Keith A. Hansen Master Chief - U.S. Navy - 1968-1990

In February 1968, Keith A. Hansen was still in high school when he enlisted in the US Navy. On the deferred enlistment program, one could pass the physical, take all the tests, and sign on the line. He/she was allowed to finish high school before going to boot camp. Keith graduated in May of 1968. In June, he was on the way to San Diego, CA, and the Navy Recruit Training Center.

This training center shares a fenced border with the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. In fact, Keith said, there was one young man who went AWOL. He climbed over the fence (and onto the MCRD)… and the Marines apprehended him. The Marines would make some hay with this acquisition… as they double-timed in formation runs, the Marines wore their usual stuff and double timed next to the Navy area. The AWOL guy was in the back of the formation wearing dungarees, and trying to keep up! They kept and trained him for a few weeks, just for fun, then contacted the Navy to say they could have him back! The AWOL guy was happy to be back in the Navy!

The usual things happened early-on. Haircuts, clothing and a re-shuffle of terms commonly heard in the English language. There’s a galley where you eat. One goes through a hatch instead of a door. One sleeps in a bunk and the restroom is a “head”. [Where are the headlights on a ship? They are in the ceiling of the restroom!] There was a variety of people making up the recruit class. About half were from the Midwest, but the rest came from all over the US.

When getting a sailors clothing, the men went along a long counter while holding open a duffle bag. The bag would get filled by people on the other side of the counter who pretty much guessed on the sizes. Once all their gear was issued, they moved to another room and were given stencils with their names and serial numbers. They were to name/label each item of clothing using the stencils.

Soon, there was a routine established. The day usually started by the training NCO who would come into the bay area of the barracks and kick the trash can down the center aisle. The trash can and the center aisle were polished and spotless… “Just get out of that bunk and let’s get going!”

As the days passed, graduation started to look more and more like a reality! In August 1968, Keith graduated from boot camp and went on to “hospital corpsman” training, at a hospital in nearby Balboa, CA. From hospital corpsman school, Keith moved to Camp Pendleton for the Marines training in medical corpsman school. Keith did get some leave time during the holidays of 1968 into 1969. Once the training was completed at Camp Pendleton, each recruit had to go to a hospital for 6 months of duty. Keith went to Bremerton, WA and worked in the Navy hospital.

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