The Navy Years - The Barracks

After Boot Camp I received orders to report to the Naval Training Center in Millington, TN. I was going to study Avionics, communication and navigation. I had been no farther south than Washington, DC so Tennessee was quite an adventure for me. 

I never got used to staying in a Barracks. At night it was inevitable that the first person to fall asleep was the loudest snorer and rest of us got to hear the symphony.

Things were a lot better than Boot Camp, I was able to wear civilian clothes on Liberty and I finally could have a camera to capture these magic moments.

I often lament that I did not write a journal. There wasn't much to do after a day of school and Millington didn't have much going on, so we would chat about stuff in the barracks. It would be nice to find out what happened to these folks.

Do I look pained? I'm wearing a college jacket but the Navy was nothing like college.

Many of my shipmates would spend their Saturday mornings ironing their work denims. I read through the regulations and found that the uniform needed to be clean but nothing was written about them being ironed. I had no interest in doing this.

I'm 71 years old and still can't iron anything. Maybe I should have tried.

We were allowed some facial hair and I managed this pathetic moustache

Singing the Barracks Blues. It wasn't too bad, I had a camera and I had  guitar