MEMORIES OF BOOT CAMP

What the well dressed Navy Recruit wore circa 1958. When I found this photo of me it brought back a lot of memories. Seeing the gun rack behind me made me remember how tired my arms would get doing the “Manual of Arms” exercise with on of these rifles. The other thing I noticed was I was wearing the white stripes of a Seaman Recruit and wondered at what stage of boot camp did they switch me to the green stripes of an Airman Recruit. It must have been near or after graduation from boot camp when it was decided that I would go to Airman Prep School in Norman, OK.

One photographic note. One of the things I learned after the Navy while working in the graphic arts printing field was how to prepare an old Polaroid for scanning. Use Vaseline to coat the print and it will help to restore the gloss lost through the years. It doesn’t help a lot with the finger prints but if you scan at low sharpness that can help some. One more tip while I’m on the subject of scanning secrets. If you have prints that have ink marks from maybe being in contact with another print that had writing on the back and it transferred to the front of one of your prints use hair spray to safely remove the ink.

BOOT CAMP GREAT LAKES

Before Pensacola, FL Photography "A" school and Norman, OK Airman Prep school there was BOOT CAMP. This is where your whole life changed forever. I found the photos above on line when doing a search for Great Lakes Training Center. The top photo is the front gate of Camp Moffett where I got my "boot" training back in 1958. It was an older camp with older buildings then the other camp across the road called Camp Dewey. We were in old fire trap buildings and we had heard the Camp Dewey recruits were living in new dormitory type buildings with only 4 guys to a room.

The next photo is of the drill hall where we spent many hours of learning the "manual of arms" This was heaven compared to the outside drill field especially in Dec. and Jan. when it was so brutally cold. I knew why they call Chicago the Windy City after I spent some time standing in that open drill field with the snow and wind pounding on you.

The last picture is from a site that is just loaded with things about the Navy and other things too. This photo although taken in the San Diego Boot Camp could also represent out barracks in Great Lakes. Check out this site listed on the links under Navy Sites, OLD BLUE JACKET,