Brian Meyette's USMC Boot Camp Diary

Brian Meyette's USMC Boot Camp Diary

To read the entire story in one file, go to main BOOT CAMP DIARY

RFTD

Recruit Field Training Detachment

FRI 11/7 T-31

After the shooting was over, we got chow, then we were packed standing room only into cattle cars and driven about 10-15 miles to somewhere in the hills of Camp Pendleton to begin RFTD. We had chow shortly after getting here. It was a nice chow hall. There were numerous SWAT cops running around, so I guess they must train here, too.

After chow, we had 4 minutes to make our racks from scratch. Jackson and I got his made (bottom rack first) and about half of mine done. Now I'm in a class on introduction to the field equipment we'll be issued. I'm already very familiar with most of it. They're still issuing the canvas shelter halves we used to use in the Boy Scouts when I was a kid! In fact, I think I still have a couple of them up overhead in the garage at home. He's introducing an entrenching tool (folding shovel) just like the one I have at home. Our new "house" is very big and complicated, with several floors and halls going every which way in a big maze. The armory is off down one hall somewhere. The showers are somewhere else, the duty hut is in another place. In our previous barracks, everything was centralized, and each platoon had its own showers, armory, classroom, etc. The classroom is an unused squadbay. Here, there are many platoons scattered all over the building, with common facilities. I'm sure I'll soon figure out where everything is. It's harder to keep track of where everything is and where we're going when there are constantly DIs, squad leaders, and the guide behind us screaming at us to hurry up. The squadbays are huge, with no footlockers, so I guess we'll be living out of our seabags while we're here. We spend several days out of our week here living out in the field, "camping out".

I'm sure the DIs, especially Sgt Orlovsky, will make sure the "camping" isn't too much fun for any of us. After chow, Sgt Orlovsky was pissed off about something, so we had to button our top buttons and unblouse our trousers, and run around looking like First Phase recruits. I hope I can find some more knowledge book paper soon. Last night, I asked around to borrow some, and no one had any; everyone has used theirs up, mostly on letters. The Marine giving the class I'm in now is a GySgt who was in Viet Nam. He's the first Marine I've seen who was there. ITS (Infantry Training School) is also here somewhere, so I'll be coming back here after I graduate, unless maybe there are other ITS centers around Camp Pendleton. The chow hall here even has a mechanized feed belt to the scullery (dish washing area). We just throw the papers in the trash, set the tray down on the belt, and walk away. WTB (Weapons Training Battalion at the Edson Range) was worse than MCRD, because there we also had to scrape our trays off as we left the chow hall, usually with someone screaming at us to hurry up. Silverware, cups, and bowls had to be separated at both places. There's lots more types of people here, too. MCRD is just recruits in receiving, First Phase privates, Third Phase privates, and DIs. WTB is just Second Phase range recruits and PMIs. Here, there are recruits, ITS students, permanent Marines, DIs, ITS Instructors, SWAT cops, and who knows what else. I wonder what time we'll be hitting the rack and getting reveille here. It'll probably be the same as it was at MCRD.

They just called a break in the class I'm in so everyone can make a head call (go to the bathroom). That's one thing they're amazingly considerate about at boot camp. We can request permission to make a head call almost anytime. And they give scheduled head calls frequently, too. After each meal or class, the DIs will stop by the house or a head so everyone can make a head call. They have organized head calls so often that half the time (like now), I don't bother. One thing that's funny is how often I have to go during the night. About 50% of the time, I wake up in the middle of the night and have to go REAL bad. I remember toward the end of my bicycle trip, even if I went just before going to bed, I'd still get up in the middle of the night having to go so bad I could hardly stand up.

OOOH! Uh oh! I just realized that none of our DIs are here in the classroom watching us. They are ALWAYS watching over us. If they're not here, I fear they may be up in the squadbay, going nuts. I also just remembered that I didn't lock my seabag when we came down here. If they're up in the squadbay checking everything and find my seabag unlocked, all my stuff is likely to be scattered all over. I can just picture that crazy Sgt Orlovsky up there now, dumping everyone's seabags and spreading the gear all around. The day he did his famous "human tornado", my footlocker was unlocked! I'm lucky he didn't notice it, or I'd probably still be picking up the scattered gear and thrashing for it. I don't always lock it, so I can save time when I have to get gear out of it. I just set it with the shackles slightly in the body, so it looks like it is locked. We are always putting gear in and taking gear out, at a frantic pace.

I recently heard that Platoon 1109, our platoon, took the range! If we did, maybe Sgt Groomes will let us have a phone call! I won't count on it, though. There's a BIG steep hill overlooking where we are now. I wonder if that's the famous "Mount MotherFucker" that we have to hump our packs over. We've all heard about it. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. No one went UNQ (failed to qualify with the M16A2 rifle) that I know of; everyone still seems to be with us. The DI teaching this class (now we're having one on field sanitation) has many interesting Viet Nam experiences he relates to in conjunction with his class. An especially mean looking DI keeps walking up and down the aisles, looking for recruits who are writing letters (not me - ha!), drawing pictures, or taking a nap.

SAT 11/8 T-32

Last night, I talked to Sgt Groomes about my shooting score mixup. He seemed to be in a particularly good mood. He said he'd see what he could do about straightening out my score.

This morning, after cleanup, we have the dreaded GAS CHAMBER. I'm not too worried about it, but some of these recruits sure are. We had mail call last night, but nothing for me. Sgt Groomes said we scored LAST in the range, and we dropped 5 UNQs. Vanaman was one and Flores was another. I hadn't even missed them. We left the UNQs back at the range. They have to keep trying until they can at least score a minimum passing score. I hear the DIs there make things VERY unpleasant for the UNQs, so they'll be very anxious to qualify and get out of there.

Reveille was at 0530 today. I'm in an NBC (Nuclear, Biological, & Chemical) Defense class now. I'll soon have to figure out where a mail box is here. I haven't seen any. Sgt Groomes said we leave Monday morning for our little "camping and hiking trip", and return on Thursday. Today and tomorrow will be spent getting our equipment for the trip and taking classes on how to use it and how to live in the field. It should be a very interesting week. This sort of stuff is why I joined the Corps. It's a gray overcast day.

Yesterday was cold, gray, and overcast with a wind, contrasting with the sunny, wind-free days we had all week. The change in weather had an adverse effect on some recruits' shooting scores, as did poor butts service. If the people in the butts don't get the targets back up quickly, the shooter has to sit there and frantically wait. They were supposed to have one recruit from our platoon and one from another platoon on each of our targets, but many of us had two recruits from another platoon on their target. Naturally, they didn't care at all how slow or poor their butts service was.

The chow hall here is great after getting accustomed to WTB. It's so nice to see plenty of food, and food supplies that get replenished when they run out. It's also neat to see all the ITS students who've recently graduated. I'm proud to be here and soon to be a Marine. Sgt Groomes was in a fairly decent mood this morning. Usually, he's a tiger all day, then he mellows out some in the evening. I hope he doesn't forget to fix my shooting score.

The platoon is becoming increasingly well-disciplined. It's so much better that way. This morning, we were told to just march back to the house from chow by ourselves in groups of 10 or so and get started on the cleanup. We did it without any problems. That's so much better than standing around outside the chowhall, waiting for the entire platoon and the DIs to finish eating before we can head back to the barracks. I think I could have gotten the platoon to this stage of discipline much sooner.

It's sunny and windy now, but still cool - fall weather. Last night, Sgt Groomes was asked if we would be allowed to make a phone call, even though we didn't take the range. He asked if finishing last meant we deserved it, and we replied "NO SIR!" He said maybe we could when we returned from the field if we do well there. It sure would be nice to call home.

I'm really pissed off! Prior to our NBC class, Captain Kelly got up and made a speech about the Marine Corps birthday and staying motivated and using teamwork in the coming week. Then he formally recognized the high shooters, and said Smith was the high shooter for 1109 with a 232. A couple other platoons had 236s, but no one had anything higher. If only I'd gotten one more point (and hadn't been screwed out of my actual score), I'd have gotten the highest score in the entire series.

After NBC class, we got our gas masks, then had a gas mask class. After that, we had some practical application practice and tests of NBC defense and gas mask use. Then we were marched off to the gas chamber. The gas in there (they use CS gas - mace) was so strong, we were feeling the effects while standing in formation about 50 yards away from the chamber. When they opened the door to let more recruits in, a little bit of the gas would escape. Everyone was coughing and sneezing like crazy. Then we got lined up to go in. Many of the recruits were very nervous, and they kept talking about what they should do, and kept checking and rechecking their masks. Christianson was almost pissing his pants, he was so scared! He was shaking all over, and he kept readjusting his mask frantically. I checked his mask for him and reassured him about 10 times that his mask was OK, and that he was going to be all right. Finally, we went in. It was easier than I had expected. I figured we'd have to take the mask off after we got inside, drop it on the floor, and put it back on with our eyes closed. However, all we had to do was pull it up a little, expose our face, reseat and clear it, then stand around awhile, then leave. Some recruits were hollering and moaning, Then we pulled the masks off as we left the chamber. My eyes and nose were burning. I forgot what I was doing and rubbed my eyes with my contaminated hands without thinking about it because my eyes were burning some. That was the wrong thing to do! My eyes were burning so bad after that, it was quite a few minutes before I could see or do anything.

Then we went back to the house, showered with our cammies on, changed out of the contaminated cammies, and had chow. Chow consisted of sitting in the back of the squadbay and eating one of our recently issued MREs (Meal, Ready to Eat). It was my first military field ration. It wasn't too bad. I hope they have a variety of them for our funzo camping trip.

After lunch, we had a class on Introduction to Offensive and Defensive Combat. Then we scurried over to supply and got our 782 gear; combat helmets, ALICE packs, sleeping bags, shelter halves, E tools, etc. Most of the gear is mighty tired! We had a hurried return to the barracks, then chow. After chow, we labeled all the 782 gear we just got, and did some preparatory packing.

I got bent for eating a cookie. It's a big deal to take food out of the chow hall, but I thought it was OK to save part of my MRE. When we were eating them, Sgt Groomes started screaming at us that we were DONE eating, so I didn't have time to eat it then. So I put the half-eaten cookie back in its wrapper and put it in my pocket. Last night, when we were putting gear in our ALICE packs, I noticed the cookie, so I popped it in my mouth and started chewing it as I walked up to the front of the squadbay past Sgt Morris to throw the wrapper away in the trash. I think at first he thought I had taken it out of the chowhall. Anyway, I got bent quite a while for it. Then, I was so tired, I walked back by him back to my gear without saying "By your leave, Sir", so I got thrashed again for that. It was good exercise.

The squad leaders have been talking about how we should buckle down and stay locked and cocked because they'll be needing to choose fire team leaders in the upcoming week, and they'll pick the most locked and cocked ones for that. Big Deal! I've been more locked and cocked since Day 1 than any of them. Johnson, AB (4th squad leader) came up to me and said I'd be good to be in charge of the fresh water. He said I MIGHT even be able to be a fire team leader. Gee whiz, boss; you really think I can handle it? Wowie! I gave him my blankest stare and said nothing.

SUN 11/9 T-33

Right now, I'm doing my laundry. It's a little laundry room, with only about 3 or 4 working washers and 2 working dryers for at least 2 platoons (160 men). It's super hot in here. The washers have no temperature control, and the water is almost boiling, so I hope I don't screw up any of my clothes. I wish I hadn't put my cammies in there. They'll probably come out a boy's size. There are starting to be some conflicts brewing in here as lines back up to use the few working washers and dryers, while some people are trying to dry huge loads of towels. I think my washer's stuck on wash. It's been washing for about an hour. Another washer finished washing, but then it stuck there and wouldn't drain. I should go upstairs and get my stationery and catch up on some correspondence, but I don't want to let my washing out of my sight. I'll probably come back and find that someone has taken my gear out and put his in.

Well, I finally got tired of waiting for the machine washing my clothes, so I figured out how to manually advance the timer inside it, and it's going OK now. The dryers are going very slow, though. I got another washer going for some privates. Most of these kids don't have the slightest idea how a washer works or what it's supposed to do!

I wrote to Mom and Dad. The lunch chow was unreal! We went in and waited about 45 minutes to get through the line. The line would go ahead a little, then stop for 5 or 10 minutes. Other meals here have been similar, but nowhere near the extent that lunch was. After all that, it was just some lousy cheeseburgers and cookies. They were out of beans. Sgt Orlovsky's been in his prime. I guess Kim smiled in line, so Sgt Orlovsky told him he wouldn't hesitate one second to smash his face in if he did it again. I'm waiting now for the rest of the platoon to finish chow, then we have one hour of COD, then tent pitching class and practice.

Moran just said we're not having COD because chow took so long we don't have time. So, Sgt Orlovsky is rumored to be in a savage mood. This morning, I twisted my ankle some, but it seems to be OK now. I must have been in a very deep sleep when reveille sounded this morning. Suddenly, I realized the lights were on and Sgt Morris was yelling. It seemed for a second that I couldn't move, then I flew out of the rack and hit the deck. I think I landed mostly on my right foot, because it started hurting some. The top bunks are about five feet up.

My 782 gear is in fairly decent condition. I feel sorry for some of the others, whose gear is very ratty. When it was issued, it was just thrown at us, and unless something was completely unserviceable, we were told to just take it and shut up. I put plenty of extra socks in my pack, as well as some foot powder I bought at the MCRD PX. At sickbay back at MCRD, I saw many recruits with big blisters on their feet from all the hiking we're about to do. And I plan on doing it with the maximum degree of comfort I can arrange. Sgt Orlovsky just came in. Terse, but not too bad. Gotta go.

Now it's Sunday night. Supper tonight sucked. It was a carbon copy of lunch, except the wait was shorter and I got the last portion of beans this time. Sgt Orlovsky has not been too bad today. I've been in a pretty bad mood most of the day. I'm real tired of all the talking by some (STILL, even though it's been drilled into us since we got here to not talk), and I'm tired of all the screaming and general incompetence of the squad leaders. I'm not as gung-ho as I was. Generally, I just try to do what I'm supposed to with the minimum hassle, and I try to tune out all the annoyance and try to stay as motivated as possible, I no longer bother correcting or helping anyone. I guess I've lost enthusiasm due to that enthusiasm being continuously ignored and squashed, by both the squad leaders and the DIs. I'm just tired of the crap of the others. I've been feeling very touchy about being pushed, shoved, touched, told to shut up, or told what to do by people who have no business telling me anything. It's not that I'm getting UNmotivated; I just don't have as much enthusiasm as I once did. I'm tired of all the unnecessary yelling and screaming and, particularly, of the NECESSITY for all the yelling and screaming at people to do what they should know to do. I'm starting to get as sick of Smith's voice as I was of Sommers'. I do what I'm supposed to, as well as I can, but I don't go out of my way to do anything extra. I'll work on regaining my original enthusiasm level.

Speaking of Smith's voice, Herman mentioned that, while he is on watch, Smith is usually yelling out all kinds of orders in his sleep. Some of the recruits in the platoon are starting to get their act wired together more now. Herman, Anderson, AL, and Johnson, MA are three who are now more serious about things.

This afternoon, we had tent pitching practice. It was OK, but rather annoying because of the aforementioned yelling, milling around, and confusion. There was more emphasis placed on getting the tents covered and aligned (lined up in neat columns and rows) than on anything else. 4th Squad pairs with 3rd Squad, so I was with Christianson. I suppose that's better than being stuck with Holliday, who's always clawing at his zits. The way all these recruits publicly claw and paw their zits continuously is, and has been, quite nauseating. Fortunately, there's less of it now, with the marginal increase in discipline. I remember in receiving barracks, Holliday was across the "freeway" (aisle) from me, and he would stand over there on line and pick and dig and claw at his face. And Schrotenboer is always sneezing all over everything. I think he's the one who gave me my cold. He was coughing and sneezing behind me in the chow line yesterday.

I'm on firewatch now. What a terrible night this is! To beat the other platoons to the chow hall for morning chow, Sgt Orlovsky told the last firewatch to wake everyone up as soon as he comes on duty (at 0230!), so they can be all completely dressed and ready to double time to the chow hall the moment they sound reveille at 0400. Plus having firewatch tonight means I'll get 3-4 hours of sleep, max, for the big hump tomorrow. Everyone is talking like it'll be a super effort. It probably will be, with everyone going at a near-run, with the DIs and squad leaders screaming at everyone constantly to keep the formation tightened up, and with the dummy behind me stepping on my heels every other step. I think I'll clue him (Mager) in about that before we leave. Just to make it a little worse, now I'm staying up past my watch finishing this part of the diary completed so I can mail it on the way to chow. When we go to the field, it will probably be a week before I can send out any more mail. I hear that we do most of our humps at night. So, we will get to set up our bivvies in the middle of the night, all to the cheery tones of screaming DIs and squad leaders.

MON 11/10 T-34

Well, our little fun camping trip sure didn't last too long! I'm quite disappointed in what happened. This morning, we were woken up at 0230 to get dressed, so we could leave the house immediately at lights on, and beat the other platoons to the chow hall at 0400. For starters, it was pouring out when we got up. Then the inconsiderate slobs talked and made so much noise that those of us already dressed & trying to sleep waiting for reveille didn't have a chance of catching another wink. Then we beat feet to the chow hall, but only 1/3 of us were there when I arrived. The Mighty Squad Leaders and the remaining 2/3 of the platoon dragged in late, so we were behind 1110, who had done the same thing we had, naturally.

Then we ate and got ready to go. It was dark, cold, and raining very hard. Funzo day! I was picturing how slippery and slimy those dirt trails in the hills would be. There’s nothing quite like good old California mud. "It Never Rains in Southern California, But Man It Pours!". Then the DIs said we wouldn't be doing any hills, due to the rain, and we headed out. It was unbelievable! Even on flat or relatively flat ground, it was very slippery muck several inches deep. We were the first platoon in line. I would sure hate to be last person in the last platoon! Muck City! We went up over a little hill, only about 50 feet high, and the rest of the recruits were having an incredibly hard time! They were slipping, falling in the muck, with rifles, packs, and bodies completely covered with mud, muzzles plugged with mud. Most of them were trying to walk uphill flat-footed. Many recruits had their ponchos completely off their packs and wrapped around their necks. I was doing fine. I was wet and muddy from the knees down, but otherwise I had no problem. It was easy on the hills just by stepping sideways and digging the edges of my boots into the side of the hill. I would have helped the others, but I am sick of giving a shit about most of them. Then we got on a paved road and marched quick time to a range. It was only a couple miles total; no big deal. We pitched our shelter halves in a field in the rain. We changed into dry cammies, staged our packs in the tents and were ordered over to a bleacher for some classes on various field techniques. It was cold and raining all morning. We huddled together in the bleachers, shivering and trying to stay warm.

At lunch, we got out our MREs, and the DIs announced that we were going back to the house. I was disappointed. It sure wasn't much fun, but I definitely could have handled it. The most miserable times were when we were standing around doing nothing, waiting to get the word to move out. The instructor we had was a cheery NCO with lots of sex examples to illustrate his points. Our platoon didn't do too bad on the very short hump. Some fell and were muddy, with muddied up rifles, but the other platoons were a lot worse. Of course, the further back in the column each platoon was, the deeper the muck was from all the footsteps that came before them. The other platoons came dragging in carrying their wet and muddy sleeping bags and pads in their hands, looking very bedraggled. The place we set up the tents was at the base of the infamous Mount Motherfucker. It didn't look nearly as bad as its reputation. It was rather steep looking, but it appeared to be less than a quarter mile up to the top. I left feeling rather disappointed in the Marine Corps for wimping out on the hump and, especially, the trip. They didn't even have us march back to the house. We marched a couple hundred yards back to the paved road, and cattle cars picked us up and carried us back.

Back at the house, we took quick showers and changed into our third set of cammies so far that day. We had a class on helicopter and amphibious operations in the back of the squadbay.

TUE 11/11 T-35

Here's a hilarious quote from one of the day's classes: "What if my aunt had balls? Would she then be my uncle??". This gem was given to us by an instructor who said NO "what if" questions, and still got "what if" questions, which, of course, by their very nature, could go on indefinitely.

I didn't get much chance last night to finish writing. I got bent again last night for the "cookie incident", along with Johnson, AB.

Sgt Morris was giving Johnson a hard time while we were bending, because I was bending a lot better than he was. Shortly thereafter, Sgt Orlovsky fired Johnson and put Regalado in his place. I had figured Regalado would be a squad leader soon, the way he's been running his mouth constantly at everyone. Some people just enjoy being a dick. After lunch, we hiked out to a field classroom area. We watched a sample Claymore explosion. Neato! There is precious little time to write these days. I was hassled by Regalado during the hump to the classroom because I refused to run. The DIs said walk fast, don't run, so I walked as fast as I could, but I refused to run, no matter how much he screamed.

Because yesterday was canceled, we missed burst-fire and trace fire, two of the most fun parts of RFTD. Maybe they'll squeeze it in somewhere.

What a day! Here's a quick recap, then I MUST hit the rack. We had classes in the morning, then we ate MREs in the classroom. It was raining off and on all morning. Then we humped over to the field classroom and saw the Claymore explosion. Then we went through a day infiltration course, then a night infiltration course after it got dark. We also had a hand and arm signals practical course with lots of hitting the deck due to dummy grenades coming our way and booby traps. The day infiltration course was something else! It had plenty of simulated machine gun firing, gas flames, sand and ice-cold water about a foot deep to crawl through, and barbed wire to crawl under. We were all soaked and cold, but I guess we all felt like we just had to do it anyway, so we might as well get motivated as hell and make the most of it. Good Marine attitudes! The Platoon Commander got up in the bleachers later, and said our attitudes and the way we attacked the infiltration course really motivated him.

I had a couple yelling conflicts with Regalado and Sgt Morris on the first hump. Regalado kept screaming at me like a maniac to run, but I refused because Sgt Morris wouldn't order me to; Sgt Morris' last order to me was "walk fast, but don't run". I got bent again for the cookie incident. Sgt Morris is trying to get all the mileage out of that one he can. I don't screw up too often, so he likes to make the most of it when I do. As he thrashed me, I tried my best to appear that it didn't make me the least bit tired. After the day and night infiltration courses, we were totally soaked, and covered with sand and mud inside and outside our uniforms. We humped back to the house, only a mile or so, showered, changed uniforms, and headed back out again. We humped a mile or two to a grenade range, and set up camp. I suppose we'll be doing the grenade range tomorrow. We pitched our tents as it was starting to rain again. I'm with Donscheski tonight. He was rather adept at helping get the tent up quickly. Last night, I was with Gebhart, who mostly stood around with his thumb up his ass, watching me set up the tent. Both my fire team members tonight had major problems getting their tents up; bad and missing main poles, so I helped them out. Tonight, we also saw demos of illumination grenades. Cool! I love this shit!

WED 11/12 T-36

We got up before daylight and had MREs at dawn. It was cold last night and VERY COLD this morning. There was frost on my sleeping bag! The cold settles into the valleys here all during the night. At least the sky is clear. We had a grenade class the first thing this morning. Later on, we'll get to throw a live hand grenade. I'm looking forward to it. I'm in a compass class now. The instructor just said we missed the full auto fire, LAW (Light Anti-tank Weapon) demo, SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) demo, and M60 machine gun demo. Damn! Those would have been the very best parts! Too bad we missed seeing them. It's late afternoon now, and starting to get cold again. It's been an interesting day.

THUR 11/13 T-37

We did the live grenade and rifle/grenade assault course yesterday. At the end of the day, we had a very short hump back down the hill to the other side of the RFTD area, and we set up a new camp "hobo hooch" style. We didn't pitch any tents; we just laid out our ponchos, put the sleeping bags on them, then folded the other half of the poncho over the top of the bag. It was very cold overnight, with a heavy frost on us in the morning. This is the last day of our field trip.

The live grenade course was rather disappointing. It was somewhat cool to get to throw one, but we were rather disassociated from the process. First, of course, they were very tightly controlled, and we were not given them until just before time to throw them. With some of these yahoos, I sure wouldn't want it any other way. Then we stood behind a wall on the side of a hill, with the instructor very close, to tightly control all of it, and we lobbed them over the top of the wall and down the hill away from us. Then we quickly ducked back behind the wall. So, all it really consisted of was tossing it over the wall, ducking down and hearing a somewhat distant dull thump. Not nearly as exciting as, say, having an M-80 go off in your hand next to your ear, as happened to me in 1972.

I'm in a Field Fortifications class right now. We were up and eating our MREs before first light this morning. It was cold and clear. I was rather disappointed overall in what we did in RFTD. It was all made out to be so tough, and I wasn't anywhere near being fully challenged. After class, we had blanks issued to us, and we dug into defensive positions for war game practice. Then we had lunch.

It has been a nice cool day, with a warm sun in the middle of the day. In the afternoon, we had offensive combat class, then the offensive assault course, with a few boxes of blanks to play with. There were many jams due to the blanks (they don't feed as well as real ammo) and dirty rifles, but it worked OK. I tried my first full auto burst fire several times. It was fun, but not a real big deal.

Then we had the night defensive course. This afternoon, I talked to Sgt Groomes again about being made the guide. I told him the current leaders emphasize only discipline, and not self-discipline, which is much more important. My speech to him wasn't nearly as good as what I wanted to say, but I suppose it got the main ideas across. I also asked him again about my shooting score. He said he'd take care of it when we got back to MCRD, which will be tomorrow. The paper I'm writing this on is mud soaked due to going through the day infiltration course with me, but it's all I have.

Anyway, tonight, Sgt Groomes told me they will have an acting guide and squad leaders for the week of mess and maintenance, and he's going to make me acting guide. The "acting" guide isn't much, but it's sure better than nothing, and it's a foot in the door to show him how well I can do. It's too bad all we'll be doing is about 18 hours a day of mess duty, so I won't be able to put forth my ideas of running things as I'd like to. I told Sgt Groomes I thought Lytle would make a good squad leader. He seems a little more mature than the rest of them.

I got lots of mail, which was very nice. I got two letters and a package from Chris and a letter from Brenda. Everyone in the platoon LOVED the chocolate chip cookies in the package. They were all broken up into little bits, but they were still delicious, and they disappeared in minutes. Some recruits took too much, so others got little or none. I only got maybe one cookie out of it all. They were all very thankful, though.

Sgt Orlovsky was on duty this afternoon and evening with Sgt Groomes. I was glad it was Sgt Groomes handing out the mail. Sgt Orlovsky's been in an especially vicious mood tonight. He grabbed Davis by the throat with both hands and dragged him across the squadbay, threatening to kill him, for some minor thing. He tipped a couple racks over because we were slow getting into the house. It's nice to be back in our racks, though. He has snarled threats at us all night. He interrupted Hanley's lights out prayer about how much we'd accomplished, screaming "Bullshit! You didn't accomplish a goddamn thing, so shut up!". He kissed us all goodnight and tucked us in by saying that if we're not dressed and ready to go REAL fast in the morning, we're dead meat. I don't care to find out what he's referring to. When he first joined us, he was refreshingly mellow, especially after Sgt DeMarco. He's gotten meaner and more vicious every day since then.

Ever since we went to the range, we've been doing everything as a SERIES, rather than just as a platoon, so I see more of Platoon 1110 and Sgt DeMarco. He calls me Grandpaw. He was with our platoon the first few days of first phase, then for some reason he transferred to 1110 and Sgt Orlovsky took his place. The instructor at the grenade range was blown away (not literally) by my age and background. Sgt Morris asked me today what I'd done in the Air Force and since then. He seemed amazed when I told him. I was surprised he didn't know more about me. Once we start mess duty, I may not be able to write much.

FRI 11/14 T-38

God! What a day it's been so far! We just finished lunch. The only thing we've accomplished so far was turning in our 782 (camping) gear, moving out of the squadbay, and cleaning it out.

But there's been lots of fun and games. Sgt Orlovsky has been having a very fun day. This morning, we got dressed and undressed (60 seconds for each) about a dozen times, and we had several racks tipped over and a trash can heaved across the squadbay before Sgt Orlovsky got tired of that and let us go to chow.

After chow, there was cleanup for some of us and very long bending sessions for others. Unfortunately, times to write are rare these days. I got bent a couple times this morning. Once for going outside and not putting my cover (hat) on fast enough, and once because some recruits in the squadbay didn't sound off loud enough. Some more racks got tipped over.

Now it's after lunch, and we're waiting around on the parade deck for the buses to take us back to MCRD. Sgt Orlovsky isn't around, and Sgt Groomes seems to be in a pretty good mood.

I'm on the bus now, on the way back. Sgt Groomes' good mood appears to be still holding. We don't have to ride all the way back to MCRD with our heads in our laps, as we did on the trip getting here.

Capt. Kelly gave us a short class on patrols while we were waiting for the buses. He gave a little speech, and asked if anyone felt they were not fully challenged at RFTD. Naturally, I couldn't let that one go by, so I was the only one to raise my hand. So he had me get up and explain why. In his speech on our first day here, he had talked about how we'd definitely be challenged, and for anyone who wasn't challenged to tell him. I didn't feel I was, but I wasn't going to get on the skyline and bring it up to him. But since he asked, I was glad for the opportunity to mention it. I figured at the time I'd "pay" for it big time later when the DIs got hold of me, but what the hell. So I told him how disappointed I was that we let things like the weather beat us, and that we’d missed lots of good training. I really didn't get much of a hard time later from the DIs for saying it, though. Sgt Morris (naturally) made a few comments, but that was about it. Probably they agreed with me.

When we get back to MCRD, we'll be setting up house in a different barracks, and getting ready for mess duty. It's a BEAUTIFUL day today. I can't believe the bad luck we had with the weather at RFTD. It's a nice comfortable ride back. We're in a Greyhound type bus this time. I think we start mess duty tonight. Yuck!! My worst memory of my entire time in the Air Force was the ONE DAY I had on mess duty. Here, it will be for a full week. I'm not looking forward to it at all. At least I'll be the one running it. I hope I don't have problems from some of the disciplinary problem children because I'm only the "acting" guide. I can picture trouble from recruits like Anderson, AL. I hope to get the others locked and cocked. It'll be such a great honor if I can be both high shooter and guide at graduation. Now that I have a little time to write here on the bus, I think I've already covered today fully. I missed a lot of details the last week or so, but I think I got most of the main events. For the next week, there won't be much to write about, or much time to do it.

GO TO PHASE III

USMC DIARY TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. INTRODUCTION

2. PROCESSING

3. PHASE I

4. RANGE

5. RFTD

6. PHASE III

7. EPILOGUE

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