Playing Navy
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2004 at 5:14 P.M.
So I think I mentioned many entries back that I was in the naval reserves when I was 17. It was a kick-ass summer job! The town I lived in had not only a military base, but also a military college and a top notch historical fort that was a big part of the community.
I decided to apply when my best friend told me she heard about it and was going to apply. I asked her if she minded if I applied too, which she didn�t, and then we set about applying and going through the entrance testing. Now, from what I remember the testing was a joke�not that it wasn�t hard, but that they were pretty lenient with some of the scores. As someone who never even looked inside an engine and had to label a diagram of one, I was pretty intimidated. But I guess I made up for it in the other parts of the testing because they let me in. My friend got in too, along with several other people from our high school.
The entire group consisted of 20 guys and 20 girls and our days were spent in a variety of activities. Along with the basics like running, drill, first aid, and history of the navy, we also did some boating in whalers (big 8-10 seater rowboats pointed at each end) other water sports, arms training (damn I was good with a C17 semi automatic!), camping and survival training, sailing (a weekend on a brigantine).
As intimidated as we all were at first, that quickly dissipated. Seeing as that we were all local, we did not stay in barracks, but went home every afternoon, and had our weekends off (while we got paid 7 days a week). Each weekend someone hosted a party and our officers would, unofficially of course, attend.
Of course after partying with our officers, discipline went down the tubes. Weekdays became more relaxed and weekends even more so. I recall one day in particular, we were stuck inside because of the torrential rain, and so our afternoon usually spent out doing something active, was spent inside reviewing naval history. After one outbreak of normal school-boredom behavior and the push-ups that ensued, it quickly became a contest to see who could be punished with the most push-ups.
Boy did I feel guilty when I recommended this job to some friends and when they joined the next year they were shipped out to a different base and worked them 24/7. But the summer I was in was a blast. Of course being only 17 I didn�t like it at the end of the basic trainings when they gave us our job assignments and they told me I had to be a supply tech, which basically means I would stand behind a counter, handing out socks and fatigues. So my day in the navy ended, but playing navy sure was fun.
So, for those of you, me devoted readers (yes there are a few) here is a picture of me from that summer so very long ago. I hope you enjoy the dorky smile and the uniform i wore every days that summer.
bEfOrE ~ AftEr
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