The Cossack (and Others) - Continued

Image by New York Public Library via Flickr

I was really close to the members of my "flight." We had 18 people in one group that ate, slept, worked, went to class, ran and generally did everything together for three months. I can remember a few of them if I try. Mr. Utley was the upper flight Captain. We had little to do with each other, but when we did it was mostly bad. His assistant was Mr. Tabor from Oklahoma. He was the "nice cop" of the two.

The most flamboyant was the Cossack. His name was Sulik and his claim to fame was that every man in his family had fought in a war. His grandfather was a fighter pilot for the Germans in WWI, his father was an American fighter pilot in WWII and he was going to be a fighter pilot for the Americans in Viet Nam. Paul could do the kazatskis dance and shout "HEY" when doing the squat-kicks. We all liked him. I've searched for him on-line and also on the Wall, but I've never found him...

Another upperclassman was named George McIlhenny and was from Avery Island Louisiana. He claimed no connection to the Tabasco McIlhennys, but I've always wondered if he was the heir to the Tabasco fortune.

One of the upperclassmen from the room across the hall (I can't remember his name) was very painstaking in the appearance of his uniform. He not only spit-shined shoes and boots, he spit-shined his high top Converse All-Stars too! He would use a Q-tip to polish the red stripe on the welt. He became famous during his final WEDGE inspection for not wearing his name-tag. He was inebriated that morning and all of us had to help get him dressed and standing at attention for the big day. When he was asked where his name-tag was, he came to attention and said, "SIR, I memorized it and threw it away!! SIR! We all got gigs because of our laughter.

A member of our flight was known as "Soapy" because we waited until he had completely soaped up in the shower and then cut the water off. He raged around yelling in his fully sudsed skin until we later provided water for his shower. I saw his name on the Wall...

The Cossack (and Others)

Image by *hoodrat* via Flickr

I remember some of the folks from that Summer. My first room mates were Steven D. Acuff from Nashville and some little tough guy with red hair whose name I do not recall. They were pretty good mates. We quickly analyzed the requirements and set about to meet them. Here are some examples of the "musts":

1. Beds had to be made with "dust cover" six days a week and with "white collar" on Saturdays and Sundays
2. The floor, blinds, desks, beds and lockers had to be clean and free of dust. (This in Texas in Summer with the windows open all the time.)
3. Socks and underwear folded "just so" and with a smile
4. Books and other vertical items "taller tapped" from tallest to shortest
5. Shoes shined (dust removed from soles)
6. Beds 18 inches from the locker and 6 7/8 inches from the wall
7. Uniforms hanging "looking left" and all horizontals perfectly even
8. Two towels hanging with bottoms "exactly" even (these were taped and never used)

Each weekday morning we had to accomplish the above, shave, bathe and whatever in the 3o minutes between "Greenies" and "Details."

Greenies took place at 0600 on the grass in the quad between buildings. Lower classmen were allowed on the quad only during the 15 minutes each morning when we were required to remove everything but growing grass from our personal 10 foot by 10 foot area of lawn.

Details were assigned to each OT early in the program and we had 15 minutes a day to keep our areas spotless. My assigned area was the laundry room. You wouldn't believe the care required in keeping a washer,dryer, floor, walls, ceilings, pipes and drains clinically clean and polished.

A Rain Check, Please!

Image via Wikipedia

Anyone that has followed this ride for long has realized that the High School years were not my favorite and that I scarcely wish to think about them. They were there and they were formative and I'm stuck at that. Anyway, in order to carry on with what I started, I've decided to take a "Rain Check" on those years and start out with college graduation so that the story can go forward. I owe this idea to a good friend who encourages me to continue - Thanks Mike!

I graduated Lander (a college at that time) in 1969. I had already enlisted in the Air Force earlier that year and had undergone the poking and prodding, the testing and the waiting associated with induction - all except the swearing in. I was sworn in on July 3rd in Charlotte and boarded an aircraft for my first flight ever. It ended in San Antonio and we were met at sometime after 11:00 pm by an enlisted man whose job it was to herd us to the first holding point. I've stated earlier what that night was like; so let's fast forward to the memories of the next few weeks.

The first week was designed to level us to a common denominator of frightened, exhausted, sleepy, brain-dead individuals. It wasn't "Hell Week" by any standard, but it did rate as "Heck Week" for sure. At every meal we had three minutes to eat and then we had to move on. I learned to eat quickly, but like a "gentleman" so that I didn't get written up for some violation. I remember double-timing a lot and I remember being "counseled" quite a bit for things like being late for formation (at least 5 seconds, but late), having salt stains on my blue web belt, needing a shave (true) and needing a haircut (not true) and on and on. We were allowed 50 demerits the first week and I got a bunch of them.

Just being scolded and given a demerit was one thing; but the real pain involved was learning how to "write gigs". We had to use the Air Force OTS "Gig Slip" and it had to look like the one in the manual. The one in the manual was typewritten. We only had black Skilcraft pens (made by blind people) but we had to make the form look typewritten. I was in a state of despair after the first night. I couldn't make the writing look like it was typed, so I got more demerits for being late with my writing.

We had PT every morning and of course there were certain weather conditions which governed our outside activities. There was a "green flag" which said activities were OK for everyone, a "Yellow Flag" which allowed some outside physical exertion, a "Red Flag" which indicated that those not acclimated (at least three weeks living in Texas) could not exercise and the "Purple Flag" indicating all outdoor activities were banned for everyone.

Here's how it worked. The "underclass" (those with less than six weeks in the school) exercised all at one time. At the time indicated on the schedule if there was a red flag then it was lowered and the yellow was flown until we completed our activities - then it was replaced by the red again. Six weeks later, after we were acclimated, PT was done later in the day and inevitably a purple was replaced with a red while we exercised. The show did go on!