Comments

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  Michael J Sanchez June 28, 2009 at 11:42pm

  Special Company 917, Nov 71 to Feb 72, Company Commander was ABHC Donley (from Arkansas, we heard); I was 2nd squad leader; remember a guy from a Rifle Company in the old barracks across from our old barracks--he used to walk around naked in the evenings..."Naked Neva" was what they called him...
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  Michael Bankson May 30, 2009 at 1:26am

  I was in Co. 100, July- Sept. 1978
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  Donald Sparks May 26, 2009 at 9:39pm

  Hit Boot Aug.11,1977 _ Had a seemed like forever 8 weeks there. Was there when some civilian was robbing all the boots after lights out. After boot, BT-A school in Waukegan, Ill for 4 months. Then a MAC flight to Madrid, Spain and C-10 to Rota. Next, off to Sig., Scilicy and the to the Guadacanal and finally to the USS Manley for a few years. Haze Grey and Under Way. Got to see natural sunlight about 3 months out of 3 years, Ha!
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  H. Buning May 20, 2009 at 5:13am

  It certainly wasn't very hot in spring '72, but we were very
  appreciative that it was warmer than it was at Great Lakes, LoL.
  You guys sure had a lot of awards, Mr. Rushing. We didn't get any
  awards, but we didn't (majorly) screw up, despite a lot of gloomy
  warnings from our CC. My company was strictly average :)
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  Bradley P Stenstrom May 19, 2009 at 2:31pm

  

  To go with my last post, This was me at boot camp when I was 17.
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  Bradley P Stenstrom May 19, 2009 at 2:30pm

  

  A few things still stick out in my mind about boot camp. Every morning after we would get up and head out too the grinder I can remember smelling breakfast cooking over at Sambo's restaurant. (it was located very close to the edge of the base near our barracks) Once I completed Boot Camp and had my Liberty (had to wait an extra day as I had the duty on graduation day) I went over to Sambo's and had breakfast there. It was as good as it smelled ! I also enjoyed going to Baskin Robbins on the base on Sunday's after church service. One very powerful memory happened on Memorial Day, May 26th 1980. We were all sitting on the floor in the back of the barracks right about the time for mail call when a 6.2 earthquake hit the San Diego area. Myself and all the other guys were really freaking out (except maybe the California natives) It lasted about 10 seconds. I watched the steel door and frame on the back wall bend and twist with the bucking motion of the ground. I felt like I was on a small row boat in 6 foot seas. Our CC had us all go outside and line up. We had some aftershocks continuing throughout the day but not quite as strong. Being an Illinois native, I wasn't used to the earth moving unless I was waiting for the "L" in Chicago. I had a good friend named Jim Ferrer, I met in boot but never ran into him again while I was in the Navy. I did meet a guy from boot near the very end of my first enlistment when I was tossing some trash into the dumpster on the pier at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Leonardo, NJ. I had been on the USS Suribachi AE-21 for 4 years and the other guy was on the USS Nitro AE-23 accross the pier. Our ships were always on opposite deployments which is why I never ran into him. He was a MS3 and I was a PC3. Hopefully I will find a few old boot camp buddies freom this site.
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  Joe Gonzales May 19, 2009 at 2:10am

  I went to boot camp San Diego August 1972 and assigned to the USS Point Defiance LSD-31, sure would love to find some old sailors, I was a gunners mate and discharged in 1975 (honorably), thx joe
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  H. Buning March 29, 2009 at 11:56pm

  I sure remember spit-shining shoes....and the catcalls directed at the
  still civilian-looking R.&O. groups "marching" to chow while they waited
  for their company to form up.
  All the companies on the 'advanced' side of RTC, we imagined them to
  be on a whole other level of existence, though they'd only been there a
  few more weeks than us. I remember looking longingly at the world outside, and during our 7th (?) week we got to leave RTC, first to fire-fighting school at Carroll Canyon, and then the rifle range at Camp Elliot. As good as the outside looked, our company never had anyone make a serious effort at going awol.
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  Tommy G Wallin March 29, 2009 at 10:28pm

  Things i remember in boot camp:clothes stops,ki brush,ditty bag chit book,smoke lamp,spit shine shoes: also bend over and grab your ankles.A song they sung to us " lookie lookie over there all boys with no hair they must be our new recruits"
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  H. Buning March 29, 2009 at 9:54pm

  I remember the popular songs on the radio from my boot camp days,
  and the smell of the soap...."Zest" soap is what they had us showering
  with (evidently it left less residue and made the showers easier to clean)
  and "Wisk" detergent was what they had us use to scrub our white hats
  with (I thought our white hats were the only thing we washed by hand. But
  for the first few weeks we wore ball caps....maybe we did skivvies
  and t-shirts too.) :P
  The songs and the soap smell can still take me back.
  Military.com has a thread in the Navy forums about RTC San Diego.
  A guy posted a bunch of pics, including the derelict conditions of the
  older barracks on the R.&O. side....sad.