We got to that point in Basic Training where we spent three weeks of running in the early dark dampness of Fort Ord, California to the rifle range, shooting, running home in the rain, and cleaning our rifles and polishing our muddy boots. Back and forth, around and around we went. The motto I remember was “clean it or sleep with it” in reference to our M-1 rifles.
One night after about thirty minutes of sleep I was awoken from our three and a half hour nightly sleep allowance by a big, loud SFC. The Sergeant thundered that my rifle was not clean enough, “clean it or sleep with it”, he roared. In my groggy state I wasn’t even intimidated. I took the rifle, reached up to my top bunk and slid the rifle under the sheets and blanket. Well, you can guess that was not a true option. The choice was only to “clean it”, which I did until the Sergeant was happy, and then I hurried to get a few more winks before wake-up at 3:30 AM.