US Naval Reserve Midshipmens School - Capstan Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

Page 200 text:

f1961 One of the first trips you will make as an Appren- tice Seaman will be to the Sick Bay for your shots. And here we would like to ease your minds. We know that you will have read many fearful stories of the gruesome happenings that go on inside the Sick Bay door but it isn't nearly as bad as some writers have portrayed it. Most of it is nothing more than pure, untouched Scuttlebutt. And to prove that he means you no harm, the Pharmacist Mate gives you back your arm when you leave. You will learn many interesting things in your classes but much of your education will come out- side of class. Take for instance Athletics and Ex- ecutive Drill CNavy for shin splintsj. Everything is on a competitive basis. You will run around the two-hundred acre drill field and those who don't collapse after 15 laps will have to carry the others back. That's to teach them it doesn't pay to be a show-off in the Navy. The Chief who directs your setting up exercises will situate himself on a plat- form high above you. You may think he's doing all the knee-bends with you but clon't let him kid you. He just sits up there and does it all with mirrors. If you get tired and want to rest for a while, thatls all right, too. The Navy doesn't want your shipmates to get ahead of you so you'll catch up later on when you run an extra fifty laps around the field. You'll probably wonder and worry quite a bit about how your uniforms will fit but you may as well forget it. The Storekeepers at Notre Dame will do all the worrying for you. They are a well trained group who can look at the size of your head and fit you with hats, shirts, jumpers, pants, pea coats and socks. You won't believe it until you see it. And while you're picking up your clothing you will become acquainted with the two eternal axioms of the supply corps. If it's too bigwshrink it,'. Ulf itis too small-stretch it',. But what do you care. After you get your Navy haircut, your mother wouldn't recognize you anyway. You won't be an Apprentice Seaman for twenty- four hours before you discover of what the Watch Bill consists. It will take some time to master its more detailed refinements but when the Security Watch awakens you at midnight, when you have patrolled on a Roving Watch beat', for two hours, and when you have finally been secured from your nightstick and flashlight, then you will know more

Page 199 text:

. it evidence on your rear flank. And don,t worry about the electricity that comes charging through you in the mornings when you make your bunk. Itis just another part of the toughening-up pro- gram. But if your father was ever scared by an electric chair, you might as well quit now. Soon after arriving youall be assigned to your room. If you are lucky enough to arrive during the daytime it won't be so bad, but if you come in at night it may be days before you can find your way to the quarters. If you do get lost and have to sleep on the golf course all night, don't worry about it. Demerit,' and his cask of sulfanilimide will Hnd you in the morning. The first thing that will impress you will be the lN1ess Hall. They were very nice to us while we Qs. were at Notre Dame. They gave us the same menu every morning so we wouldn't have to play guess- ing games while marching to chow. But we played guessing games after we were through. You'll meet up with the 'fmystery ballsu and if you are able to guess what the ingredients are, you will receive your commission immediately plus the Navy Cross for bravery. After the first time, however, you'l1 agree with us that it isn,t worth it. Before long you will know what it means to muster on-the-double . In running to morning chow formation, you will learn to be careful. Dur- ing our first few weeks we lost quite a few men who, because of the darkness at that time of day, ran into trees thinking they were officers. As your eyes grow accustomed to the 0630 darkness, you will be better able to distinguish officers from the trees. - U-W H951 im,

Page 201 text:

about it. And you will eventually look forward with a sort of fiendish expectation to the night when you can be the one who awakens everyone else. Uppermost in many minds will be the question of pay. You will find that the Navy can think of more ways to spend your money than a Washing- ton congressman. You will draw the cash from only one window and then pay it out again through three or four windows, which will be some comfort. You will be very lucky, though, that you will only get paid twice a month. Otherwise you couldn't afford it. So you see, itas impossible to pass this course. Now that you are here however there is nothing you can do about it. But from now until the day you walk up and receive your commission from your Commanding Officer, as we did, you'll still be saying, as we did, that it's impossible to pass this course. To prove the statement, we offer the following gems , which were carefully gleaned from our examinations by chuckling officers and read back to us with the admonition, 'fyou'll never pass the course this way? There was the time the Midshipman answered, St. Elmoas fire, sir, is an electrical phenomena that occurs in the masts of ships. It is audible but does not make any noise,' Probably thinking of the Gremlins. lk Pi' Pk Instructor: What would you do if forced to lower the national colors in surrender. Midshipman: I would slap the Ensign, sir. Sk Pk PF Extract from Seamanship P-22 Q. What is the name of the shellfish that some- times attaches itself to the bottom of a vessel? A. A Pantaloon. Which reminds us, we saw the U.S.S. Erie being fitted for a zoot suit last month. PF PF FF It couldnit be gouging for the answers all came from different sections. The cause of vertical parallax is the Jesus factor? Trunnion tilt is compensated by the Jesus factor. The dip strip corrects for the jesus factorf' 'cGun train order includes the jesus factor, which automatically sends correct deflection to the gunf' L1971 N46-f ai'-Q. A A14 A A ' 1, ,-3? T, ,S K ,J 52!?i'5':iC?7Q'L'?Mg.' '- L, 'ef Q rf. ' .+- :EFF me If A . -.,,.. ,,.a ' I-nf, -.gn nge 1 - ...nie In Y .J 4.5,