I am wide awake, it is 9H30 locally.

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This whole internet thing is probably not a passing fad.-Ronald Brak
While speech might be free, consequences cost.-Doodler

Now let's wind the ol' enlistment clock back to when I was in bootcamp in San Diego. The Navy training facility shared a common fence with the Marine training facility.

The boundary fence was a twelve foot chain link fence topped with wire. On the Navy side, if you were in the very last set of barracks, on the top floor (of three) you would see the road right beside the barracks, then a broad field of short stubbly grass and the fence in the distance.

On the Marine side, just on the other side of the fence was one of those tan trackways like the ones used for running events. So their companies could run in formation. Further in you could make out the structures of an obstacle course.

On this particular warm spring day I was cleaning the window sills of dust, which isn't quite the same as dusting them. I was in the barracks because about 6 guys and myself had the damn german measles. As I felt kinda yucky I was near the open window for the breeze when I heard a roar, like a football game in the distance, followed by a curious, mosquito like cry in the air, followed immediately by a second roar.

And I saw a chilling site.

Not one, but two squidlings together, making The Mistake. The one no one ever really makes. It's just a story used to scare squidlings and keep them in their little bunks at night. But I saw it. I swear.

The Mistake.

One of the first things they tell you when they finally give you a haircut and assign you a company is, if you realize you made a dreadful mistake by enlisting and decide to "correct" this error by absconding into the night choose any compass direction you desire but Do Not Go East. East is the bad place. Go east and you will desert from the Navy bootcamp and into the Marine bootcamp. To quote Egon from Ghostbusters, "This would be extraordinarily bad." What could be so bad?

The Marines would keep you. I kid thee not. And they didn't give a good God **** how you felt about it either. Being it was Marine bootcamp, they had loads of that superduper Marine motivation just laying around in heaps. This was back when they still had the swearing sargents Gunny Ermey made famous. These guys could peel paint off walls just using harsh language.

The company that captures the errant Navy recruit keeps him until they graduate. Bringing thier "prisoner" along with them where ever they went, who did the same thing thier captors did, while being dressed just like them though I believe there was a deference in dress code so they stood out as naval deserters with bad direction sense. I forgot what exactly.

Upon graduation they had the option of restarting Naval bootcamp from the beginning or continueing on as a Marine rifleman. Most chose the latter.

The proto-Marine-oids (they ain't Marines until they graduate. And the only ex-Marine is Lee Harvey Oswald, in case you didn't know) had spied the two sailors while out running and the sailors still on our side of the fence. They then crawled on their bellies through the obstacle course and what I saw and heard was the pounce as the two deserters touched ground on the far side.

One had been swallowed up by the crowd already and the other was trying to scramble back over the fence. He didn't come close to reaching the top. They were both carried away "football hero" style. I'd put the number of proto-Marine-oids at 80 to 100 easily.

I remember that big field with the fence being empty and those deserter's cloths they used to cross over the barbed wire, a peacoat and a pair of jeans flapping there in the wind while both seabags just laid on the ground kind of spilled open.

The cloths were up there for about an hour or more until a second company came alone the trackway running in formation. This was an obviously advanced group soon to graduate. They came to a stop and broke up into efficient groups and searched the area obviously looking hard for the deserters. They sent a runner off to somewhere and they kept looking until the runner came back. Then they gathered everything up so it was tidy and started running again.

Our Company Commanders re-iterated the fate of deserters with poor direction sense that afternoon in formation.

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Gimme a minute to read through Jay's latest observations...

Well it's 2 AM local now. I'm sleepy. Good night and enjoy the story M.

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Gimme a minute to read through Jay's latest observations...

LOL! I was issued that same warning when I did my time at San Diego NTC. Never saw or heard of anyone 'going east'.

There was a guy in my company who snuck off to the airport to get cigarettes. He actually made it back without getting caught.

BTW, I just found this video of one of my old ships, FF-1063, the USS Reasoner :

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin

Man, that video just confirms what all of the other services have been saying about the Navy for years. Shudder....

We... Want... You...

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin

They were a pretty, salty crew. I didn't really fit in. . . .

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin

Great story, Don. It must suck getting gobbled up by the jarheads. The only thing I can think that's worse would be to have my former ship used in a Village People video. Fortunately, being Xarmy, I don't have any former ships.

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You're a coward and a liar and a thOOF - Bart Sibrel

Man. It's hard to believe those idiots tried to pirate an aircraft carrier.

Sort of reminds me of the farside comic where the spider builds a web at the bottom of a playground slide and remarks to his buddy: "If this works, we'll eat like kings!"

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In Fallout 3, 'happiness' is a warm junkyard dog and a loaded gun. It's mostly the loaded gun.
- Moose's one-line review.

"your going to regret that one. You are now a colonoscope...
- Chrissy, corrupting PraedSt's wish.

I was only there temporarily doing some Temporary Additional Duty! Funny thing: no one there mentioned to me that their illustrious ship had served in such a famous video.

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin

Actually, if you want to get technical- The Army has a larger navy than the Navy does.

How do you figure, Master?

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin

Master is sufficient. Enlisted, not an officer.

By having more boats, that's how

Would it be all right if I just called you "Sarge"?

If you're counting rubber rafts, each navy ship is equipped with a veritable flotilla of them. Fortunately, they haven't had to be used since WWII.

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin

I prefer Master. It has a nice ring to it.

Not even. Perhaps you should look into it.
It seems strange- but it's just the way it is.
The navy has moved on to primarily the use of the CBG.

Blue water, or littoral?

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More average than moderate.

Yes, Master. . . .

CBG??? I think you mean the CBGB!!!

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin

I was having a bad day.

Then I came here and there was a BigDon story.

No! Wait! There are TWO BigDon stories.

With PIRATES no less!

The... the sun... it's now shining! Birds... chirping! Life is good again...

*Sigh* Thanks BD!