On the third day at boot camp, we had to stand in formation, in front of the infirmary, for 2 hours...in the rain. I have never felt more insignificant in my whole life. I felt lower than ant poo.
I remember standing in the sun (sun torture) at parade rest, staring at a brick wall for 4 hours. Please don't ask why, because in boot camp there is not an answer to why for most things they made us do. I fell asleep standing up, without swaying. I was quite proud of myself that I could make the most out of such a pointless exercise.
Another time that we were standing in formation waiting to file into our squadbay and as I was double-timing up the steps a bird flew right past my head. Right into the glass door! I guess it hit so hard that it sustained a concussion or brain injury, because it fell straight down in a crumbled heap. I had to step over it and for some reason that made me very sad.
I combat loaded my thumb in a shotgun once. They had to shut down the whole range to dismantle my shotgun and get my thumb safely out.
In my second week of basic training, I received 5 demerits for skylarking. (A major crime that is described as 'looking out the window for no apparent purpose'.) Yes, I had to endure 2 hours of I.T., intensive training, for that one.
I could disassemble and reassemble an M-16, in the dark, in less than 5 minutes.
I am an expert with an M-16 and a 9mm. I am qualified to shoot a .45 and a shotgun.
- I held the record for the most sit ups during the basic training test at Cape May for 3 years. 109 sit ups in 2 minutes.
I once was dropped (for an unknown infraction) and ordered to do push ups. The Company Commander walked away. Once I got to 80 push ups, I thought he had left the building, forgot about me, went on vacation, something. Nope. As soon as I took a 10 second pause, he materialized out of nowhere! I finally got to get up after 140 push ups and continue on with whatever I was supposed to be doing. All the while I was wondering what I did to deserve 140 push ups?
In boot camp, I made my bed, ironed it and starched the sheets and pillowcase. I spent 8 weeks sleeping on top of my covers, fully dressed, at the foot of the bed, with no pillow.
I gained 6 pounds in boot camp, but my pants had to be tailored smaller at the end of the 8 weeks.
During seamanship week, I could tie 8 different knots in less than 4 minutes. (Now I am good for a square knot. I also follow the old saying: if you can't tie a know, tie a lot!)
My company's name was Sierra-133. We probably only said it 4,685 times in that 8 week period.
There were recruits who actually joined the Coast Guard not knowing how to swim!
I love walking on grass, even to this day. After being forbidden to touch grass for 8 weeks, I still relish in stepping on perfectly manicured lawns.
When we were in our 4th week of basic training, a company of sea cadets came to our base for a week of summer training. These were 8th and 9th grade students. We were in formation and told to get down and start doing push ups. We saw a sea cadet company march by and within a few minutes we heard sirens. As they got closer (we are still doing push ups) and louder we were all looking around wondering where they could be going...HONK!!!! The ambulance was right up on us and we had to scatter to each side to let it through. It ran over our binders and sea bags, but it had somewhere to go! After if passed us, we were ordered to pick up our gear and file into the building. The next day, we were in aircraft recognition class and a courageous recruit stood up to ask what happened with the ambulance the day before. In perfect monotone, the instructor said, "Oh, a sea cadet died yesterday. The next aircraft you see is a C-130." What? Some parent sent their almost teenager off to a week camp and the kid dies?!? I still can not get it out of my head and that was 18 years ago...
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