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Boot Camp

Conner O’Casey enlisted in the Army when he was 21 after graduating college. He used his college deferment to postpone being drafted due to drawing a 36 draft number. He was a sheltered, chubby Irish American kid raised in the suburbs of Long Island, New York and had no idea of what Army life would be like.

He had very little direction after graduating college with a Communications Art degree in 1974. Connor initially wanted to join the Marines after High School, however his Dad William O’Casey wouldn’t sign the enlistment papers because he was underage and believed college was Connor’s better career option and yes his Dad didn’t want him going to Vietnam at 17 years of age.

Connor and his Grandma at New York Tech Graduation

So Connor enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduation.  He raised his hand and took the oath at Ft. Hamilton 2 days after meeting with his local Army recruiter. It was time to move on with his adult life and get out from under his parents roof and control.  He requested combat Photography School after Basic Training. He took a photography class as an elective and loved it. The minute his first print materialized from the developer he was hooked and immediately knew photography would be a part of his life. Conner felt he would get some great photography training through the military and be able to apply his new found skills when he left the service.

To say Basic Training was a reality check for Connor would be an understatement. One day he was hanging out in a college bar on Long Island and doing landscaping to pay for his beers and car insurance and within days after enlisting he had his long red hair shaved off, face clean shaven and was being screamed at by drill Sergeants wearing mirrored sunglasses and weird hats.

Typical Day at Boot Camp in early 70’s

To this day Connor vividly remembers stumbling out of a long metal cattle car at Ft. Dix dragging an overstuffed duffel bag – his feet sore and blistered from the stiff new army boots issued to him the day before at the US Army processing station.

Ft. Dix Reception Station

Connor and 25 other young recruits poured out of the metal boxes with wheels sweating with fear and anxiety mixed with dreaded anticipation. The drill instructors  rapidly approached them with an intense sense of purpose and urgency. All three screaming obscenities for the recruits to get the hell out of the trucks and in formation. It was at that exact moment that Connor realized his life as he knew it was about to change dramatically.

Arriving at Basic Training Ft. Dix in Cattle Cars

The first few days of Basic Training were crazy, stressful, physically demanding and chaotic for PFC Connor O’Casey. Yes! PFC E-3 due to him having a college degree at enlistment. All the other young recruits were Private E-1 grade (the lowest rank) in the Army. This may have seemed like a good thing for Connor financially, however it turned out to be a serious detriment to his sanity, due to the fact that his PFC rank made him the highest ranking soldier in the platoon.

When the dust settled towards the end of that first insane day in the old wooden WWII barracks and the yelling, cursing and commands toned down before dinner a small, wiry, raspy voiced drill instructor came up to Conner and informed him he was now in charge of the entire barracks and the Delta Company Platoon. Talk about having to grow up fast! Conner was just given a serious “wake up call” and would be tested and challenged daily by his fellow recruits. Many of them tough guys from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem.

His primary duty being the cleanliness of the Barracks and making sure all the recruits were in formation at designated times for meals, training and PT. He had to inspect the beds, foot lockers, and make sure everyone’s boots were spit shined, in addition to keeping the floors swept, mopped and buffed. Shit!!! Conner thought….”What the hell have I gotten myself into”?

The Barracks

It didn’t take Conner long to realize he needed a friend – someone to support and help him carry out all his leadership duties. It turned out his bunk-bed mate Mike Pittman was just that guy. Mike was a streetwise guy from the Bronx with an attitude and a black belt in karate.  Conner had given Mike his time saving tip sleeping on top of the blankets and dust cover on his bunk using his field jacket as a blanket. This saved them both about 3 valuable minutes in the morning – time they could spend getting dressed and ready for morning PT. In a matter of days Conner and Mike were an inseparable team. The sheltered white suburban kid from Long Island and the bad ass black dude from the Bronx.

Connor and Mike Ft. Dix 1975

Morning consisted of getting everyone up at 4:30am to make beds, sweep and mop floors, shine boots, clean latrines and be lined up in formation by 5:15 for PT. Basic Training at Ft. Dix in October into November was cold, damp and miserable. Conner didn’t remember every feeling so cold as he did doing calisthenics and running 3 miles on blistered feet caused by the stiff new army boots.

Getty Images PT Photo from Ft. Dix

He constantly questioned whether he could actually make it through the 9 grueling weeks of boot camp. He was way outside his comfort zone – however Connor wasn’t a quitter and he vividly remembered his mother’s comment to him as he left for Basic Training. His Mom said she was was concerned that he may not have what it takes to survive the rigors and physical demands of Army Boot Camp. That comment in itself was a powerful incentive for him not to quit…no matter what.

There was a great deal of animosity coming from his fellow recruits towards Connor. Some was subtle as in a sneer or cold stare and other times it was blatant like a bump in the shoulder while walking by him and on some occasions refusing to clean the toilets forcing Connor to do it by himself.

Connor assigned duties to everyone in the Platoon like sweeping floors, mopping, buffing, and the dreaded latrine cleaning duty. He had to walk around every morning and evening before lights out and inspect that all the jobs were done satisfactory.

It was Conner who got blamed and screamed at if everything was not perfectly “squared away” in the barracks as the drill sergeant put it.  Many evenings Conner had to do push-up for something that was not done to the drill instructors approval. Some recruits with a bad attitude did a sloppy job on purpose just to get Conner in trouble. Conner was well aware he was not always doing the best job at leading the Platoon.  Being in charge was completely new to him. Connor was doing the best he could and was trying to learn from his mistakes. God knows he made plenty of them when dealing with his fellow recruits those first few weeks.  Some of his fellow recruits were Mexican and spoke very little English – this presented an on going challenge for him and the drill instructors to be told “no hablo ingles” all the time.  Everyone complained about pulling bathroom duty and because of this the drill sergeants made the entire platoon scrub the floors and toilets with toothbrushes. The stress within the company kept building and building and Connor usually felt the brunt of it.

PT at Ft. Dix

That first week was HELL! Conner sucked it up and eventually started to get the hang of Boot Camp and his leadership duties, in part thanks to his bunk mate Mike Pittman.  If a recruit didn’t do his job satisfactorily Mike paid him a visit – at first he was nice about it, but if that didn’t work he threatened to kick the privates ass if he didn’t get with the program and help with the clean-up duties.  After all, they all had to survive and graduate boot camp. Working as a team made life easier for everyone.  The drill instructors constantly preached “team work” when they weren’t screaming at the recruits, leading them in PT or marching them to the gun range for marksmanship training.

Rifle Range at Ft. Dix

After a few weeks things settled down for Conner and Delta Company. They did have good and caring drill instructors, although they were very tough and took no shit from any raw recruit. They even had surprise underwear inspections. Soldiers were not allowed to wear briefs in basic training – they had to wear the army issued white boxer shorts. Some recruits wore their own underwear – that is until they got caught in a surprise “drop your pants” inspection and got screamed at after doing fifty push-ups with their pants down to their ankles.

A few recruits dropped out after the first few weeks of training. It wasn’t easy to quit basic training back in the early 70’s, however there were ways usually related to psychological issues or like one guy who just kept sneaking off base only to be dragged back by the MP’s night after night. When Conner saw 3 recruits in civilian clothes standing in front of the barracks due to being discharged he told himself he would not be one of those guys.

By the halfway point most of the trouble makers and/or mentally unfit recruits had dropped out, been kicked out or smartened up and decided to get with the program. Delta Company was evolving into a team – The Delta Demons!

Cleaning Weapons

They airborne shuffled to the cadence of the Drill Instructors. “I want to be an airborne ranger, I want to live the life of danger, I want to go to Vietnam…….” They became proficient with M-16’s, could break them down – clean them and put their weapons back together blindfolded.

They ate nasty C-Rations out of green cans opening them with their army issue P-38’s and praying not to get the gross cold ham and egg ration. It was Thanksgiving weekend and most of Delta Platoon went home for the holiday. Connor and Mike chose to stay on the Ft. Dix base and just relax and enjoy their holiday meal at the mess hall. The barracks were relatively quiet except for a few of the troublemakers and complainers who chose to stay on base as well.  After eating a big Thanksgiving feast with all the trimmings and dessert Connor and Mike headed back to their barracks to take a nap. Connor on the top bunk and Mike on the bottom. Just when they dozed off three masked recruits quietly snuck up on Connor and started beating him with army boots and entrenching shovels.

For a moment Connor thought he was dreaming until the army issue shovel slammed into his chest. In a matter of seconds his buddy Mike lurched out of his bunk in total Karate mode throwing punches and kicks at the cowards – he tossed them around like rag dolls. It was over before Connor could get his breath and assess how bad he was hurt. Connor had experienced his first “blanket party” and Mike had saved his ass.  No one messed with either of them after that incident. Staying true to the recruit code no one mentioned what happened that Thanksgiving day – especially not to the drill instructors.  The word was out in Delta Company. Don’t mess with Connor and especially his friend Mike.

Infantry Training in the Field During Boot Camp

After having survived the blanket party Connor  focused all his energy on soldiering. He actually started enjoying the discipline, physical training and learning how to be an exemplary recruit. He looked down at himself after a quick army shower and realized he had lost weight and had to tighten his belt to keep his fatigues from falling off him. In PT Conner was one of the fastest runners in the platoon thanks to the lost weight and constant barking and encouragement from his drill instructors who apparently saw something in him. They pushed Connor to do his best and run his heart out. The wiry drill Sargent with the raspy voice called it having a “Can Do” attitude.

Eight weeks into Book Camp Delta Company was turning into a tight knit disciplined outfit. They ran together in tight formation – sang their cadence with gusto and became proficient on the rifle range. They even survived the gas chamber where all recruits had to pull off their gas masks in order to feel the effects of the gas.

Tear Gas Exposure in the Gas Chamber

Connor was no longer that sheltered chubby white kid from the suburbs of Long Island. He was becoming  more confident by the day and no longer feared giving orders to his platoon.

Graduation day arrived 9 weeks into Boot Camp and Delta Company was pumped and ready to march across the parade grounds in front of friends and family. They all would be receiving orders for AIT (Advance Training). Connor looked forward to attending the 6 month Photography School run by the Air Force in Denver Colorado.  While in that final formation Connor stood straight, tall and proud. His eyes scanned over his fellow recruits and felt a sense of pride for everyone in Delta Platoon who stuck it out and graduated Basic Training. It seemed his Drill Instructors were proud as well. Drill Sergeant Recker who had recently returned from his 3rd tour in Vietnam turned to face the platoon and screamed Delta Demons and we responded in unison….

“Delta Demons were are rough, we are tough, we are lean, we are mean – above the rest we are the best. If you can’t do it – lead us to it – if we can’t do it – it can’t be done. We can hold sir….we can HOLD!  Hey Hey Hey! Hoorah!”

Connor and company tossed their hats in the air and cheered.  Connor’s first chapter of Army life had ended and he had proved his mother wrong.

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