Before I joined the Navy, in May of 1982, my friend Jerry, introduced me to his recruiter at a public park, where they were cooking out some hot dogs, and drinking some beer. I shook his hand, and ate a hot dog, and just kicked back.
We did not really even talk about the Navy. I told him I wanted to go in, because I knew I was ready, and that there were not that many doors open to me, at the moment. I was surprised when he said I would have to take some tests, and other things like that. I said, "Fine, just tell me what to do, and where to do it at."
After going down to Detroit, to take a bunch of tests, physical exams, and tons of paperwork, there was just one more test. One of the recruiters, who was straight as an arrow, and had a rule book in his pocket, probably, asked me, "When was the last time I smoked marijuana?" I asked him, "Why?" He said that I had checked it off on one of my forms, that I had smoked marijuana before. He said, "If you have smoked it within the last 6 months, you cannot enter the Navy."
I told him, "It was 6 months ago, since I had smoked marijuana." This guy brought out a calendar, and went back six months, and asked me, "Was this the date that you smoked it?" Like I could really remember anyway. As a kid growing up in Michigan, most all the kids I hung around in junior high, and high school, had all did the same things together. Almost every weekend, there was a party, and plenty of smoking and drinking. I'm sure it was just a day or so, when I went in there.
This guy was too much, when I picked the date on the calendar, he told me I was one day shy of the 6 months. He told me that I would have to get a waiver to enter the Navy. I told him, "Fine, let me apply for the waiver." He said, You will have to meet with a psychiatrist." I met with the psychiatrist that same day. I was asked a lot of questions by the psychiatrist, and he gave me a clean bill of health, and I was able to join the Navy.
I was taking a trip from Detroit to Orlando, where I would be attending boot camp. I was kinda surprised, because the Navy had a boot camp base, at Great Lakes, IL, and it was all guys, no girls, at that boot camp base. Why they spent more money, sending me farther away, I don't know, but I liked it. The nice thing about Orlando, was it was co-ed, at least there were girls going to be there. They tried to make sure, no one could get close to each other, but they could never keep the boys away from the girls, or even the girls away from the boys.
They put all of us that were going to Orlando, Florida, for boot camp, on one plane. I was seated next to a nice pretty girl close to my own age. She was on her way back home to visit her parents. The flight was terrible, it was only the 2nd time I had flown on an airplane, and this flight from Detroit to Orlando was turning into a carnival ride, and I hate carnival rides. Up and down it was going, it was jumping around fast, and making lots of shaking and bumping noises. It was terrible, just like you would see in a movie, everyone on board was in a panic state. The lights were blinking on and off, it would just drop out of the sky fast, and pull your stomach up into your throat.
When we finally landed, we were all in our seats still, waiting to leave the plane. The pretty girl that had been sitting next to me, and waiting to meet her parents again, could not handle it, and threw up all over herself. I was behind her, when she left the plane, and it was heart breaking, to see her be greeted by her mother and father like that. They had to take her immediately to the rest room, to clean her up. I felt so bad for her.
We were met at the airport, by Navy personnel, and several white Navy buses. Other planes had come in from different parts of the country, with other people on board, just like me, long hair, long side burns, just regular Joe's off the street. The first thing they did, was have us line up, and stand in line, with no talking.
We were taken to a building, and given all kinds of directions to follow, until late into the evening. This continued until the early morning hours. "This treatment must be part of our conditioning," I thought. We were all given our haircuts the next day. We got to see most of the guys, get all of their hair cut off. It was quick and to the point.
I learned early on, not to volunteer for anything, when one of the company commanders would ask for a volunteer. Whenever they would ask for 3 volunteers, for example, eventually all those 3 volunteers, would be doing push ups, or running in circles with a rifle, eventually. I also thought, to just keep my mouth shut, and not volunteer for anything, and just get threw boot camp as low under the radar as I can.
Back then, if someone was hiding from the law, I guess it was a good idea to ditch society, and join the military. One day, we were in the barracks, and the commander told us to line up, which all of us immediately did. He told us, to, "about face", which means to turn around, and then some military police officers came in, and took one of the new guys out, in hand cuffs. He was a big black guy, that had 2 gold front teeth. Later, one of the company commanders said, he was wanted on murder charges, and tried to hide out in the Navy.
We had two company commanders in charge of our unit. One of them was a little guy, who was pretty mean to everyone. The other one was a more nicer, cooler guy. He did not go around yelling, like a lot of them did during boot camp days. On one of the days, we were all taken out to a building, and told to stand in line. The cooler company commander said that each of us is allowed a 15 minute phone call, to call our loved ones. We would have to stand in line to use the phone. He said when you are done making your phone call, you can go over to this section and relax.
I did not see any reason to stand in line for 2 hours to use the phone, since I did not need to make a phone call. I asked him if I had to stand in line, because there was nobody that I needed to call at this time. He kinda just looked at me and said I could go sit down and relax.
We went threw many inspections in boot camp. Only one time did I ever lose my temper. It was called hell week, and we were all going threw an inspection of the worst kind. About 12 other company commanders came into our barracks, and just start raising the most hell you can have... Yelling... Screaming... Cussing... Calling everyone in the room, any name you could think of, and worse. They were ripping apart bunks, throwing clothes everywhere, it looked just like a frat party gone wild.
It was crazy. Guys walking around with underwear on their heads. Other guys doing push ups, and then strange men, you never met before, just yelling right into your face. One of the guys that was getting yelled at, that was standing right next to me, could not take it anymore, and he fainted. That's when I lost it, and started yelling at the commander, "You fucking asshole," I yelled at him. "Look at what the fuck you did," I yelled at him. He just looked at me, and kinda worried about the guy next to me, that passed out. I just stood there, and did nothing else. He came to, a minute later, and that company commander just seemed to disappear from the rest of the torture.
I knew it was all a game, at least to the company commanders. To us, it seemed like hell week, and it was hell week, but we were still human, and a guy can only take so much.
At the end of boot camp, a lot of the people, have their moms and dads fly in, from all over the country, to see them graduate from boot camp. Myself, I still thought I was only gone for 2 months, and my dad would never fly to see me just only after 2 months. But some of these guys, must of been really close to their moms and dads. I would of been embarrassed to ask my dad to come watch me graduate from boot camp, to me, I was still waiting to join the Navy, and boot camp was just a test.
During boot camp, there were lots of times, for just sitting around, and shooting the shit with other guys. Some of the guys, had already been in the service before. Maybe the Army, or Air Force, and they said the service is nothing like boot camp, but they had to go threw boot camp again, because they got out for a short time, and wanted to come back in. I thought, "Wow, who would go threw boot camp twice? They must of really liked the service," I thought.
We did get to have one night, that we were all allowed to go out into town, with no one watching us, or going with us. It was pretty much all the guys from boot camp, that went out, and we had also just received our first pay checks, after spending two months in boot camp. Most all of the guys in the barracks, already knew which bars to go to. It was all strip bars, and nobody really wanted to go anywhere else.
Most of us went to this one bar, which had tons of sexy chicks dancing naked, and walking around in little sexy bikinis. We all got lots of lap dances, and it was a really rocking place. Me and three other guys, were able to go outside, and ask the cab driver, "Where do we get a chick that will do all of us?" He said he knew just the place we could go.
He drove us somewhere we did not know, and we ended up picking up this tall sexy girl with blond hair. She ended up doing each one of us, orally, right there in the cab we hired. We had only about 4 hours to be able to be away from the base, and we were able to get it all done. Most all the other guys, at the club, and around town, seemed to get lucky like that also, picking up chicks that were used to the guys getting out of boot camp after two months of no sex.
Some of the guys, were actually able, to hook up with some of the girls, from the girls side of the base. They did it by passing notes, and using sign language when we were out on the cement exercise fields they called grinders. They were able to hook up, during those 4 hours we were allowed out for our first liberty. For the rest of us, it was out to the bars, and try your luck at finding a girl for the night. I believe those girls were used to the base, and the guys getting their night off, because there were lots of girls, ready for action, in the town.
One thing for sure about the Navy, there were always girls, everywhere, it seemed. By that, I mean in other countries, there are just beautiful girls everywhere. It seems in some of these countries, they already know you are coming to town, and they have small towns set up, for when several hundred, to several thousand, guys show up on all kinds of ships, and head into town. Those are the funniest times for sure. Back when sex was practically safe, and it was in abundance, and all you wanted.
These days, a person would take their life in their hand with aids, and any other diseases out there. In the early 80's, it was a free for all, and the Navy seemed to be a big sponsor of some of the places. I was young, dumb, and horny as hell, and I thought it was a great idea, and I still do.
The Navy gave me more adventure, then I could ever get by myself, unless I was independently wealthy. In 1986, I was actually able to verify the world is round, since I was able to go around it by air, land, and sea.
It was so amazing to me, when I showed up at JFK international airport, and thought to myself, "Wow, the world really is round." I left the United States, from California, and I went all the way around it, and now I'm coming back threw the East Coast, and it's just amazing, when I thought about it at the airport when I was standing there.
At the end of boot camp, they tell you, "You will be leaving for school." That is where they train you to do your job for the Navy. Some people, were going to be welders, others would be gunners, or supply clerks. My job, was to be an office worker, who takes care of officer's paperwork. Personnel men take care of the enlisted paperwork of the enlisted people, and yeomen take care of the officers paper works for officers.
At first, when I joined the Navy, the person asked me what I wanted to do for my job in the Navy. I told him, "I never really thought about it." I thought for a moment, what might be an easy job in the Navy? I said, "Maybe I could cut hair." He said I would not want to do that, that it was mostly black guys that cut hair in the Navy, and I wouldn't fit in. I did not know what a Yeoman was, at the time, but he was a Yeoman, and he put me down for Yeoman Training. So off to Yeoman school I would go for my next duty station.
