ryan77
Registered User
I came across this story recently:
The newly arrived officer candidate (OC), spiffy in a coat and tie, had just paid the cabbie who'd taken him from the airport to the King Hall barracks. He stood in the Newport sunshine with his luggage beside him and looked at the glass-enclosed, blue and gold building lobby known as the Quarterdeck. Above the Quarterdeck was the barracks Library, a fearsome place the officer candidate would soon learn to hate. A lean, tough looking Navy Chief with a shaven head leaned out of a Library window.
"Hey, you!" the Chief yelled. "You there! Go stand on that penny!"
The OC looked at the pavement. Embedded in concrete just beyond the Quarterdeck stairs was a round brass plaque, gift of the class of '65.
"Yeah, that right there! Go stand on it and wave at the fellas inside!"
The OC didn't know that stepping on the penny was a student violation punishable by demerits and extra marching. He obediently went over and stood on the sacred object. He waved at the people inside the Quarterdeck.
"Yeah! That's it!" The Chief cheered from above.
Moments later another Chief, his face sputtering with rage, burst from the Quarterdeck and began berating the OC within the finest traditions of toungelashing the Navy has to offer. Twenty years of salty invective poured from his mouth. He ordered the unfortunate young man to start polishing the penny with his tie. The OC immediately dropped and, with both Chiefs now yelling at him, started rubbing furiously. Sixty seconds earlier he had been the very picture of confidence and eagerness, a man ready to embark on his new Navy career; now he was on his hands and knees, polishing a silly brass plaque with his Brooks Brothers tie.
Welcome to Officer Candidate School (OCS) and the first day of Indoc.
The newly arrived officer candidate (OC), spiffy in a coat and tie, had just paid the cabbie who'd taken him from the airport to the King Hall barracks. He stood in the Newport sunshine with his luggage beside him and looked at the glass-enclosed, blue and gold building lobby known as the Quarterdeck. Above the Quarterdeck was the barracks Library, a fearsome place the officer candidate would soon learn to hate. A lean, tough looking Navy Chief with a shaven head leaned out of a Library window.
"Hey, you!" the Chief yelled. "You there! Go stand on that penny!"
The OC looked at the pavement. Embedded in concrete just beyond the Quarterdeck stairs was a round brass plaque, gift of the class of '65.
"Yeah, that right there! Go stand on it and wave at the fellas inside!"
The OC didn't know that stepping on the penny was a student violation punishable by demerits and extra marching. He obediently went over and stood on the sacred object. He waved at the people inside the Quarterdeck.
"Yeah! That's it!" The Chief cheered from above.
Moments later another Chief, his face sputtering with rage, burst from the Quarterdeck and began berating the OC within the finest traditions of toungelashing the Navy has to offer. Twenty years of salty invective poured from his mouth. He ordered the unfortunate young man to start polishing the penny with his tie. The OC immediately dropped and, with both Chiefs now yelling at him, started rubbing furiously. Sixty seconds earlier he had been the very picture of confidence and eagerness, a man ready to embark on his new Navy career; now he was on his hands and knees, polishing a silly brass plaque with his Brooks Brothers tie.
Welcome to Officer Candidate School (OCS) and the first day of Indoc.