Saturday. I had to get up really early, get into my Marine utilities, pack my gear and drive to the Marine Corps Battalion Reserve Center in San Bruno, California. I had to check-in before 6am. The base was a beehive of activity.

When I checked in, I was assigned to my company. When I checked in at my company’s office, I was assigned to Second Platoon. Since this was the first time I checked into the battalion since completing my 6 months of active duty, I had to be issued all my combat gear: helmet, flak jacket, M14 rifle, and all my 782 gear. It was a busy morning. The battalion had to be packed and ready to go by noon. At noon, we would board classic big Marine 6 x 6 6-wheel trucks which would transport the battalion to the train station. At the station, we would board the train that would take the entire battalion to Camp Pendleton roughly 500 miles south.  

After a couple of hours, the long train began to slowiy move south. There was not much to do on the train except sleep and eat the box lunch we were provided. The train trip took 19 hours.  When not sleeping, I got to know a couple of guys in my platoon: Gary and Eric. They had both been in the battalion for almost a year since they had completed their 6 months active duty.  

The train finally ended up on a spur near Camp Pendleton. We board 6x6 trucks which drove up to Infantry Camp San Onofre. Onofre was where I had gone through ITR (advanced infantry training) and where I had served in the aggressor platoon for the rest of my 6-month active duty: quonset huts, steel double bunks, wooden footlockers, and concrete floors. Typical grunt comfort. This would be homebase for the next 2 weeks. We dumped our gear and went to noon chow.  

We spent the rest of the afternoon moving into our hut, then went to evening chow. Lights were out at 10pm but many of us were already asleep. Reveille would go at 5am.  

5am. We did some PT and then went to chow. We then put on all of our combat gear and marched as a company several miles up into mountains of Camp Pendleton to a classroom: Bleachers with a slanted metal roof facing a wooden stage.  

The instructor made clear, with combat Marines now in Vietnam, we were in a new era. These coming 2 weeks would sharpen our combat skills. The first class was land navigation:  map reading and hiking as fire teams (4 Marines) to find exact locations designated only by coordinates. We paused briefly for a cold C-ration lunch. The instructor had us hiking up mountains, through thick brush finding one location and another and hiking back to the classroom. This was July in Southern California.  By the time class ended in late afternoon, we were all filthy, sweaty and exhausted. Remember, we had to wear all our gear including our flak jacket, 2-4 full canteens of water,  and our 10-pound M14 rifle at all times. As a company, we ran back to our huts at San Onofre.  

Evening chow and all of us were ready to hit the rack. In the mid-summer July heat, with all our gear on, hiking up and down the mountains of Camp Pendleton, this was tough, demanding training.  

Tuesday morning. 5am. PT. Morning chow. Then, all our gear, the company hiked several miles over hill and dale in a different direction to a different classroom. The instructor reviewed squad (3 fireteams, a radio man and a squad leader) tactics such as squad patrols and setting up a squad ambush. The only break was cold C-ration lunch.  Late afternoon, sweaty and tired, as a company led by our Company Commander, Captain Tully, a lean and fit Marine, we ran the several miles back to Camp Onofre. Evening chow, a shower and most of us were sound asleep before the lights went out at 10 pm.

Wednesday morning. PT. Morning chow. Boarded trucks which carried us to the rifle range. At the class area, a PMI (a Primary Marksmanship Instructor) reviewed the basics of shooting our M14 rifle. We practiced both seated and prone shooting positions. We then fired our weapon the rest of the day with on our C-ration break. As a company, we then ran the 6 miles back to Camp Onofre. Evening chow, a shower and hit the rack.  

Thursday morning. 5am. Morning chow. We were each issued 4 C-ration meals as we were going on an overnight problem. As a company, we did a right face and went into a route step and hiked up into the mountains. After several hours of demanding humping, we halted and formed a company perimeter. We were ordered to dig in for the night. We ate our C-ration lunch cold then went to work. We buddied up and with our entrenching tools, dug a 2-man hole. The ground was dry and hard.  It took us a couple of hours to dig a semblance of a two-man fighting hole. As unlike Vietnam, we were not going to be actually mortared, our phony hole was acceptable.  

We ran squad patrols until late afternoon then settled in for the night. We had time so I made a C-rat stove and actually heated up my C-ration meal. I made a coffee with one pack of instant coffee, 2 packs of sugar and 2 packs of instant creamer. Smoking and sipping my super C-rat coffee felt luxurious.  

I was wide awake, so I took first watch. It was amazing how cold the nights got at Pendleton once the sun went down. I appreciated the extra warmth my flak jacket provided. 2 hours later, I woke Eric. I went out pretty quick.

Next thing I know, there was loud chaos, flares going off, smoke grenades and rifle blanks being fired. We were being attacked by an aggressor force. Eric and I (Eric is a lean 6 feet, 3 inches tall) so our hole was a joke. And, just like that, the attack was over. We dozed off and on until a cold first light. Eric and I heated our C-rat meal and made our coffee. Following a C-rat breakfast, we sipped coffee and smoked until the order came to saddle up.  

We hiked the long way home and got back to Camp Onofre early afternoon. There would be a company inspection at 3pm so we turned to cleaning up our gear and giving our boots a polish. Standing at attention in formation, Captain Tully, looking super squared away, inspected our platoon. He was pleased with our more intense Vietnam era training. He said the coming week would take our training even a notch higher in intensity so we should enjoy our liberty. And we were dismissed.  

After showering and cleaning up, Eric, Gary and me straggled to the chow hall and enjoyed a leisurely meal. Then we sat and smoked. Finally, we slowly walked back to our hut.  

We slept in and finally got up in time to catch noon chow. Then we gathered our laundry and caught a bus into the closest town: Oceanside. Laundry complete, we had delicious steak and eggs, smoked and drank coffee then caught a bus back to Pendleton and Camp Onofre.

We lazed around on Sunday and ate leisurely meals at the chow hall. We were all asleep before the lights went out.

Quality

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