Comments

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  Jerry Ballard(sw)SH1Ret May 6, 2013 at 3:36pm

  
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  Jim Decota May 6, 2013 at 11:50am

  "If we were caring "weapons," the fatality rate would be horrendous at NTC"

  As was evidenced by our time on the range! It was obvious that most recruits did not join the Navy to be "riflemen"! Besides, if you wound up on a ship the guns were much bigger and had built in aiming!
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  Thomas Collier May 6, 2013 at 11:32am

  Answer to the "Piece," question. My son the GM says a "piece," is a non operational "weapon." If we were caring "weapons," the fatality rate would be horrendous at NTC. LOL 
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  Jim Decota May 6, 2013 at 10:40am

  I "think" I remember Camp Nimitz being referred to as Worm Island. But then, it wasn't an island anyway!

  I do remember we didn't like those ball caps that didn't really look like ball caps!

  I do remember also what I think you are referring to as the "grinder reminder"! We northern Yankees seem to display that line so much more!

  The fact when we were on the Nimitz side for the first couple of weeks that was not lost on us was that we got to hear and see the Marine recruits out running over at MCRD before we even got up!
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  Alan Ray Baugher May 5, 2013 at 11:23pm

  unless things changed after dec. 62 when I left boot camp R & O was recieving and outfitting close to the main gate. My last week when we were not doing much I was put on R & O roving patrol. I think the new recruits though I was a real salt. Quite a rush for a young boot graduate, almost. 
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  Lindsey E. Ford HMC (SW) May 5, 2013 at 7:47pm

  Our scheduled PT was to form up and march everywhere! We got to march with our rifles until we reached the grinder and we stacked rifles and went to classes and at the end of the day we went back and got them. I recall on several occassions we did not get to have chow, however Jackson and Moultre got to eat! Hope I never run across either of them again!
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  Lindsey E. Ford HMC (SW) May 5, 2013 at 7:14pm

  I do not remember what that rifle was, it was not an M16 - lol. What I never understood is why the cutlass that thr RCPO carried was broken and welded back together. Blue towels were after I got out of boot in 72. Our CC had us color our rifle barrels with pencil, so they would shine in the sun light.

  I joined the Navy also to avoid getting drafted - in the years prior my birthday was in the 200 plus, when the year counted as in 72 I was like 32 or 34 and off I went to the Naval Recruiter! As it turned out I would never have been drafted, Nam was winding down. I have no regrets of enlisting, no regrets for spending 20!
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  Larry Penatzer May 5, 2013 at 5:18pm

  Oh we carried rifles.  But when we went to PT, we carried blue towels that were about half the size of a nice bath towel in our ditty belts.  We sat on them to do sit-ups.  We carried rifles just about everywhere else.
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  Bob Coombs May 5, 2013 at 5:08pm

  Gun, rifle or piece? I've surely heard where to find my gun, but weren't the 1903 Springfield rifles we carried in boot camp called pieces? I think our CC told us they weren't rifles because they were altered so they wouldn't fire. About half of them had plugged barrels and the remainder were missing firing pins.

  Mine was missing the firing pin, but I soon rectified that problem by borrowing one from one with a plugged barrel. Little did they know that I had a 98 Mauser at home and new how to completely disassemble it. All I needed was ammo and my rifle would fire! I wonder if the armory figured that out after I turned mine in.
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  Terry Schiele HM-2 (RN) May 5, 2013 at 4:55pm

  Speaking of the white hat and preparation for graduation, how many of you remember what the "4th heavy drumbeat meant?"...