Basic twice

I actually did not go through enlisted basic training twice. However, I did go through basic when I was a 19-year-old punk in 1965. I really don't remember much; however, my fondest memory is when my TI threw my foot locker down the stairs. I wasn't the only one who had to put up with this indignity, but I think I was the only one to whom it was done three or four times.
My second stint at basic training was in 1978, when I went through OTS on the way to getting my butter bars. In some ways, this was worse than my original basic.
Because I was a "prior service" officer trainee, I was teamed with a roommate who was not "prior service." I don't think he was prior anything. I found out that he had never done one single thing for himself as he grew up. He didn't know how to shine shoes because he wore Hush Puppies without laces.
He found it almost impossible to figure out the proper way to fold his socks and underwear. And I almost killed him five or six times in the six weeks we roomed together.
My second "basic" was in many ways worse than my first. Go figure!

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