12 weeks of [Navy] boot camp ---------------------------- Author - unknown, but must have been in San Diego prior to 1980 [The words may not be entirely as they were "back then" since my memory isn't perfect] On the 1st week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me A haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 2nd week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 3rd week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 4th week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 4 pairs of pants 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 5th week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 5 street marks 4 pairs of pants 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 6th week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 6 hours of sleep 5 street marks 4 pairs of pants 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 7th week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 7 days of service 6 hours of sleep 5 street marks 4 pairs of pants 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 8th week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 8 vaccinations 7 days of service 6 hours of sleep 5 street marks 4 pairs of pants 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 9th week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 9 hours of classes 8 vaccinations 7 days of service 6 hours of sleep 5 street marks 4 pairs of pants 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 10th week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 10 miles of running 9 hours of classes 8 vaccinations 7 days of service 6 hours of sleep 5 street marks 4 pairs of pants 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 11th week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 11 marching parties 10 miles of running 9 hours of classes 8 vaccinations 7 days of service 6 hours of sleep 5 street marks 4 pairs of pants 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. On the 12th week of boot camp the C.C. gave to me 12 (more) weeks of boot camp 11 marching parties 10 miles of running 9 hours of classes 8 vaccinations 7 days of service 6 hours of sleep 5 street marks 4 pairs of pants 3 dress shirts 2 demerit chits And a haircut that wasn't worth a shit. Editor's notes a) 'C.C.' = Company Commander [and don't call him 'C.C.' or you'll do pushups until he pukes] b) demerit chit - you start with two of them. A Company Commander can 'pull' one and write down an offence [it then goes to your Company Commander, who will typically deal out some form of punishment]. Having fewer (or more) than 2 is also an offense, so you'll have to go to your C.C. to get another. c) Marching Party - a form of punishment for people who F*** up and get one of their 'demerit chits' pulled. Typically it involves calisthenics for several hours in the evening (past zero-dark-thirty) and you end up losing a good chunk of your designated 6 hours of sleep time. People getting too many 'marching parties' might end up on a 'short tour' which involves marching as well as calisthenics, and would likely get you 'set back' to an earlier week (in a different company) because you might miss several days of school while doing 'short tour'. If 'short tour' wasn't enough, something called 'Pos-Mo' was your likely destination, for the hard-core rebel or die-hard screwup [whichever] to "POSitively MOtivate" you into becoming a member of the military. Those who truly were unbendable and unmoldable into the military were simply discarded with a bad conduct or "other than honorable" discharge [which happened, but very rarely]. d) zero-dark-thirty - an obnoxiously late time of the evening at which point it's almost worthless to go to sleep since you're likely to have to wake up in an hour or two. e) vaccinations - boot camp makes everyone a pincushion. Once a week, sometimes more often, you get to visit the medical wing where the least experienced corpsman they could find gets to inject mysterious substances into your arm. The worst one happens in the 6th week, via a square needle into your left nut. f) Street Marks - always given out 5 at a time (or so it seems), it's a form of punishing everyone at the same time for marching badly or doing something as a group (rather than an individual). It may also get the 'RCPO's (Recruit Chief Petty Officer - basically the C.C.'s recruit lap-dog, similar to a 'trustee' in prison) demerit chit pulled for not leading the troops around properly (bad cadence, can't march worth-a-damn, or whatever). Amazingly enough the C.C.s are usually too busy to march everyone around, so the RCPOs (and sometimes Yeomans) do it instead. I was a Yeoman which is kinda like 'gopher' for the most part, sign paperwork, do errands, etc. g) classes - every day for what seemed like ALL day, or about 8 or 9 hours. They were usually interesting but if you fall asleep you lose a demerit chit, so if you get sleepy there's no red bull or coffee, just standing up in the back of the classroom to keep awake. Some guys would just go there anyway because they knew if they sat down they'd nod off in a minute or two. And if anyone wants to know what the classes were about, they were 'general military knowledge' classes [terms, ranks, uniform regulations, etc.], classes in firefighting, basic ship construction (so you can find your way around on a ship), terminologies (it's a swab, not a mop; it's a bulkhead, not a wall; it's a deck, not a floor; it's a ladder, not stairs, and 'forecastle' is pronounced 'foke-sull' and it's where the anchor chains are located). And failing classes would get you 'set back' to another company doing the previous week's schedule, or maybe a marching party or even 'short tour'. h) 10 miles of running. The rest of the time it was marching in formation, but if you were alone you had to run. So about 10 miles is a good guess. This included practicing for the 2.25 mile run that everyone had to complete within about 15 minutes (or something like that). i) 'service week' - everyone spent one week (7th if I remember correctly) doing some kind of 'service'. For me I carried a white bag and did gopher stuff [but in my case it lasted longer since I was a division yeoman]. But I had the distinct honor of playing the 'marching music' on weekends from a tower that had a record player, bullhorn-style speaker, and a bunch of Souza march music, and training my replacement 2 weeks later. And as for the haircut, well you've seen the movies parody the first haircut you get, down to the 'nubs' like a days' beard growth except that it's on your head, all over. Everyone rubs their head because it feels so weird to do it.