U.S. NAVY BOOT CAMP 1957

Company 527

San Diego, California

Chief Jones and his Petty Officers                                                              Me and others of the company.

                                                                                                                      That's me center bottom row.

Full Dress Marching on Parade.

Drilling on the grinder with M1 riftles.   Summer Fun!  I wll never forget the Chief on the podium screaming instructions

and obsenities  over the P.A. System which could be heard for several blocks.  At 17, my virgin ears were burnng. 

Vaccinations, 12 of them spread over three days.

Tear Gas training.  We had to take our masks off and run through the building to the exit while holding our breath and blinded by tears. 

Nasty stuff.

First Liberty during Boot Camp in San Diego. Check out those prices on the menu.  Yup, 1957!

While in training we had to wash our clothes by hand and hang them out to dry.  Things are different now.  They have laundramats.

Also we had to fols every piece of clothing in a specific way, no wrinkles allowed.

Food in the Chow Hall was actually pretty good.  And lots of it!

More drilling with M1 Riftles.  Something called the "16 count manual".

Fire Fighting Training.

M1 qualification Training  (I didn't see another M1 for the next 4 years).

Swimming and diving qualifications.  Some guys couldn't swim and some couldn't float.