33 years ago today

[BOSSHOG]

I graduated from Boot Camp at Recruit Training Command, Naval Training Center, San Diego. 18 years old, 165 pounds, brand new Crackerjack uniform, 48 hours of liberty in San Diego and two months of pay in my pocket. Those were the days.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. I'd give a lot

to weight 165 pounds again.

[BOSSHOG]

4. Oh Dear

that was 33 years and 40 pounds ago. I actually gained about 20 pounds during eight weeks of bootcamp. My schedule was incredibly regular, three squares a day, regular sleeping hours, regular everything.

[Swede]

2. Time sure flies B.

nt.

[havocmom]

3. To days past, when we were young and (mostly) innocent

:toast:

To those who served with you :toast:

To those at home who worried about you all :toast:

Woooo, :crazy: to early for all this drinking... take the rest the day off :D

[BOSSHOG]

5. This close to Christmas

I'm sure Holiday Routine has been set on some naval installation or command somewhere. I'll drink to that.

[havocmom]

9. 33 years ago today, I was on the Port Hueneme CB Base

and had a bit of extra cash. One day I bought a scrawney kid a sandwhich while paying for my onw at the bowling alley snack bar. With two brothers, I knew well that the appitite was often more than the pay ;) It was sort of a way to repay the kindness of two gentlemen in uniform who helped me out when my car battery died.

Like merh said, there are ripples.

Glad you are around today, BOSSHOG. So many of our contemporaries...

[BobRossi]

6. 34 years ago for me..

Not sure about the exact date, it was just before Christmas. Lackland AFB Tx. Still can't believe that I had to pay for that ridiculous haircut!

[BOSSHOG]

8. Hi Bob

I write stuff on a big calendar every year and on New Year's Day I update it with the new stuff (like Hurricane strikes). My wife refers to it as anal, but by god, I can tell ya what I was doing on damn near any date 10 years ago or longer. I recall being stuck in the Dallas Airport on the way home to Arkansas because of snow. There was tons of Air Force Recruits at the airport and one loan Sailor with his manly Dress Blues. Chicks digged me. Me and my one ribbon.

Oh yeah, what's with paying for the haircut?

[BobRossi]

12. We had to pay for that "skin head" look!

I think it was only 2 or 3 bucks, but still...
My three older brothers were Navy. (One did a year in 'Nam on a PBR).
I started to join the Navy,aced the 4 exams and the recruiter started talking about a six year hitch on subs. I got nervous and joined the Air Force instead! I love to kid my brothers about being able to drop the soap and not worry about some squid trying to be my 'special friend'!

[BOSSHOG]

13. My recruiter was an old E-7

(eventually I would turn into him except for the recruiter part), I was being real sophisticated and hard to get with him; told him I was going to go chat with the Air Force Recruiter before I made any final decisions. He said okay, but I wouldn't want to get into a fight in that uniform. Recruiter Humor; had an answer for everything. I don't know how I did 24 years without a tour in recruiting. I guess I was just too honest.

[lpbk2713]

7. The days when men were steel and ships were wood.....

RTC Great Lakes June to Sept 1965. Company 261.

[BOSSHOG]

11. Great Lakes is the only Navy bootcamp left

Shipmate. The one and only choice my recruiter (didn't everyone refer to "my" recruiter) gave me was bootcamp. San Diego or Great Lakes from October to December. I prefer the Pacific Breezes to Lake Michigan gales.

[Ganja Ninja]

10. I graduated Boot Camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center.

34 years ago. I don't remember the exact date but it was December of 71. I went on leave over Christmas and went back for Basic Electricity and Electronics School after the first of the year. I remember it well for a reason. I was a 165 lb recruit from Pontiac Michigan and going through O'Hare Airport with my sea bag on my shoulder. I couldn't see much on the side I was carrying my bag. When I got to the door someone opened it for me. I went through and set my bag down to look for a bus when I heard someone behind me yell "Hey Gordie". I turned around to see it was Gordie Howe that had held the door open for me.

[BobRossi]

14. Great story..

My flight to basic was on the same plane the Red Wings were on, they got off at St. Louis, I continued on to TX.

[Ganja Ninja]

18. I was a big time hockey fan as a kid.

I use to lay in bed at night listening to the games on a transistor radio with an ear phone. Naturally Gordie was one of my hero's. I would have tried to get an autograph but there was a crowd around and it was freezing cold at the time so he was rushing to get out of there and I didn't get the chance.

[catmandu57]

15. Happy anniversary Boss

I washed out of basic at Great Lakes in May of 1980, my damn knees locked up solid, The doc gave me the choice of going into the hospital or going home. I went home, many, many times I wish I had gone the other way.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. 33 years ago I was busy

being 1 year old.

Those were _really_ the days. :D

[BOSSHOG]

17. The first year is a very busy year

[GreenPartyVoter]

19. Yeah what with all that eating and sleeping and chewing on your toes

[BOSSHOG]

20. and getting your picture taken over and over again

and getting passed around from Aunt to Aunt to Aunt and taking those long afternoon baths and then more sleeping and eating. Sounds like my retirement life.

[GreenPartyVoter]

22. Yes except in retirement I expect fewer of those pictures are nude shots

Then again, maybe not. *g*

[BOSSHOG]

23. I'm in the majority on that one

I truly believe that 99.9% of adults should not have their pictures taken nude, at least not for public consumption. But I do have the cute little happy baby face with naked butt sticking up in the air on a nice blankey picture of me hanging in our bedroom. My wife's baby picture is much more quaint. She has a little dress on and a big old happy baby smile. Her picture is right next to mine. As she tells one and all, we don't have kids, but I have him.

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. *lol* I have both blanket and dress pics of me around. I did not

do official naked baby blanket pics of my kids but I do have bath pics of them. I figure they can be used as leverage when they are teens entering the world of dating. :evilgrin:

[madokie]

21. 42 years ago on Nov. 23th for me.

Camp Nimitz, what was the landlocked ships name, it escapes me. anyway that was the only ship I was ever on. I came back to boot camp and spent 6 months as an adjutant, 'company commander aide' for those who wouldn't know what that was. Those were the days for sure. Do you remember if the hole in the fence was still there, just daring us to go though it and the ones who did went to a company, can't remember the number now though but you would see these people being really disciplined seriously. I used to love going over the bridge and going to my company and waking the new recruits Monday thru Friday about 4;00 am.

[BOSSHOG]

25. Would that be the USS Recruit, Shipmate?

And there was always a rumor that someone had committed suicide in one of the other barracks; those wacky company commanders could sure stir up the scuttlebutt.

Check out www.militaryvideo.com if you'd like to take a ride in the way back machine. They have a video titled Navy Bootcamp San Diego 1960's.

Did you start out at Worm Island?

[madokie]

27. Yep, that is it. Not I don't remember worm island though

I was a kid from oklahoma, never been away from the state except to go to arkansas to pick strawberries. San Diego was like a new world for me. Seems like I could fly round trip back to tulsa on standby for $42.00, never got bumped either. Boot camp for me was we graduated on 15-5 day. Sept. 7 thru Nov. 23th.
My company number was 504 and we were at the time the only company who had graduated with no minority recruits in years, they made a big deal of it too. Also in boot camp it snowed there in san diego for the first time in 34 years. It was beautiful the temp was 34 degrees and the snowflakes were like the size of a golf ball. A lot of the locals had never seen snow there up til then. It melted as soon as it hit the ground and it was a sight to see.

[BOSSHOG]

28. I was in Company 405

Did you fly into Tulsa on a Frontier Airlines Twin Prop? I was from Fayetteville and it was an excellent adventure flying into or out of Drake Field with mountains at both ends of the runway. Those planes got vertical real fast. Made some good summertime walking around money picking strawberries and bucking hay. Kept a nice wax job on my old 51 Chevy Pickup. Definitely the good old days for me.

[madokie]

29. Don't you wish you still had to old '51 chevy

When I graduated from high school my brother gave me a '54 ford skyliner, glass top. A pretty cool car back then, hell I still wish I had it today. Bucking hay sucked, we made 2 cents a bale from the field to stacking in the barn. It would be so hot but if you didn't wear longsleeves you looked like you had been in a fight with a cat or something. Get some beer and go by the creek for a good cool down and to wash all that hay off ya. Yes, the first plane I rode on was a twin engine with a capacity of something like 20 or so passengers. It was something to look down and see the farmers working in their field cuting hay and whatever. I'd look down and think to myself, man I'm glad to get out of that, all the time not realizing what I was in for. wouldn't trade anything for it now though. Yes those were the good old days alright.

[BOSSHOG]

30. I regret few things in life

but getting rid of that old truck is at the top of the list. What a sweet ride it was. and I knew my way around under the hood. Due to inflation we got a nickel a bale in 71 and yeah there were some godawful scratches involved and haydust all over you and in your nose. And yes, the beer. Believe it or not, we drove to Oklahoma to get beer from where we were bucking in the Cane Hill, Lincoln area. Less muss and fuss about id cards and all that nonsense. There was a gas station right on the state line at Westville, get your beer and get back to Arkansas. A six pack would do a 17 year old proud and wash away all the scratches of the day. The older the good old days get the better they look.

[madokie]

31. Thanks for this post I have got to relive some of the truly good old days

smiling now.

[wixomblues]

26. 33 is one of the "mystical" numbers. And it's on Rolling Rock.

So tip one back. Congrats./