Writing a book about AOCS, NAVCAD's & MARCAD's

[First Sergeant]

John Crouch
First Sergeant, USMC retired
423 - 620 - 5399 Cell
Call 0800 - 2300 EST
aocs.stories@gmail.com


SKYPE - fsgtcrouch


Below is what I have been sending to other AOCS, AVROC, NAVCAD and MARCAD graduates for triggers of story recollection and explanation of what I am doing.

·I am writing a book on AOCS/NAVCAD/AVROC covering the years 1947 – 1994 from the Pensacola location.

· Please indicate your class number and Drill Instructor name and rank for all content you submit for inclusion in this book I am writing.



Please share with any other NAVCAD’s, MARCAD’s and AOCS grads that you know of.


·NAVCAD, MARCAD, AVROC and AOCS graduates. Here is an example of the layout for the book on AOCS that I am writing. I don’t expect you to read what I sent but I wanted you to see the format I was going with. Please take some time in the next couple months to write me your memories of your time under the tutelage of a Marine DI at Pensacola. I will also be writing a very comprehensive chapter on the course of training, requirements, nuances and changes throughout the decades.

·I will not however have anything in the book about me other than a short paragraph in the inside back cover. My story will be told in two following books on Navy OCS and my own personal memories of being a Drill Instructor for three tours. Again, my example is just that; an example of what the book will look like. Some stories may be in a chapter all by themselves such as RLP’s and INDOC.

·I am arranging the book front to rear by the decades in order of date of service regarding assignment to AOCS as a Drill Instructor. I will of course have a very lengthy chapter at the beginning covering the reason why Marine DI’s were assigned in 1947 and continued to be assigned throughout the decades as well as the changes that occurred in the training program.

·I will be glad to assist you in any capacity necessary to get those stories of trials and tribulations of life under the Marine Drill Instructor’s hammer as he shaped you into an officer.

Thanks so much for the stories some of you have sent and the forthcoming stories.

NAVY AOCS & NAVCAD​

THE PRESSURE COOKER​

1947– 1994​

A COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND STORIES ​

FROM THE MARINE CORPS DRILL INSTRUCTORS ​

&​

THE AVIATION OFFICER CANDIDATES THEY TRAINED​

I am soliciting stories, short and long, paragraphs to multiple pages and unique photographs you might want to have included in the book. Here is a list of possible triggers to spark those long suppressed memories of AOCS. I would love very much for you to send me an E-mail with your stories attached. It will not be any one single story that makes the book a hit, it will be the collaborative efforts of all you Aviation Warriors and the Drill Instructors who trained you that will define the legacy of the book I will publish on your behalf. Drill Instructors, your stories are just as valuable so please share them Marine. I know that not everyone has time to type so I will gladly arrange a phone call with anyone to get the story and write it down myself and send to you a copy for final editing if you like. Please send E-mails to aocs.stories@gmail.com and feel free to call me at the above number at listed times.

Here is a link to who I am. These videos were shot in 1997 at Pensacola. http://www.youtube.com/user/crouchje Class 19-97 Introduction also shows the chow hall procedure for that first meal.

• The first time I met my DI
• What was INDOC like
• Revile and the terror / chaos that often ensued
• Taps
• Hygiene inspection
• Mail Call
• The glory of having an M1-Garand rifle and learning the hard way how damn heavy it could be
• Close order drill and the idiots who could not march
• Close order drill and the sound of my drill instructors voice that I can still hear to this day
• Welcome aboard by upper classmen
• Chow hall procedures and the ensuing screw-ups we all experienced
• Chow hall is not very relaxing time with Drill Instructors present
• Getting your ass wore out in the rose garden, the black hole or the pit
• Chrome Dome helmets and sweaty green uniforms
• The consequences of failing to lock your wall locker or rifle up
• What a RLP (Room Locker Personnel) inspection was like. Later years it changed names to MTT (Military Training Test).
• My drill Instructor had a sense of humor, some examples are….
• My drill instructor went the extra mile to ensure our success such as the time he….
• About those other DI’s who would torture us for no other reason than the desire to perform a random act of violence
• Teamwork between the classes was key in getting through the AOCS experience
• Boxing matches (AKA Smokers) where the beer was everywhere, the flight students returned to watch and the ladies were looking for a few good men
• Surviving Poopie Week AKA the first week of training for those unfamiliar with the term Poopie
• Roommates, some good / some bad
• Discovering your room has been trashed
• The creative ways the DI’s would trip you up
• The funny side of the DI’s
• Unique techniques my drill instructor used to teach a lesson
• The DOR (Drop on Request) process and funny stories leading up to them
• The silver dollar salute with the DI
• When candidates tried to outsmart the drill instructors
• Liberty as a candidate
• Running into a DI when on liberty
• The obstacle course
• The Dilbert Dunker
• Formation runs
• Morning PT
• Mess night or Dining In as a candidate
• Skits that were acted out about AOCS life
• Just how successful were those arranged dates for the big Dining Inn with the young ladies of Pensacola who picked you from the list?
• Standing watch as a officer candidate
• What it was like at the end when promoted to Candidate Officer and treated like a human for the first time
• What lessons stayed with you all these years when you reflect on the whole experience of going through AOCS
• I am sure there are other things that could be said to spark a memory of a story that needs to be told, but I need your stories to save for the preservation of the AOCS legacy.

1973 Original Pressure Point, DI is SSGT David Penn later to become LTCOL Penn
http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=196017

1990 Remake of Pressure Point – DI is SSGT S.C. Holt

1994 remake of Pressure Point. Renamed “OCS – A Commitment to Excellence” DI is SSGT David Erwin & Class CPO is CPO Morales

Part II

 

[MasterBates]

Gunny Erwin's last class (29-01) was the one right before mine(01-02).

I remember seeing the 1994 version at NRD Boston, and then when we showed up at OCS, "holy shit, its the guy from the video" was my initial reaction.

 

[Catmando]

Memories...

 

[BlkPny]

I showed up at AOCS, spent 10 days in Indoc, then was sent straight to Saufley for Primary with VT-1, as part of class RF-2. Following Primary, came back to AOCS at Batt II, under LT "Tex" Valenta and SSGT W.R. Schuette. Indoc and Primary are still pretty much a foggy memory.

At Primary, we had to compete with all the newly commissioned guys who did not have a DI crawling up their butts like we did. He would burst into rooms while we were studying and hold an impromptu RLP Inspection. The other studs were another problem. Some of them were total assholes to us, especially the recent AOCS grads. The Marines, on the whole, were cool with us. We had to compete with these guys who had less pressure on them, plus they had already gone through Flight Systems (API) and had a basic understanding of Aero, Power Plants, Weather, etc. We were at a HUGE disadvantage.

Yeah, good times.

 

[First Sergeant]

Guess what, there is a retired Major Walter R. Schuette which would make sense since many DI's became commissioned officers after their tour of duty. I don't know anything else though.

 

[Hozer]

FSGT Crouch, nice to see you again.
GYSGT Woollett trained, OCS 15-96 Seaman to Admiral pukes.
Only time I saw Woollett smile in 13 weeks was when I blew the crotch out of my khaki's doing "good morning darlings" in front of the chow hall.
Good times.

 

[Pugs]

Good times.

Only in retrospective Looking back though AOCS had some of the funniest moments of my life. I'll have to dredge some up.

I was 09-87 GYSGT Bowling, USMC.

 

[First Sergeant]

Pugs, hate to be the bearer of bad news if you did not know but several of the DI's who were at AOCS when you attended have passed away recently:

First Sergeant Rick Bowling died a few years ago. He was about 52 yrs old as I recall.
First Sergeant Danny Hawks died 4/20/2010 at 59 yrs of age.
Major Tiburtius Gerhart died 4/1/2004 at 46 yrs of age. He had only been retired a couple years.
GYSGT Bernie Jones died back in 2006 as I recall MGYSGT Jerry Holtry telling me.

I have your class photo in high resolution scanned if you would like a copy. Contact me at aocs.stories@gmail.com

I busted a poser pretending to be from 09-87 three months ago. His name was Joseph Anthony Rossi who is down in Birmingham AL. He called me and the red flags started going up in three minutes and every few minutes thereafter. I also happen to have several years worth of class graduation rosters. Call me sometime and I will tell you the rest of the story.

 

[SteveG75]

18-90, Gunnery Sergeant Woodring, United States Marine Corp, Non-Commisioned Office in Charge of Battalion II.

There was no abbreviations in our class. I can still remember the first words he ever said to me......."Get over in the grass and mountain climb till your heart bursts."

My stepfather was 33-69. I'll pass this on to him as well.

 

[Pugs]

Pugs, hate to be the bearer of bad news if you did not know but several of the DI's who were at AOCS when you attended have passed away recently:

I have your class photo in high resolution scanned if you would like a copy. Contact me at aocs.stories@gmail.com

I busted a poser pretending to be from 09-87 three months ago. His name was Joseph Anthony Rossi who is down in Birmingham AL. He called me and the red flags started going up in three minutes and every few minutes thereafter. I also happen to have several years worth of class graduation rosters. Call me sometime and I will tell you the rest of the story.

Sad news indeed, I often wondered what happened to GYSGT (he'll always be a Gunny to me and that's no insult!) Bowling. He wanted to retire and be a Florida Marine patrol officer. Our class gift was a custom fishing rod with all the wrappings in gold and red and the butt wrappings done in chevrons and his name on it. My Grandfather built them as a hobby and even gave us a recipet for $1 to ensure we stayed under dollar limit. The only class award we won was the drill banner as we figured that was the only one that mattered to him.

I still have the original 8x10 of our AOCS class picture in front of the F-4 there at NASC but appreciate the offer.

IIRC Gerhart was ending his tour and Holtry was of course there. I don't recall Hawks or Jones.

Funny about the poser. There was a guy who was either in our class or close by that was also from Indiana by the name of Ted Ross who ended up attriting at VT-10 and going AMO. I ran into him at Miramar once but no clue where he went after that.

 

[dilbert123]

I showed up at AOCS, spent 10 days in Indoc, then was sent straight to Saufley for Primary with VT-1, as part of class RF-2. Following Primary, came back to AOCS at Batt II, under LT "Tex" Valenta and SSGT W.R. Schuette. Indoc and Primary are still pretty much a foggy memory.

At Primary, we had to compete with all the newly commissioned guys who did not have a DI crawling up their butts like we did. He would burst into rooms while we were studying and hold an impromptu RLP Inspection. The other studs were another problem. Some of them were total assholes to us, especially the recent AOCS grads. The Marines, on the whole, were cool with us. We had to compete with these guys who had less pressure on them, plus they had already gone through Flight Systems (API) and had a basic understanding of Aero, Power Plants, Weather, etc. We were at a HUGE disadvantage.

Yeah, good times.

BlkPny:
What year did you go through? I came back to Saufley in 1969 as an instructor and at that time they were running AOC's who had finished AOCS but weren't allowed to graduate until they soloed. Upon soloing they got their commission. The idea was that the command was so concerned about the washout rate and the number of guys who DOR'd right after commissioning following AOCS that they decided to try this out. It didn't last long, however. I always thought these guys were under a lot more stress than the other students but they had all gotten through AOCS at least. I can't imagine what it must have been like to go through VT-1 with only INDOC behind you, not to mention all the harassment it sounds like you went through just being there. It must have made it really tough to go back to AOCS and then have to proceed to Basic with so many weeks out of the cockpit. A real sh*t sandwich.

You must have flown OV-10's (?) if I remember what the Light Attack Squadrons were. I had a good friend who went to OV-10's out of Advanced, name of Roy Sikkink, from Tulsa, and was the first OV-10 shot down in Viet Nam. Did you by chance know him? He was lost in 1968 and was only there a few weeks before being shot down, so maybe he was gone before you got there. Really good guy, miss him to this day. You guys had a handful with all that you did, hats off!

 

[BlkPny]

I went to Saufley in late September or early October, 1968. We were the second class to participate in this experience, and I don't know how long it lasted.

I didn't know Roy Sikkink. Was he a Marine, or was he in VAL-4? I was there Aug 70 - Aug 17.

 

[dilbert123]

I went to Saufley in late September or early October, 1968. We were the second class to participate in this experience, and I don't know how long it lasted.

I didn't know Roy Sikkink. Was he a Marine, or was he in VAL-4? I was there Aug 70 - Aug 17.

He was Navy, and my apologies, he went down in March or April of '69, not '68. There was active recruitment out of Advanced when we were there and a number of guys signed on. I think one of the VT-28 instructors was to be named as one of the senior officers of VAL-4 and he was the man to see about going. In any case, Roy would have been gone by the time you got there. Roy was sent to North Island where, from what I remember the RAG was located. I was sent to N I a bit later to go through the P-2 RAG and I remember seeing a lot of the OV-10's there. It was there that I learned of Roy's death from a mutual friend.

Just wondered if the time lines crossed in any way and you might have run into him. There is information about him on their website. I don't know how many guys you lost but he was the unfortunate statistic as being the first. Thanks for you reply.

 

[Catmando]

"AOCS, NAVCADS & MARCADS? -- Hey, don't forget us AVROCS!

"Green panel up, duty runway ____," ... and I forget the rest of the outbound taxi spiel....

 

[BigIron]

Whatever happened to GYSGT Dozier?