my hold for orders in AT Land, I found out they were dating. She had a bad habit of wearing UA panties under her working whites.

Some of the other girls from our sister company were there, and they had found boyfriends by the time I showed up after my boot cam leave. They were all pretty friendly still. Although I had to be careful as my wife had a classmate of hers in AT Land. We saw her on Parent's night.

The picture is a stock photo from a Rudder. If any young lady from K051, 1990, ever sees this and has your company photos, let me know. I am sorry if I messed up any names and that I have forgotten yours.

Downtime

         

C077/K051 Feb 21 – Apr 25 1990

I can hear some people already, what is that?

We had it. We did have time when we were alone with our thoughts in boot camp. I remember early in training we were told certain things had to be done. Like our boondockers needed to be polished. Or the compartment needed to be clean. We were left on our own to make the correct decision. Oddly, we did forego writing a letter home or taking a nap to do the polishing or cleaning.

I remember in the fleet having instances when the waste heat boilers were running in limits, and I had just shifted suction on the service tanks. I had 2-3 hours to do nothing. But, I would wax my passageway or work on a Navy course instead of writing home. Hell, I repainted all of my JP-5 piping ship wide once because I had nothing else to do. It did pay off too. I loved it when our waste heat system was running in limits. OK, back to Orlando. Fleet stories are for later.

How did 80+ civilians decide to polish boots? It really wasn’t because we had overbearing CCs, I guess we were just thinking different and did not realize it. I’ve read a good many stories on here about come CCs and how they would seem to almost suffocate their companies. I am glad we were allowed some freedom. I am also happy we did not get ourselves hung.

So, apart from actually doing the right thing during our downtime, we would also write home. Until later in training, that was probably the most significant thing we did. Later some of us would play basketball.

When we had our tests, we would break up into groups and study. Imagine 80+ guys, mostly teenagers, actually studying. Sure we did talk and share stories about our previous lives. Some of those were pretty eye-opening.

Who remembers sitting around on the deck, rubbing all the black marks you made earlier in the day with neutral shoe polish?

Sunday was the best day. We would be told on Saturday to do this or that. We had the times to go to chow. Guys went to church. Others just lounged around and did the things they liked to do. I remember we did get some Sunday newspapers. That is when I started to read the whole paper.

The church services were a lovely break. I only went a couple times.

After work week, I think we were allowed to go over to the exchange. That was nice as well. I like to read, and not having a book was killing me. But, that was taken care of during work week and after.

I am not sure if I developed my ability to pace myself in boot camp or if that came later in life. But, I do remember it was important to get certain things done during our downtime so we could do what we wanted. 

So, what did anyone else do? I know there are some interesting stories out there.

Uniforms

C077/K051 Feb 21 – Apr 25 1990

One thing that can be said is we sure did look stylish in our uniforms. That first morning it did feel a little awkward showing up at the Galley in civilian clothes. Talk about making a target for hazing.

We learned the term RIF was not something to be proud of. I even think they sat us with a senior company just so we could get made fun of.

After we returned to the RIF are we started to get our new clothes. The first thing we had to do was get rid of our civilian items. Those were sent home in a big box. Not sure if anyone could not fit their items in that box. I know the bag I took with me was almost too big, but I got it in there. Those new dungarees STUNK!!!

That morning we had to get our first issue and get it stenciled. I also recall we had to have the fit checked by some ladies.

Being totally exhausted and that stink of the uniforms made for a horrible day. I also recall it was a humid day. Odd, a humid day in central Florida.

Stenciling was just horrible. Getting the proper stencil in the appropriate place on all of those clothes. What a bear. All the while, our junior CC stood there, instructing us. Then as we would get one done, we held it up like happy little schoolboys. The worst items to stencil were t-shirts and underwear. They liked to stretch far too much. The Dungarees were pretty straightforward. That was one item you did not want to mess up. If you did, line through it and do it over.  We were told continuously all stencils were inspectable. I did find that out in our dungaree inspection.

We also had to learn how to dress correctly. That was even difficult for some people. My most significant problem was getting my boondockers shiny. I could get them a nice overall black glossy finish, but I could never get that kick as shine some of the guys could get.

By the time the second issue was done, we were pretty good about being able to dress and stencil. Again we had to have our uniforms fit and tailored for us. I had the worst time getting my Peacoat to fit correctly. The ladies had to do some severe alterations to it, so mine arrived a little later.

After we returned to our compartment, we had to make sure everything was hung correctly or folded. Again it was emphasized that everything in the compartment was inspectable at any time. One instance that illustrated this for us was another companies error. There was a button on the inside of the raincoat that I think had to be buttoned. That particular company had its wrong. Everyone failed their dress inspection because of it. The inspector checked one, and when found it wrong, checked the whole company. Needless to say, that point was drilled into our heads.

We had to practice getting dressed in various uniforms. One other point we were told was this. WINTER WORKING BULES!!! DO NOT CALL THEM JOHNNY CASH!!! One company drew that for their inspection and put on the wrong uniform, all UNSAT.

I believe our RMAA rolled and tied all of our neckerchiefs for the Dress Whites and Dress Blues. I hate to admit this, but I could not tie a tie until boot camp. Hell, it's so darn easy to do can’t believe I never learned before. I let my dad do it for me.

Dungarees, Summer Working White, Summer Dress White, Winter Working Blue, and Winter Dress Blue. We had to master 5 of these. Piece of cake. Just put it on. Well, line up your gig line. Have your tie tied correctly. Have your shoes polished. Have your cover correct. On top of that, your rack and locker had to be squared away as dod your hanging items.

Yeah, we spent a good deal of time learning to dress correctly. Oh, learning knots, chain of command, and General Orders. All while keeping your military bearing while the asshat on the opposite side of the compartment laughs at you.

I am not going to comment on the uniforms they have today. Well, I do like the pipping on the dress whites. But that is all I am saying.

As for uniforms during my time. I liked the Winter Working Bles the best. Easy to wear and keep clean, with a lint roller. The Summer working whites were a pain. Far too easy to get dirty. I wore my dress Whites far more than I ever wore my dress blues. I wore my dress blues twice while in the Navy, not counting boot camp. The last time at my Med Board in San Diego.

Dungarees, I preferred the short sleeve version. Always had a long sleeve fire retardant in the oil lab for GQ drills or for on deck helo refueling. Never officially had to wear the watch cap or sweater after boot camp either. At Great Lakes, we did wear the watch cap all the time, but it was never an official uniform of the day. That wind coming off the lake was brutal, heading back to our barracks after hot plant.

Never wore the raincoat other than in boot camp. Wore my working jacket a good deal. Onboard our destroyer, I switched to one of those green foul weather jackets. Mine came from the USS Wisconsin. It was heavy and warn. Sure did appreciate it the evening we refueled with a British tanker just after crossing the Arctic Circle.

My boondockers hung with me until just before we left on Med 1-92. They were replaced with a pair of far better boots. I had them in the bag we kept our shower stuff in, but they disappeared one day. I quickly replaced my dress shoes with a pair of shiny patent leather shoes.

One thing that drives me nuts is watching movies with sailors in them. Some times their uniforms are so UNSAT.

I also loved getting to a ship, ball caps! Never did like the white hat.

I totally forgot this part. I also learned to iron on boot camp. That skill has stayed with me today and is very important. I remember while I was on hold at AT land how people took their summer whites to the cleaners and had them starched. Heck no! I liked mine pressed, but no starch. 


#usn #navy #usnavy #bootcamp #rtc #rtcorlando #ntcorlando #navyworld #navyworldorlando

B-17 in the Morning - Aluminum Overcast

I enjoy being able to combine my two passions, photography, and warbirds. This particular picture was taken at Peachtree Dekalb Airport in Chamblee Georgia. It was early in the morning on an overcast day. The lights from the city cast a nice glow on the clouds over head.

The picture was taken in the dark with a rather long exposure. This particular B-17 is Aluminum Overcast. She was built in May 1945. Specifically, the plane is a B-17G-105-VE. It carries the colors of the 398th Bomb Group and specifically plane  Serial No. 42-102516, shot down over France in 1944.

For more about the plane read here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_Overcast




#b17g #aluminumovercast #photography #warbirds #b17 #worldwarII #wwII

MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station)

C077/K051  February 21 – April 25, 1990

OK, lets back up a moment. We all went through boot camp at RTC Orlando. But, what brought us to this great place? We all know the ladies all went to Orlando. And that all the Nuke went there as well.

So, I will back up a little for myself. A faithful day in January 1990, I lost my job as a draftsman at a small company. We did not know it yet, but the owner was purposely bankrupting the company, but I was cut because they needed to shave payroll. So, I am out of work.

For 2 years, I had toyed with the idea of joining the Navy. Heck, I had since high school in 1985. To be honest, when I went to the recruiter that Monday morning, I had intended to talk to the Navy and the Army. The door for the Navy recruiter was the first one I came to.

They could smell a fresh one. They talked the talk and had me from when I opened the door. I took the pretest and spoke to the recruiter about what I wanted to do. Since I had an engineering background, he pushed me to the Nuke side. He gave me a list of what I needed to get to officially be able to enlist.

Tuesday morning my phone rang, it was a new recruiter. This one happened to be a couple blocks from my apartment. Wednesday, I was in the office filling out a whole ream of paperwork. Off to MEPS that afternoon to take the ASVAB.

After an evening at a kind of dumpy motel in Des Plaines, Illinois, it was back to MEPS. I had no idea I was getting the physical the next day too! So, off to stand around in my underwear with a whole pack of others. We know that long drill.

Funny side note. A post in a different Navy group was talking about MEPS. One guy mentioned how he had a short Asian lady doing the turn your head and cough part for the guys. He was 18 and shy. I mentioned, her sister must have been at the Des Paines MEPS. He went there too! Close to when I did. Small world. 

OK, after medical said I was OK, time to go back to the Navy guys. I had to take the Nuke test now. What the heck did I know about nuclear engineering? Well, I passed that too. Let me tell you what, that was a hard test.

I eventually signed up for Nuke MM with Sub duty. This was maybe around January 24. I reported for active duty on February 21, less than a month.

So, back to MEPS. One other guy and I from Rockford rode the bus to O’hare. We met the van that took us to MEPS and then back to the motel. This time there was a little more military discipline happening. The last full night as a civilian, February 20. I was 22, so I hit the bar. One of the Marines watching over us came in and asked for my ID. I bought him a beer and we talked about Boot Camp. The biggest advice, listen to everything before you do anything.

The next morning it was up at 0500 with a loud knock on my door. Several people were already getting in trouble for sharing rooms. Off to eat and the bus to MEPS. Nothing but waiting almost all day before they called us into the big room. One other guy and I were going to Orlando. He was a nuke as well. Since my last name was Adams, I got the packet for both of us.

Then more waiting until they called for the Navy groups to head out to the bus. The Great Lakes guys had to go to O’Hare and wait for another bus to take them to Great Lakes. The San Diego group and ours had to catch flights.

Another period of waiting at the airport for our flight. I decided to have a couple beers while we waited. Paul, forget his last name, had one too. I bought it, he was underage. Then he went to buy some candy so nobody could tell he had one. We know this was part of the plan to keep us waiting and get us to the base late so we would be exhausted the next day and walk around like zombies.

One thing that happened on my first trip to MEPS. After medical and the Nuke test, it was getting late. I had not eaten lunch, so I asked if I could go to eat. The petty officer I was talking to said, yeah. He found a third-class standing there. Take Adams to get lunch, do not let him speak to anyone. I found that strange.

While eating, he went to the head. So, right after he leaves, this Airforce guy sits next to me and starts talking.

“So, which branch are you joining today?”

“Navy.”

“Nice, what rating are you looking at?”

“I think nuke machinist mate. Why?”

“Oh, just curious. Ever consider the Airforce?”

Before I could talk that third-class returns.
“Hey, leave my guy alone.”

Airforce guy laughing, “Can’t blame me for trying.”

“What was he doing?” I ask.

“Trying to poach you. I'll show you when we get back.”

As we went back, he pointed out the boards outside the offices of each service. The had the recruiting info for their prospective recruits. Sort of a brag board. On the Navy board, I was top 5, but #1 on the Nuke test. (Still don’t know how I did that.)


So, MEPS, many long hours there before I made the trip to Orlando. Sorry, my stories are out of order, some of the memories are just coming back.

Apollo 50

Apollo 50 National Mall

My trip last summer to Washington DC was to take my granddaughter to see the sights. I did not know until a day or two ahead of time about the Apollo 50 celebration on the Nation Mall. Thursday when we arrived we swam for an hour before heading over to DC itself.

I knew there was going to be a special event to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Apolo 11 landing on the moon. Thursday night the only projected a full-size Apollo 11 on the Washington Monument. Friday, they had a program that included the launch.

Friday was a very hot day and we had already walked 12 miles that day. We had White House tickets for 8:00 am, so we were in town early.

By the time we made it back to the Motel room, it was time to swim. Lexi told me after about half an hour in the pool, "I want to see the rocket tonight."

So, we loaded a bag with cold water and drove back into the city. The streets were being blocked off and parking was a bear. BUT, I found a spot on the National Mall to park.

It was a hot humid night, but we sat and watched the program unfold. She had never seen it before, she is 8. There were probably close to 50,000 people watching it that night.

I am glad she wanted to go see it because I enjoyed it very much.


#apollo50 #apollo11 #nationalmall #apollo #space #washingtondc

Company Commanders

C077/K051  February 21 – April 25, 1990

OK, the potentially crazy post. Company Commanders are possibly the most significant love-hate relationship we had in our lives. I know several of you are like me and have that ex that would top them, but let's just sit back ignore that one.

I would have written this regardless of my contacting with one of mine here.

So, our first contact with our CCs was that early morning after we had maybe 2-3 hours of sleep. The garbage can being beaten or thrown into the bay at RIF. We rushed the line and stood there at horribly ragged attention.

My Companies lead CC was MM(SS) Engley(later MMCS), he was doing the yelling that particular morning. He introduced himself and our second CC, FC1(SW) Adams. I was slightly confused. Luckily for me, my brain was working and told me to just stand there and not to move. They walked around, giving us the once over. I have to say my first impression was, "Oh hell, these guys aren't as bad at Gunny Hartman."

So, we began the relationship that would take us through the next 8 weeks. Some had the relationship broken, and they took longer to finish. As we know, some people just needed a little extra attention. "Two Weeks to the Rear March!"

From my conversations with my old CC Mark Engley, our Company was Petty Officer Adams' first company. Adams did a good deal of our more "boring" training. Folding clothes and making sure our stencils were correct. Teaching us to make our racks correctly. I noticed he was reading from a book while doing this. My untrained civilian self thought this was odd. But, as we learned, you still read every step of how to operate equipment while in the fleet, EOSS (Engineering Operational Sequencing System). (I had to look that up.)

Of course, along the way, we made mistakes on those first few initial tasks. Who would have ever thought putting your name on your underwear was SO hard. I will talk about their educational impact on us. Then, I'll get into the yelling part, or should I say motivational part?

We all have feelings about our CC's. I imagine some hated them. Others loved them. I am in the, they influenced me a great deal category. As many of us remember the P-days were a blur of what the hell am I doing here. We got our clothes. We were learning to march. We were exhausted. I know there was a good deal more jammed into those days. Then, it officially started.

Now, they took 84 people, civilians, and turned us into sailors. We thought high school was rough on us? Think about how what they taught us still impacts us today. There have been posts about folding clothes and lacing our shoes. Why do some of us still do that? At work, they buy Engineering safety shoes. Right after I got mine, I relaced them. IT drove me nuts to have it wrong.

Our transformation was done in two ways. Education and motivation.

The motivation was the area where some CC's were harsher than others. We certainly did get our fair share of motivation. Taking a tour of the compartment for having your locker key on the outside of your shirt, sure did motivate people. I only did that once. Then, of course, we heard the infamous "DROP!" numerous times. Sometimes we did something big to get cycled. Other times we probably did something small.

One of the worst things we could get was a Sefl Destruct. That one was reserved for individuals who really needed motivation. When it happened, we would be called to the line. The offense was spoken of in a straight forward way. Our Chief had a way of speaking loudly without yelling. He could yell if needed. He would walk around the compartment, telling us what a recruit had done. Then he would call them out. Although they were asked why they did something so dumb, the answer was not going to save them, "Self Destruct BEGIN!"

Over time company punishment gave way to individual punishment. If you did a rifle movement wrong, and it was seen, "Drop." This happened on the all too famous grinder. Some recruits would ask to recover after just a few push-ups. I waited until they told me to. If you asked, the reply was standard, "No. F No, Keep going."

One morning after returning from PT, several recruits had their lockers and racks torn apart. The remainder of us were ushered into the lounge while the others paid for their actions. We were lucky to never get a hurricane. It was probably close to one after workweek was over. Our sister company got one. As was passed along to me by my new friend during work week. The girls were all out in class. When they returned, the compartment was trashed. Most of their clothes were tossed in the lounge. Everything just tossed all over. She told me the CC's came in really calm and told them they had an hour to get it back straight. She said they failed and got killed.

Later in our training, ours would sit with us and answer Navy questions. They really were nice guys after all. One day we were discussing ratings. One of our CC's told us, always to be working on a correspondence book. I did that. I was always working on one. Even the most basic ones I did. While my counterparts in A-School did nothing during watch, I worked on mine. Probably part of the reason I made E-5 the first time and several couldn't take the test since their GSM3&2 wasn't done.

Yeah, they did impact us. It was a critical job they had. From many of the people here, I can say many CC's made positive impacts on them.

I probably forget some stuff about ours. But, I am sure they forgot about us as well.

#usnavy #navy #bootcamp #rtcorlando #rtc #orlando #navyworld #usn

The Lincoln Memorial

Last spring my granddaughter said she wanted to "Go see the Lincoln stuff." My wife looked at me because she knows how much I like history and how much I wanted to go to Washington DC.

I told her, "That was not from me."

My granddaughter's class was learning about the Presidents and she likes Lincoln. So, I was given the opportunity to plan a trip to DC last summer.

Everyone told me to see the monuments at night because they had a totally different look then. I happen to agree. 

More on the trip in the coming days.

#lincoln
#DC
#washingtonda
#lincolnmemorial
#nationalmall

Lay of the Land

C077/K051February 21-April 25 1990

This is probably going to be the hardest I have written. I am going off some terrible pictures and my memory. Which if you have read the other you know I admit, I remember strange details. I also have a couple maps that I have found recently as well. Then I was really thrown for a loop when I saw a picture that was labeled upside down!

OK, the very basic. The Bluejacket was the North end of the base. DC South. Chaple East. Field House West. OK, now for the details.

RTC was laid out with two sets of 5 Recruit buildings with two galleys in the middle of them. The North Galley was used by recruits. The South Galley was used by CC’s, Staff, Navets, and ATs. Now, I do not have a scale to my maps, so distances are not even going to be thought about.
Each Division building consisted of 4 three-story wings around a central section. During my time, the ladies occupied the third floor of those buildings.

The Divisions were numbered even on the west, odd on the east.

Down the middle of the whole layout was an idyllic tree line boulevard. Well, probably not, I just wanted to say that. It was a boulevard set up for the “sidewalks” as they were called The north end was lined with some good size trees.

If memory serves me, Division 10 was the AT Division, and Division 9 was for the Navets.

On the east side of the Division was a sidewalk. On the west side were two Grinders, the parade ground, and the field house. I also remember a curved road or paved path that we did some company runs on from time to time. On the far end of the north grinder sat the ever battle-ready USS Bluejacket.


 

So, Orlando RTC, what one feature do we all remember? The water tower, AKA, The Doorknob to Hell. This was near the chapel. For me, the chapel was a departure from the typical architecture of the rest of the base. In some ways, it reminded me of the chapel at the Airforce Academy. When we visited the chapel during boot camp, I  remember as you approached it, there was no cadence called. I only attended 3 or 4 services while at boot camp. I did enjoy them a good deal, should have gone to more.

So, back to the layout. The RIF area had three buildings. A barracks, Auditorium, and In processing facility. I do not remember the Auditorium at all. The other two we did spend a little time in, but since our company formed quickly, we moved to our permanent compartment in Division 4.

The fieldhouse was to the west of the gallies. This was also where the pool was. We did our PT test inside the building.

To the east of the gallies was the training building. This was where we went to fraternize with our sister company. Well, really to learn, but during breaks was different.

One of the more popular buildings was the Community center building. This had a small exchange, phone center, travel agent, pay window, barber, and vending machines. I’ll cover the visits here at another time. But, we did like going when we had earned the privilege.

Dental and Medical were just north of the community center. Spending time in dental was a given for everyone, but medical was a different story. I went to sick call one time after I had injured my eye. My other doctor visits were over at the Naval hospital. There was a base bus stop in from of the medical building.

A side story from the main topic. When I got back from the hospital after my first visit there with the Ophthalmologist, I was totally lost. I had been on the base like 48 hours and most of that time in a fog. So, I am on the wrong side of the sidewalk, and a truck full of CCs drives past. They stopped and backed up.
“HALT, RECRUIT!”
“Do you know where you are going?”

“Sir, not really, I’m a little turned around, to be honest.”
“Let me see your walking, Chit.”

“Don’t have one.”
“WTF are you doing out so late?” He jumps out of the truck,

“Sir just got back from the hospital.”
I guess my eye looked pretty bad. He must have seen it, and he turned into a nice guy.
“Go to the end of the sidewalk turn left, and you’ll see Division 4.”
“Thank you, sir, I appreciate it.”

“Now, get on the right side of the F-ing sidewalk!”
“Yes, sir,” I salute, and I’m gone.

OK, back to the base.

DC and the Gas Chamber were all the way to the southwest corner of the base. I remember there being a good many pine trees around those buildings. One building probably none of us realized was there until Parents night was the Reception Center, it was to the southeast corner. During my time in the AT Division, we used that a good deal, except on Friday.

The Armory was located east of the training building. During my time, it was being refurbished, so we did not get to shoot during training. We did get to pretend with the chambered-down 45s.

I think about covers it. Chime in if there was any detail I left out. I know there is. For me, RIF was the most significant blur. I had a fractured memory of that area, so maybe some comments will start to clear the fog there.

1-5 Day

C077/K051 

February 21-April 25, 1990

1-5 day. Yeah, the big hazing day. Wait, I can't say that word, so forget I said hazing. But that is pretty much what it is. The inspection and day where no matter what you do, it is wrong. And no matter how SAT you are, you get in trouble.

Now a little side note. I have read here that some of the divisions had pot luck set up for the inspectors. It was almost like a party for them. Hell, I don't blame them one bit. And it makes perfect sense to do it too. This has been backed up by one of my CCs as well. So, to them, it was a good time. 

So, was 1-5 day as horrible as we all remember it? Probably not. Most of us were still in the civilian state of mind, and the Navy was still what we were working toward. Did anyone ever yell at you for not putting 45-degree folds in your sheets before? Or cuss you out because there was a dust bunny on the deck? NO, of course not.

By the time 1-5 day came, we have been in the Navy for like 8-10 days total. And only 4 of those were official days of training. We were ripe for failure.

Our RMAA (Recruit Master At Arms) did an excellent job in the head. He had the Division MAA (Master At Arms)  give him some pointers. He had some of us really get the tiniest details. Same thing in the compartment. The cleaning crew busted major to get it spotless. We spent hours making sure every tiny detail was perfect. Well, we thought we did. 

Our racks and lockers were checked over by many different members of the company. But, it didn't matter. We were going to fail. But, really, that was the point. It was to find those small things we thought we got but didn't. And oh hell, did some people miss some pretty blatant things.

We had the infamous catch edge ghost. I almost laughed at that one. If I recall, we stood at attention, and CC's came in and went to different groups of racks. It seemed like the one we had to inspect my rack mate, and I came on after things were going pretty good.

I remember being inspected and being at attention when the RMAA came around and yelled at us all. Something about he was sick of living in a pigpen, and we had better get it fixed. He did that to everyone. I about laughed at him too.

My rack mate and myself got busted for new gear. I swear we sent it all to laundry, but that's what the inspector found. So, we had to stand with our arms straight out. The offending clothing was draped over our arms, and we have to shout, "New Gear is Dirty Gear!"

I also recall the noise level was rather high, and so was the temperature. There was a good deal of sweat being generated by us new guys. Other members of the company came by and yelled something at us about their infraction.

Of course, the CC's had to walk around and give us an earful about our infractions. I am sure there were some colorful language and a threat about going back to P-Days. Which one yelled at us? Probably both of them in the end.

Now, after a few minutes of holding your arm, straight-out gravity really starts to impact them. So, I devised a ploy to make the inspector take pity on us. I started to mess up what we were saying. I figured they would think we had enough and let us drop our arms. 

Guess what??? It did work. WOW, my idea worked. 

Well, for about 2 seconds. Then we hear 8 count bodybuilders BEGIN!

Damnit, outsmarted by a CC. I am pretty sure they had seen just about every ploy to end a punishment. 

Soon the small group punishments turn into company-wide punishment lead by one of the inspectors. The others spread out and yell at us as we are cycled. The whole inspection maybe lasted 2 hours. Heck, it could have lasted 6 hours for all I know. But, I know its purpose, to get you thinking straight. For me, it was when I actually started to feel a tiny bit of being a sailor. Hell, we had a long way to go, but we were moving that way.
 

After the inspectors thought we had enough, the Division Master Chief came in. He might have been in before this. But, we had that simple test to pass. Jumping jacks and everyone claps on the 5^th one. All in a single file line. Half of the company facing the other half. We did pretty well until 15. And it took us a few tries at that. Then we messed up at 20 a few times. Finally 25!!!!!

We had made it! Yes! I was half expecting to have one of the inspectors go around and say to each of us, "Your new Delta Tau Chi name is…." (Sorry trying to be funny!)

Our company boom box was used for the first time that day. We heard Lee Greenwood, "God Bless The U.S.A." a few times. Now, I am going to admit, it was emotional. Yes, I said it, it was emotional. I did cry. I know a bunch of the guys did. We all joined the Navy for our own reasons, but we all joined the Navy. Some members of the Company had long tenures in the Navy. Some did their initial enlistment and left. Others, like myself, had their careers cut short because of medical.

Now, I am not sure if I am overly nostalgic or dramatic about this, but that day was important to everyone. Face it, we were far from being sailors at the time. Like I said before, we had 4 actual training days before that. We still had 7 weeks to go. But, that day helped get our heads moving where we needed to move.

Looking back at all my remembrances, I have them way out of order. I need an editor for my thoughts, I guess. Anyway, enjoy, and let's get some 1-5 memories going.

I could not find the picture I wanted, so let's give the ladies some love.
I always want to add, I love reading the comments. It is great to hear everyone's experiences. There are some funny stories out there!

The Cheerio

C077/K051 February 21-April 25, 1990

The Cheerio Flag was awarded to the company that did the best at the Training group Sports day. I remember when we would march to the Galley on Saturdays, we would hear loud counting coming from the field house. I never remember knowing what that was for. I think Sports Day was during the 6^th week?

Leading up to the Sports day, we divided the company into three separate groups, Field House, Pool, and Track. I let the group braking everyone up that I was a runner. The field house group I think did Volleyball and tug o war? I wasn't in that part, so not sure.

I can swim, but I have no speed, so I got put on swimming relays.

On the morning of Sports Day, we went off to the Galley and enjoyed a Fine Navy Breakfast. Back to get our PT gear and off to the field house. First, we had a company run, 800 meters, I think. Time was based on the last man to cross the line. Then on to pull up. Here is where the counting came in that we had been hearing. You would count out how many the guys in your company were doing. I am not a pull person at all.

The different groups split up and went to the areas they were going to compete in. The pool guys got into our sexy Navy issued suits, whereas the girls got changed into theirs. I think we had maybe 6 different relays in the pool that day. Lucky for me, I was in only one. 

Our company did have some good swimmers. They went out there and won the first three relays out of the box. My repay did not do so well, we got a second. But, still, we kept up the pressure overall, so that was good. The other benefit of Sports day, you guessed it, we got to talk to the girls again. That was a running theme in most of our interactions with them.

Notes were passed, and for some reason, I got to do it again. I guess by now they knew I was engaged, so I was a safe bet.

After the guys swam their relays, the girls got up for theirs. Our sister company was not all that good. We did cheer them on with great gusto. I think it was the last relay when one young lady did her lap. Let's just say, her suit was a light color that needed to be lined. So, you can imagine a group of guys seeing a nice looking young lady in basically a see through bathing suit.

And to make it worst, she knew it too. She came walking down the side of the pool with a little extra swing to her walk, smiling ear to ear. She was in our sister company too. We are all enjoying the show when one of the CCs sees her. 

"WTF are you doing?"

She just smiles and shrugs her shoulders. 

"WTF is that suit you have on? You are showing all your S to these guys who haven't seen a girl in too damn long."

He grabs a towel and throws it at her, "Cover your F-ing ass up damn it!"

The other girls from our sister company are laughing. The one girls say to me, "She did that on purpose." It seems she brought two suits to RTC. One was proper, and the see through one.

Well, I hate to admit it, I was glad at that moment I was on the pool part of Sports Day. I heard she got in trouble, but stayed with the company.

After all the events were done, and the results were tallied, we assembled in the Field House for awards. The top prize was the Cheerio flag. Banners were awarded to the companies based on how they did. I believe gold was 5 firsts, and red was a first.

Well, C077 won the Cheerio Flag. We stomped em all. I think K050 won for the girls. Our Ccs were kind of happy with us, as was the Division. We marched back was one hell of pep to our step. All the Companies competed like crazy in each Training Group. Now, we had a leg up on everyone!

"Hi De Hi De Hooo, Guess who won the Cheerio!"

We get back to the compartment, and everyone is beyond happy. And we were exhausted since we had been up since around 0400. We are all laying around on the deck. I do not recall this at all, but I guess the CCs gave us a short rest period. Yes, a nap. I wake up, and the lights are out in the compartment. I seriously thought, "OH, F! I fell asleep, and they left me." I thought I was dead. I sit up, and there are guys crashed all over the place. My heart was pounding in my chest. I was that freaked out.

I got up and went to the head. Guys were starting to wake up, and we all started to get ready for lunch.

That evening when after dinner, we sat around talking about the day. One of the guys at the pool brought up the girl in the see through suit. We were rock starts after that. I passed out the notes, and everyone was happy. We were mentioned that night over the Division 1MC also. Our Division won three in a row too.

It was a hell of a fun day. It also brought the company closer together, but I am guessing that was the plan all along.

Cheerio day was behind. The end was coming, and we could feel it.