By The Numbers

I did not realize I could pee so fast or pee with 6 to 7 other recruits in one urinal at the same time. When we got to boot camp we had to do everything fast and that included peeing and pooping. One learned real quick to hold number 2 until either the lights were out or during our 1 hour of free time before hitting the rack. We did not get this free time for the first 2 or 3 weeks of boot camp though and it was not unheard of for recruits to hold off going crap for 2 weeks. I personally do not know how that is possible but apparently it is.

What made it worse was that there were no doors on the stalls. The drill instructors and other recruits needed to see what was going on to make sure no one was up to any mischief. There was no privacy in boot camp accept what was going on inside your head.

In boot camp we called it "Doing it by the numbers" which meant that everything was done while the drill instructors counted and nothing was done without the exact instruction first. It was like playing Simon Says but more appropriately DI says. For the first several days we played DI says when we were in the shower, putting on our cloths, or doing anything really.

From applying soap to each body part, to rinsing off, to putting on our boots we did not move unless told to. I learned after the first time in the shower, that I was only going to put a little soap on the vitals because they never gave you enough time to rinse it all off. The first night after Black Friday I slept with dried soap all over my body but I learned my lesson.

As far as peeing goes, they would give us head breaks every so often but would give us little time to accomplish peeing. Sometimes, because of lack of time, you did not get to pee. One had to force their way into the urinal and even pee between someone else's legs while half squatting to ensure you did not miss out on emtying your bladder. Some recruits would get real mad that someone was peeing in the urinal between their legs but there was no other option sometimes. I would always make room for another penis because I hoped others would do the same for me in a peeing emergency.

I heard from my recruiters and others who had been through it that if you asked permission as a recruit to use the head as an individual a DI may or may not allow you to, but if you said, "This recruit asks permission to make an emergency head call sir" they would consider it vitally important and let you to it. We learned real fast that this was a myth. We had a few recruits try it and all that happened was that the DI being asked would tell the recruit to run around the squad bay making siren sounds. When this happened the ridiculous nature of the matter always made us laugh and those caught laughing would be commanded to report to the quarter deck and do pushups until our arms nearly fell off.

Sometimes it was worth laughing because even the DI's would laugh then punish us for making them laugh. The humor of a lot of boot camp actually made the torment fun at times. It was so fun for me to sound off as loud as I could. I developed such a loud voice that it was rare I could find my match. To this day I am extremely loud when I want to be.

When we screwed up as a platoon we would have what freedoms we did have taken away for a time but for the most part after the first 2 or 3 weeks we were not forced to take showers or get dressed "by the numbers." The DI's counted down the entire 13 weeks when we needed to do something or go somewhere but as far as taking showers and getting dressed we were given the luxury of doing it our way after the first few weeks as long as we made it on time.

We had this Chinese recruit in our platoon who refused to take a shower after he was force to by the DI's the first few weeks because he did not want to be naked with 87 other recruits during our 1 hour of free time given to us most evenings. A DI came up to a group of us and had a quiet talk with us about this recruit. He told us that so and so stunk really bad and would not take a shower.

He informed us that he was not allowed to put his hands on him but something needed to be done about it. He did not tell us to but we got the hint and told the DI that we understood. I was not part of the shower squad, but after this kid was stripped down and thrown into the shower by 5 or 6 of his peers he never had a problem taking a shower on his own. Sometimes tough love is the best answer.

Quote of the Day: 

Socrates said,

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."