MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Eyes on a recruit in the third training regiment

The year was 1959. I'd always wanted to be a soldier, but Selective Service had me classified as a IV-F...
2,341 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

'Good men'

It was 1969 at Fort Polk, La., and I was 19, skinny, scared and in infantry basic. Wicked hot and..
2,184 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Chasing a plane at basic training

I joined the marines in December of 1962, and February of 1963 found me at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD)..
2,385 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

You better know how to salute

Almost halfway through basic and leaving the mess hall with my buddy, I had grabbed a handful of cookies before..
2,665 views
From college graduate to sharpshooter
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

From college graduate to sharpshooter

My name is Joe Corteal, and I live in Baltimore, Md. I graduated from college in June of 1968, and..
2,695 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

A new life

I grew up in orphanages and foster homes in the 1930s and 1940s (what I can remember). It was abusive,..
2,641 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Following a cousin's footsteps to Navy boot camp

I joined the navy on June 21, 1960, fresh out of high school. About 15 of us took the oath..
2,966 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Changing from smartass to airman

During my second week of Air Force basic training in 1960 at Lackland Air Force Base, I was still a..
2,223 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Hanging on

Having graduated from Bowling Green State University in the spring of 1962, I was draft eligible—unmarried—and jobs were scarce in..
2,552 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Among the first group of women to do basic training at Fort Leonard Wood,..

I joined the Army in October of 1978 and was among the first group of women to do basic training..
4,236 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Remember basic training

It was March 1968, Fort Dix, N.J., Company D, 1st Battalion. We trainees were in the early weeks of basic..
2,375 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Missing bed

In June 1965, I was in my first few weeks as a basic trainee in Charlie Company, 2nd Training Regiment,..
2,434 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Do I remember basic training? And how

Do I remember basic training–and how! As I was close to graduating from college, I signed up with an Air Force..
2,354 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Surviving basic training

It was September of 1953, and I was in my second week of basic training at Fort Dix, N.J. It..
2,378 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Hey, JOOD

I had my Naval boot camp training at the Great Lakes Recruit Training Center in Illinois. I reported for training..
2,631 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

A snake and a poor shot

When I was at the rifle range in basic training at Amarillo Air Force Base, we were taken to the..
2,317 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Fort Lewis, Wash., duck walk

In the spring of 1968 my basic training company was on a 12-mile forced march. I was in the second..
2,358 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Basic training at Fort Meade, Md., during the Korean War

The Korean War started on my 21st birthday, and in March 1951 I was at the Induction Center at Fort..
2,722 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Navy basic training and lessons in cleanliness

During late 1963, I chose to enlist in the Navy, although I had seldom ventured past the Texas state line..
3,112 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

'Magic of turning a 17 year old into a sailor'

I was a kiddie cruiser, that is, I joined the Navy when I was 17 and would get discharged from..
2,925 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Company from Lima, Ohio

In February 1971 at Fort Knox, Ky., we had an inspection from a major who came to our billets, and..
2,117 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

The quitters

We had a few guys who couldn't hack basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., for whatever reason, and they'd go..
2,322 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

I remember basic training from August to December 1963

Fondest memories: 1) telling everyone I was going and 2) telling everyone I completed it. In general, I remember flying from..
1,871 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Off to boot camp

Little did I know in the spring of 1968, my senior year of high school, that I would become a..
2,188 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Attention!

In 1986, I was at Cape May, N.J., for Coast Guard basic. Early one morning, around 3 a.m., I had..
2,112 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

First night in boot camp

I will never forget my first night in boot camp. After being assigned a company at the Recruit Training Center..
2,167 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Navy boot camp, 1994

I went to Navy boot camp in 1994 in sunny Orlando, Fla., in the dead of summer. The heat was..
2,367 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Bouncing through basic

I went through Air Force basic training in 1958 at Lackland Air Force Base. During a squadron march, the drill..
1,937 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Hair apparent

I signed up for Air Force ROTC upon entering college in 1963. (My dad had piloted B-24s in World War..
1,739 views
MEMORIES OF BASIC TRAINING

Boot camp 'not like home'

At first it was hard to be in a place that was not like home. It was for sure a..
1,862 views