Same here. I learned don’t judge a book by its cover early on. I was a clean cut kid and have rubbed elbows, worked side-by-side with, or shared great laughs with former jailbirds and thugs and people from all different walks of life. So many guys (or gals) that, outside of the military, I doubt I’d ever associate with them not because I’d look down my nose at them but because if we weren’t in the military we’d be in completely different circles altogether and we likely wouldn’t cross paths.
That’s one of the great things I learned in my service. I apply it to this day. When the opportunity presents itself, I try to strike up a conversation with another who, by our looks and dress, we definitely do not hang out together but if s/he is open and amenable to it, we might share a few brief minutes of pleasant commonality. You have to be cautious, of course, but a quick meeting of the eyes and a nod of the head that is reciprocated might lead to a really nice few minutes of discovering a shared commonality that you didn’t know you had. It could be about anything, sports teams or cars or pets or whatever. And it can make that part of your day just a little more pleasant. And you may never see that person again for as long as you live, but for a brief moment you shared the same space and time and discussion topic. For a brief moment you were brothers.
But in the military, we were brothers for a lot more than a brief moment.
Hey, South Weymouth was my next-to-last assignment in 1984. I was in charge of the Seabees at the public works there, and was the night shift “Snow King” for the airfield snow removal efforts. The housing was terrible; probably the worst I had in 20 years, with the possible exception of some tents on field exercises. I was friends with the Marine Sgt. Major, and one other NCO on the base, but I really hated that place. After two years, I short-toured for an assignment to the State Department and finished my career on a high note.
My parents put me in private school, in part, so I woudn’t have to take a communal shower stark naked with all the other boys after gym like they did in public school at the time
I had shoulder length hair.
I was afraid of heights and couldn’t swim (and still can’t to this day despite living in Minnesota, the “land of 10,000 lakes”.
Neither my parents or I ever considered myself to be military material.
I had just the opposite experience being a young Marine and working as part of the Instructor and Inspector team training the Reservist. I did live in the barracks there for a while then moved out with two other Marines down to the Pembroke / Marshfield exit. The Sgt. Major was pretty cool, he was from Florida. Colonel Jimmy Green was our C.O. You may have met one of my roommates Jeff Turner - tall red headed Maine-iac. I didn’t work in either of the hangers, I worked in Building 81, just down the hill from the barracks. In between the barracks and the small exchange on base. To me that place was a hidden treasure, especially after coming from CLNC. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Marine brothers but when you drive off the base, look to your front, left, right then behind yourself and everyone has a Marine haircut it’s nice to see some civilian women after a while especially as a young single Marine. Toys for Tots was a big thing and providing honors for the fallen was a great experience. Parades every once in a great while. The area seemed to love their Marines. I believe that Building 81 was pretty much across the street from Public Works. If memory serves me, you came through the gate, came to the y where you could go right for the airfield or continue straight for housing to the left or further straight with the Navy, Marine Corps, Barracks and Club on the left. Chow hall on the right and then public works on the right and Building 81 on the left. It’s been a couple of days. I worked with - God forgive me for not remembering their last names - I was the utilities guy, Generators, AC’s, Water Purification, Decontamination. Chris and Mike were the Engineer guys - Excavator, Bulldozers, forklifts, Terex. Bryan, Steve, and John were the Motor Transport guys. Jeff was the Combat Engineer / wood shop. Our boss was Captain Dan Sable. A lot of the folks there lived down close to or on the Cape and would commute. I was there from something like 1983 - 1985 didn’t even get a full three year tour there as I remember but I could be wrong and would have to go back and check the dates. Was definitely there in 1984 though.
I felt the same way. I was stationed in Groton and living on-base constantly surrounded by… well, by Navy BS just gets old haha. Once I was able to draw BAH and get outta there and move up to Norwich I was much happier.
It really isn’t easy to maintain a work-life balance in the military, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. You gotta disconnect every now and then.
I joined the USAF in 1967 because I had a reporting date for the draft. So I chose to go to the Air Force as an officer - mostly to avoid being in the hell of ground combat in Viet Nam.
Over the next four years I learned a lot, avoided ground combat, and benefited from my experiences.