I was born into and brought up in the military (my father joined the Army in 1939 and stayed in until 1948), I arrived on scene in 1942 and he reenlisted in the Air Force in 1948, he was an aircraft mechanic). My grandfather was in WWI, my father and four uncles were in WWII, so it was natural that I would join the military. I graduated high school June 6, 1961 and was in basic training at Lackland AFB, TX on the 13th. I received no information from my father until the day I walked out the door. He told me that the instructors were there to get rid of those that can't hack military life. I said there was nothing that they could do to me that would make me want to quit.
After yelling at us and breathing with foul breath into our faces (which I expected after seeing "The DI", we were taken to our barracks. All 65 of us were standing around a bed while the "TI" was talking. Several of us glanced around and looked at the building we would be living in for the next five weeks. It should have been torn down many years before. I could hear the "TI" yelling "airman", not realizing he was talking to me (I had never been called that before). One of the guys standing next to me jabbed me and said he's talking to you. I turned around and said, "excuse me". The TSGT said, "excuse me, what". I had no clue what he was getting at, so I said, "I don't understand", to which he came back with the same question. He then asked how I would like to be "set back a week". I didn't know what he meant, but it didn't sound too good to me. It was then he said the "sir" word was required before and after each statement. That was one of the hardest things for me to get for a few days because of being a military dependent; "sir" was for officers, and not enlisted. My sisters and I weren't required to use sir, etc., but to be respectful. He then said, "since you weren't watching when the bed was made, you can show all of us how it's done" - as he pulled it all apart. I then made the bed, the way I was taught, and then came the "dust cover". We didn't have a dust cover on our beds at home, but I had noticed how it was before he pulled everything apart. The TSGT & the assistant "TI" (an A1C) just looked at me and then the bed. Then came the "quarter test" which I thought was just a movie thing (to make basic training interesting)- it bounced. He then asked where I learned how to make a bed and was someone in my family in the military. Still a little slow on the "sir" part I explained my father was a USAF/MSGT & I learned how at home. He then asked if I would get my father to get him "busted" if he gave me any trouble. I said, "no sir, I do things myself". "So you'll get me busted." "That's not what I said, I don't depend on my father, I'm responsible for myself." With this incident, I actually think I gained his respect as I wasn't picked on like some of the others - and - I worked hard during basic. "Sir" was hard, but I didn't manage to always use it after about 2-3 days.