Overcoming Challenges: Story 4509

At Parris Island during the first week at the rifle range, the stress level goes through the roof. I think that they are trying to make any whackjob recruits break before they get live ammo the following week. Late in the week, one recruit received a care package of cookies and candy, but he refused to share it.The drill instructors had us standing on line in skivvies in front of our racks, just like Full Metal Jacket, and made this recruit skip up and down the squadbay in his underwear singing "I'm going to Grandma's house !! I'm going to Grandma's house !!"Meanwhile, another recruit who had been caught flipping his squad leader's rifle to "Fire" instead of "Safe" was forced to stand up at the front of the squadbay in his underwear shaking his index finger at us and scream repeatedly "I don't care about any stinkin' one of you!! I don't care about any stinkin' one of you!!"

Next to him, they posted a third recruit up there who ALWAYS had a chit from sick bay that kept him from PT. He stood there in his underwear, yelling over and over "I'm sick, lame and lazy! I'm sick lame and lazy !"All three of these things were going on at the same time, while the other 60 recruits stood at the position of attention in our underwear. One by one, the other 60 recruits just walked up to he quarterdeck and started pushing, because that was were we would end up anyway when we started laughing.Totally true story.