July 7, 1997 - The First Day of Maintenance

970707 - Today we woke up @ 0230. At some time we had chow and we went to work @ 0700. Me, B_______, and another guy mowed lawns until 1100 and went to chow. Then we checked squad bays for unserviceable pillows, lights, and faucets. Gotta go. 53 days left. I'm back...we had to hit the rack. I forgot to mention that after noon chow we were told to go to an empty squad bay for 45 minutes. So we all slept. After checking the squad bays, we came back here and did nothing until 1700 when we went to chow. After chow we stayed and helped the rest of the platoon. I was in scullery where the plates, trays, forks, cups, etc. are washed. It was pretty easy. We then came back here, showered, and were given square away time to torture us more. I didn't mind 'cuz I got two letters. Anyway, I'm a little tired but not too bad. As I said earlier, 53 days left.
Aside from the Marines who gave us our initial gear and uniform issue back in our first hours on Parris Island, the only enlisted Marines we recruits had any contact with were Drill Instructors. Because of that, the first time we met the Corporal who would be in charge of us during Mess and Maintenance week came as quite a shock. For starters, he treated us like humans. He never yelled at us, he didn't require that we speak in third person (and would sometimes chuckle at us when we still did), and he was generally laid-back. Before this point, a laid-back Marine had seemed an impossible paradox. Looking back on it now, I'm fairly certain that he had been stationed there as a punishment. Being responsible for the grounds and squad bays at a frequently-empty battalion on a Marine base in the middle of nowhere isn't exactly a dream job. Plus, even now I think he was perhaps a bit too laid back.

That first day, after we had performed our morning jobs, he sent us to chow. Being good recruits who did everything with a sense of urgency, we came back from chow in about fifteen minutes. Well, he wasn't ready for us to be back; he was still on his hour-long lunch break. So, he gave us the keys to an empty squad bay and told us to "disappear." I distinctly remember the three of us standing in the squad bay at a total loss for what to do. We weren't accustomed to this (or any) level of independence. Before long, though, we realized that the best thing to do would be to sleep. So that's what we did.

If you're wondering why square-away time, which is typically one of the best times of our day, was supposed to torture us, it's because the Mess Hall recruits were all exhausted. They'd been up since 0230 with little down-time and were going to have to do it all again the next day. I, on the other hand, had just spent the day in relative ease (relative for boot camp, that is), and got to do that all again the next day.

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