On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:15:53 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



Brings back some memories, huh? :-)


The first night at boot camp is always memorable. They go out of their
way to tell you your world is about to change. That is confirmed the
next morning when you put everything you own in a box and send it back
home.
I have every confidence your kids will succeed and flourish in the
military. Thank them for their service.

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:34:05 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

I had no idea anything like that was going on. We didn't even have a telephone in the barracks.
Someone may have smuggled in a radio, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

We got a weekend pass on the weekend before graduation (during Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood). That was
the only time I saw or heard from any family the whole time.

I agree with everything you said. I think it should be a 'growing up' time, not a 'whining on
Facebook' time.

Same here. No TV, no radio, not even a newspaper for the whole 12 1/2
weeks I was at Cape May TC. If they thought we needed something they
gave it to us. It was a few weeks before we even got up to the canteen
where you could hear the juke box and drink a Coke. It was a pretty
spartan place tho.
You could write letters and by that 3d (or 4th?) week when you got up
to the canteen, they had phones.

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 14:52:07 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:34:05 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

I had no idea anything like that was going on. We didn't even have a telephone in the barracks.
Someone may have smuggled in a radio, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

We got a weekend pass on the weekend before graduation (during Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood). That was
the only time I saw or heard from any family the whole time.

I agree with everything you said. I think it should be a 'growing up' time, not a 'whining on
Facebook' time.

Same here. No TV, no radio, not even a newspaper for the whole 12 1/2
weeks I was at Cape May TC. If they thought we needed something they
gave it to us. It was a few weeks before we even got up to the canteen
where you could hear the juke box and drink a Coke. It was a pretty
spartan place tho.
You could write letters and by that 3d (or 4th?) week when you got up
to the canteen, they had phones.


We had no canteen or PX at Leonard Wood. Once I got to Ft. Sill for some Artillery Fire Direction
Control, we had beer and all that good stuff!

John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

I had no idea anything like that was going on. We didn't even have a
telephone in the barracks.
Someone may have smuggled in a radio, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

We got a weekend pass on the weekend before graduation (during Basic at
Ft. Leonard Wood). That was
the only time I saw or heard from any family the whole time.

I agree with everything you said. I think it should be a 'growing up'
time, not a 'whining on
Facebook' time.


We got letters all through the 6 weeks of basic. Even got cookies from a
girlfriend.

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 15:19:54 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 14:52:07 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:34:05 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

I had no idea anything like that was going on. We didn't even have a telephone in the barracks.
Someone may have smuggled in a radio, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

We got a weekend pass on the weekend before graduation (during Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood). That was
the only time I saw or heard from any family the whole time.

I agree with everything you said. I think it should be a 'growing up' time, not a 'whining on
Facebook' time.

Same here. No TV, no radio, not even a newspaper for the whole 12 1/2
weeks I was at Cape May TC. If they thought we needed something they
gave it to us. It was a few weeks before we even got up to the canteen
where you could hear the juke box and drink a Coke. It was a pretty
spartan place tho.
You could write letters and by that 3d (or 4th?) week when you got up
to the canteen, they had phones.


We had no canteen or PX at Leonard Wood. Once I got to Ft. Sill for some Artillery Fire Direction
Control, we had beer and all that good stuff!

The canteen was a perc for people who were doing well in boot camp. I
think you needed 80% or higher on your tests to get the pass. I was
100% the whole time so it was not an issue for me.
If I didn't have 2 "hits" for discipline I would have been the top
recruit. That gave me an overall 98 so I got edged by the guy who had
a hit free 98.
One of those hits was real (breaking formation), I still think the
second was bull****. I had braided an aguillette out of 3 marlins pike
lines and the guys thought I should wear it down to the smoking pit on
the last full day because I was the top recruit at the time.
The chief was not as enamored with the idea. ;-)

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/27/2018 12:44 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

===

I can't even imagine such a thing. There were certainly some images
from my basic training that the army would not wanted distributed.
It's too bad 'Airree never had the opportunity.



Harry would be horrified.

To be clear, the pictures and videos of my grandson's experiences that
are put on their company's Facebook page are taken by and uploaded *by*
the Army. They do it daily throughout the bootcamp experience.

They are not taken by family members.




My brother went in the navy in 1959. His boot camp had a “yearbook� of his
time.

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 16:02:02 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 15:19:54 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 14:52:07 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:34:05 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

I had no idea anything like that was going on. We didn't even have a telephone in the barracks.
Someone may have smuggled in a radio, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

We got a weekend pass on the weekend before graduation (during Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood). That was
the only time I saw or heard from any family the whole time.

I agree with everything you said. I think it should be a 'growing up' time, not a 'whining on
Facebook' time.

Same here. No TV, no radio, not even a newspaper for the whole 12 1/2
weeks I was at Cape May TC. If they thought we needed something they
gave it to us. It was a few weeks before we even got up to the canteen
where you could hear the juke box and drink a Coke. It was a pretty
spartan place tho.
You could write letters and by that 3d (or 4th?) week when you got up
to the canteen, they had phones.


We had no canteen or PX at Leonard Wood. Once I got to Ft. Sill for some Artillery Fire Direction
Control, we had beer and all that good stuff!

The canteen was a perc for people who were doing well in boot camp. I
think you needed 80% or higher on your tests to get the pass. I was
100% the whole time so it was not an issue for me.
If I didn't have 2 "hits" for discipline I would have been the top
recruit. That gave me an overall 98 so I got edged by the guy who had
a hit free 98.
One of those hits was real (breaking formation), I still think the
second was bull****. I had braided an aguillette out of 3 marlins pike
lines and the guys thought I should wear it down to the smoking pit on
the last full day because I was the top recruit at the time.
The chief was not as enamored with the idea. ;-)

Well, I was an 'Acting Jack' platoon sergeant during the cycle - and had my platoon. The guys in the
platoon thought I'd already completed basic, but I'd had only an extra week up front to learn to
march and give commands. I did get selected as trainee of the cycle and got an early promotion to
E-2 out of it.

But...I still didn't see the inside of a canteen or PX beer hall the whole time I was in basic
training.

On 9/27/2018 4:14 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 16:02:02 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 15:19:54 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 14:52:07 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:34:05 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

I had no idea anything like that was going on. We didn't even have a telephone in the barracks.
Someone may have smuggled in a radio, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

We got a weekend pass on the weekend before graduation (during Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood). That was
the only time I saw or heard from any family the whole time.

I agree with everything you said. I think it should be a 'growing up' time, not a 'whining on
Facebook' time.

Same here. No TV, no radio, not even a newspaper for the whole 12 1/2
weeks I was at Cape May TC. If they thought we needed something they
gave it to us. It was a few weeks before we even got up to the canteen
where you could hear the juke box and drink a Coke. It was a pretty
spartan place tho.
You could write letters and by that 3d (or 4th?) week when you got up
to the canteen, they had phones.


We had no canteen or PX at Leonard Wood. Once I got to Ft. Sill for some Artillery Fire Direction
Control, we had beer and all that good stuff!

The canteen was a perc for people who were doing well in boot camp. I
think you needed 80% or higher on your tests to get the pass. I was
100% the whole time so it was not an issue for me.
If I didn't have 2 "hits" for discipline I would have been the top
recruit. That gave me an overall 98 so I got edged by the guy who had
a hit free 98.
One of those hits was real (breaking formation), I still think the
second was bull****. I had braided an aguillette out of 3 marlins pike
lines and the guys thought I should wear it down to the smoking pit on
the last full day because I was the top recruit at the time.
The chief was not as enamored with the idea. ;-)

Well, I was an 'Acting Jack' platoon sergeant during the cycle - and had my platoon. The guys in the
platoon thought I'd already completed basic, but I'd had only an extra week up front to learn to
march and give commands. I did get selected as trainee of the cycle and got an early promotion to
E-2 out of it.

But...I still didn't see the inside of a canteen or PX beer hall the whole time I was in basic
training.



I remember there was a "lounge" in the building that our barracks was in
where smoking was allowed. Our bootcamp company commander wasn't a
smoker so he never allowed a "smoke" break except for once. He came in
the barracks room and hollered, "Ok girls, how many of you smoke"?
I didn't smoke at the time so I didn't raise my hand.

He then told those who smoked to go to the lounge and light up.

then he said, "The rest of you, fall out outside for a snow shoveling
working party".

I realized later it was just a way of messing with you to see what you'd
take.

On 9/27/2018 4:13 PM, Bill wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/27/2018 12:44 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

===

I can't even imagine such a thing. There were certainly some images
from my basic training that the army would not wanted distributed.
It's too bad 'Airree never had the opportunity.



Harry would be horrified.

To be clear, the pictures and videos of my grandson's experiences that
are put on their company's Facebook page are taken by and uploaded *by*
the Army. They do it daily throughout the bootcamp experience.

They are not taken by family members.




My brother went in the navy in 1959. His boot camp had a “yearbook� of his
time.



They still have yearbooks, even today. It's called "The Keel".
You have to purchase them when you graduate. I never did.
I can't even remember what the number of my company was in 1968.

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 16:14:57 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 16:02:02 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 15:19:54 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 14:52:07 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:34:05 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

I had no idea anything like that was going on. We didn't even have a telephone in the barracks.
Someone may have smuggled in a radio, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

We got a weekend pass on the weekend before graduation (during Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood). That was
the only time I saw or heard from any family the whole time.

I agree with everything you said. I think it should be a 'growing up' time, not a 'whining on
Facebook' time.

Same here. No TV, no radio, not even a newspaper for the whole 12 1/2
weeks I was at Cape May TC. If they thought we needed something they
gave it to us. It was a few weeks before we even got up to the canteen
where you could hear the juke box and drink a Coke. It was a pretty
spartan place tho.
You could write letters and by that 3d (or 4th?) week when you got up
to the canteen, they had phones.


We had no canteen or PX at Leonard Wood. Once I got to Ft. Sill for some Artillery Fire Direction
Control, we had beer and all that good stuff!

The canteen was a perc for people who were doing well in boot camp. I
think you needed 80% or higher on your tests to get the pass. I was
100% the whole time so it was not an issue for me.
If I didn't have 2 "hits" for discipline I would have been the top
recruit. That gave me an overall 98 so I got edged by the guy who had
a hit free 98.
One of those hits was real (breaking formation), I still think the
second was bull****. I had braided an aguillette out of 3 marlins pike
lines and the guys thought I should wear it down to the smoking pit on
the last full day because I was the top recruit at the time.
The chief was not as enamored with the idea. ;-)

Well, I was an 'Acting Jack' platoon sergeant during the cycle - and had my platoon. The guys in the
platoon thought I'd already completed basic, but I'd had only an extra week up front to learn to
march and give commands. I did get selected as trainee of the cycle and got an early promotion to
E-2 out of it.

But...I still didn't see the inside of a canteen or PX beer hall the whole time I was in basic
training.

There was no beer at the canteen, only a juke box, snack machines and
a soda machine along with some card games or something. I know there
was always a "Hearts" game going on and usually poker. I just went up
there a few times because I could and there wasn't much else to do on
your "day off".