Great Lakes Recruit Training Command
A classmate and I boarded an Eastern Airlines plane much like the one at left for the trip to Chicago's OHare field from where we would be picked up (with the others with us) for the bus trip to Great Lakes RTC (Recruit Training Command). Unlike the image above, we arrived in the middle of the night (it seems they plan it that way) to aid in the disorienting process that is part of becoming part of the military. Within 12 hours we'd been stripped of every part of our civilian identity including our clothes, our hair and our sleep patterns (we were awakened at 0400, thats 4:00 AM) by having a trash can thrown down the middle of the squad bay!).
While at RTC we were allowed several boot liberties once we'd completed the majority of our training. The goal of almost every red-blooded sailor usually involved the imbibing of some form of alcohol, preferably in the presence of some comely women (hence the image to the left where several guys I know attempted to get into, unsuccessfully).
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If the truth were told, many actually wound up here at the USO in Waukegan (or Chicago or Milwaukee); no alcohol, but some really friendly ladies that playfully fended off any and all advances made by the boots. In my case, I walked to the address of my old elementary school to see if anyone would remember me, or if any of the nuns who taught me were still there.
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Great Lakes Naval Training Command
Many of the boots were sent on to other bases around the country for further training, some went directly to the fleet, but some of us just crossed the street (essentially) and entered the myriad of schools at the Naval Training Command. Life in the barracks was somewhat better now that I had left boot camp behind, but being the low man on the totem pole in any endeavor (especially an organization like the military) did not leave me a whole lot of 'free' time.
I explored the area surrounding the base, taking the train to Milwaukee and Chicago at times, but always returning to the base at night (just out of boot camp there is not a lot of spending money!). Several of the coeds at a local women's college befriended me and included me in their circle for a time. Really surprising considering this was the same time that tensions had risen in the anti-war movement in the country just following the debacle at Kent State. I was glad to escape from the area before winter arrived; one winter in Chicago was enough for me!
I explored the area surrounding the base, taking the train to Milwaukee and Chicago at times, but always returning to the base at night (just out of boot camp there is not a lot of spending money!). Several of the coeds at a local women's college befriended me and included me in their circle for a time. Really surprising considering this was the same time that tensions had risen in the anti-war movement in the country just following the debacle at Kent State. I was glad to escape from the area before winter arrived; one winter in Chicago was enough for me!