Basic Training !

I remember a day late in Aug. 1966. I was to report to the county seat, In Lisbon Ohio, for a bus trip to enlist in the Air Force. All the paperwork was done and I had passed my Physical.  I was told not to bring anything but a small shaving kit with a toothbrush. No suitcase or extra cloths were permitted. My dad drove me to Lisbon before he went to work. We arrived a little before 8:00 AM.  We were met by a group of little old ladies that gave each of us a pack of gum, a small bible, of the New Testament, and something else that escapes my memory. It was a long ride to Cleveland because of the heat and a bus with no air conditioning.  We arrived at the Terminal Tower around 11:30. There we were given a quick lunch and sworn in the Air Force. We were to travel the Rapid transit system (I think) to the Airport but problems interfered.

It seems that we were in the middle of some riots protesting the Huff riots earlier in July. For whatever the reason we were checked into a hotel and kept there for three days. We were given food vouchers and sat all day looking out the window. Needless to say but our cloths were getting a little funky by the third day.

Finally we were transported to the airport for our trip to Lackland AFB for our basic training, or so I thought. Our plane went to Detroit instead to collect another 30 recruits.  Then we took a very long plane ride to Texas. We must have made five stops along the way. We were tired, hot, and dirty. I was sure they would understand and give us a little rest. What an Idiot I was. We were issued winter field jackets from WWII and stood at attention, in the sun, for two hours.

Next we marched to our Barracks and our week in hell began. I actually had tears in my eyes that night. What the hell had I gotten myself into!  We were told that because of the high numbers of men being checked in we would not receive our uniforms for a week. We had to spend 10 days in the cloths we had on our back.

When they cut my hair I felt better. The heat was unbearable. We had to swallow salt pills every time we left the barracks. There were even Red Flag days that were deemed too dangerous to venture outside.  I thought ,How could people actually live in such a place? I was so hungry most of the time that I ate food I never would have eaten otherwise.  It never seemed enough.  I hated the weather in Texas and will not go there for any reason I could think of.

Eventually we got our uniforms and completed our basic training .  We did the marching running,weapons training and the dreaded obstacle coarse. I actually enjoyed that.  After some sort of graduation ceremony I was shipped to Biloxi Mississippi to electronics school and not very happy to be stuck in another hot shit hole for a whole year. The Deep South was not a friendly place to be in the 60’s.  The year was long and the school was hard but I made it.  Only 40% did pass and the Air Force used electronics  school as a ploy to enlist cooks and other crappy jobs no one wanted to do. After graduation from Radar School I awaited my next assignment. That is another story for another time and it is worth telling. Nothing ever seemed easy for me.