Basic Training, The Beginning
Tuesday brought many lectures from our two DI’s. The younger one had been a Marine DI for several years. We learned the chain of command from President Eisenhower down to our DI. We were often called upon to recite the list. We learned many military customs saluting officers, picking up trash, the theory of marching in a straight line. Our DI was not happy with the quality of our bed making and tore them apart repeatedly until he was tolerant if not then pleased. Then we moved our beds based on how we lined up. The taller guys ended up on the first floor. This puts the guys with the short legs farther from the door and means they have to run faster to get outside in time. I had a lower bunk near the back door, good if there ever was a fire and closer to the latrine. Now the latrine is a special place and must be kept spotless and odor free. During the day, as various people misbehaved by not responding fast enough or loud enough with the “Yes, Sirs” they were assigned to latrine duty. These folks had to work hard to keep the place clean and shiny. They would clean all of the equipment with old toothbrushes. The brass fixtures had not been cleaned in years. One extra boisterous lad had made fun of these folks and he got put in charge of them and was known as the “latrine queen”. It is not a high honor. Leaning to take a shit with strangers was an initial challenge; part of the team building training I suppose. The lesson I learned was to keep your mouth shut and your bowels open.
The DIs kept giving out assignments to people. Again it seemed they started with the shorter guys. Some had the privilege of cleaning out the butt cans or cleaning the trash can. By the time they got to me, my job was to check to make sure that the guy who checked that everyone in our row of bunks (two rows on each floor) had their footlocker exactly and squarely 4 inches from the wall. I made this check every morning just before we left the barracks for the day. My first assignment as a "senior manager".
We worked hard trying to make the barracks floor shine but it was difficult with the very old wood that had been painted about a thousand times. The DIs finally gave up. We had an old washing machine that didn’t work, so we took it apart and fixed it. We did forget to hook up the coin collector, so I got to wash my clothes for free at Lackland at least.
I quickly learned to sleep in my cot without disturbing the covers. I exited my cocoon every morning gave the bed two quick tugs and the covers were tight. My bunk always passed inspection while many others did not. (I did vow to never make my bed when I didn't have to. Something that has disturbed several of my wives, but that is a story for another day.)
Reveille was at 6:00am Monday through Friday and 7:00am on Saturday. We were given about 20 minutes to shower, shave and dress. 6:20 we usually fell out for our deep breathing exercises in the Texas darkness. After about five minutes we would be dismissed to go back and get the barracks in order then have to fall out to march to breakfast. One morning as we left for the deep breathing routine, I could not find my cap (much like a baseball cap but olive green), since it was dark and we had to be out in less than sixty seconds and would come right back in I didn’t worry about it. Well, this time we didn’t go back into the barracks we were marched to the mess hall. As we fell in after breakfast, the sun had risen. I had not only forgotten my hat but my belt. I don’t remember how many demerits I got for that. I did learn to put my clothes where I could find them in the dark. I still do that.
Each day after lunch we would be marched to the parade field for exercise class. There a superb athlete would lead us through two hours of calisthenics. Ouch, Ouch and ouch the first few days. I only weighed 133 pounds then. Many in our squadron (which included several other barracks) were badly overweight. The September sun in San Antonio is hot, fortunately the humidity was low. After calisthenics we were given a ten minute break, every one grabbed their canteens for a drink. Two hours setting in the 90 degree sunlight makes for some very hot water. I always filled my canteen with ice in the morning and wet the container. I had a nice cold quart of water waiting for me. We were also encouraged to take salt tablets. There was a dispenser right over the drinking fountain in the barracks. I wonder if they still have them. By the end of five weeks of basic training, I could do two hours of calisthenics, run ten miles in 90 degree heat and not be winded. I wish that were true today.
The barracks were fire hazards and some of the occupants had been given a choice between the military and prison. So that meant from lights out until revile some would have to be on guard duty. The shifts were two hours for an eight hour period. I only got this duty twice. Not sure why, most likely others received it as punishment. One of the threats the DIs made was that falling asleep on guard duty was a capital offense and could be punished by death. Not very likely, but it scared the shit out of many of the kids in the group. I used the time to memorize the chain of command and other military trivia that the DIs like to quiz us on.