I was just 17 when I enlisted in the US Navy and went off to see the world. I was at Boot Camp at Great Lakes, Company 501 in the early winter of 1972.
Our company had been selected to go over to the Drill Hall for a dress blues inspection. I had been selected to stand the barracks watch during the inspection. Not having to go to the dress inspection, I put on my work uniform and took my post. What I wasn’t aware of was the fact that when your Company is at a Dress inspection the barracks also gets inspected. When the inspector entered the barracks, I did everything I was supposed to do. I challenged him and put him through the paces. He started the inspection by inspecting me. Luckily, I had a clean uniform, and my shoes were shined properly. We all carried a notebook for classes, and this was part of the uniform of the day. The thing was we all had a crisp new notebook for inspections. Since I wasn’t going to the dress inspection, I changed my notebook to the daily one.
The inspector completed his inspection and then went to the Company Commander and gave him the results. Our Company Commander was a Senior Chief that had more gold on both sleeves than I had ever seen before in my life. Turns out the only thing the inspector found wrong was my notebook. The Senior Chief came over to me, pulled my notebook out of my pocket and proceeded to chew my backside up one side and down the other. This went on for several minutes and as it did, I started to smile. You can imagine what effect this had on our discussion. The more he yelled, the broader I smiled. The broader I smiled, the more he yelled. This went on for several more minutes, and finally I said: “Permission to speak freely, sir”. He responded with “What do you have to say for yourself?”
I replied, “I was raised by a dad that liked to yell a lot, and all you have done was make me home sick.”
The Chief grabbed the inspector, and they ran to his office where I could see them both laughing wholeheartedly.
Submitted by Ron Torrance, US Navy
