96 hours later...

"Take a look at the Lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?"
~Life On Mars

Back on the Cube Farm!

Weekend details to follow.

Seriously though, who else but Ziggy Freakin' Stardust is gonna look that good in a mugshot?

1-5 Day!

US NAVY RTC Orlando.
June, 1991

There are many fine Navy traditions besides Churchill's oft quoted "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash" (actually I didn't see any of that until years later when I was working for the Secret Room... where 'rum, sodomy and the lash' was what we called 'Saturday night'). For example the USN has The Crossing The Equator Ceremony (where young Pollywogs become Shellbacks), the Sea-Chest initiation (of which i've written), punching the "Chevrons" on a brand new Petty Officer and of course the Mail Buoy Watch just to name a few.

However none of these maritime rituals can compare to that first test a prospective sailor must persevere through in bootcamp: "1-5 Day".

We had all heard about it from the moment we had stepped off the bus at RTC Orlando. If we hadn't heard the scuttlebutt (rumors) before hand, then our CC's (Company Commander - the Nav version of a drill sargeant) made damn sure that we were aware of the fact that some kind of 'Judgement Day' was coming for us and coming soon.( A Portrait of a Young Writer as a Squid )