One of my clearest memories (after 56 years) is actually from the transition from basic to my first assignment; while in the PATS Barracks. As best I recall PATS stood for Personnel Awaiting Transfers.
We heard about this new recruit who came to Lackland Air base driving his brand new Corvette, which mommy and daddy had bought for him. However, the brass at the training base thought it inappropriate for an Airman Basic to have access to a vehicle while in basic training (especially a sports car) and so required him to park it in the headquarters lot and surrender the keys, while in basic training. Maybe it was mean spirited of us but we all thought that was poetic justice.
But then one of the officers (I think it was a major) who worked in the headquarters building became annoyed at the daily sight of this shiny sports car that he knew belonged to a meager Airman Basic and had ordered it to be moved somewhere where he wouldn’t have to see it.
Here starts the lesson: The several Airmen Third Class who were in charge of the barracks (sort of like a Resident Assistant in college dorms) called us all outside to formation. Then they asked everyone who could drive a stick shift to raise their hands. Wow, we thought they probably wanted someone to drive the Corvette to a different location. I didn’t raise my hand only because I wasn’t confident in my ability to drive a stick shift but many of my barrack mates did.
At that moment, one of the Barracks RAs brought out a number of brooms and started passing them out to the ones who raised their hands. (A stick shift, right?) The lesson learned; be careful of what you volunteer for in the military. I had some uncles who were veterans and told me that before I enlisted but who listens to uncles? From that incident, I then understood.

Jerome D. Bennett, Madison, Ohio