Camp LeJeune
There was disappointment when reporting in at Camp LeJeune. Again, I arrived in the middle of the night, for reasons known only to the fates. The Marine on watch took me to my bunk. I walked through the common area and saw disarray. Looking back now, it doesn't seem very bad, but then? Right out of PI?
I did sleep, albeit restlessly with this "concern" in the back of my mind. How could this be a Marine Corps barracks? They didn't prepare us for this at PI. So, I had to find rhyme or reason to it. It didn't take long. I formally reported aboard, and found that, coincidentally, my bunkmate was the company clerk. She had introduced herself and welcomed me at reveille but I didn't know where on the base she worked. I think she withheld that to surprise me.
Being the company clerk, she picked me for her new bunkmate. I guess based on my last name or because she'd never met anyone from NY, I really don't know. She helped me immensely to adjust. I found out that the barracks did sparkle on field night once a week and was always left squared away before everyone left for work in the morning. I saw that when returning to my area. I can't say it was PI-caliber but it was much better than what I'd seen in the middle of the night. At the moment, though, I still wished I had been sent back to PI for permanent duty or to HQMC.
Comm center
I found one girl from my platoon who was in my squad-bay and she was also a 2500. We reported in together to the Base Communications Center and soon became the best of friends. The Comm center was in the basement of Building #1, the headquarters for Marine Corps Base. During the day while in the uniform of the day, we entered through the front door. For watches that began at 1600 or 2330, wearing utility uniforms, we entered through a window and climbed down a ladder that went into the Comm center's main room.
I met other women who worked on one of four watches. Most of them were billeted in upper-port whereas I was in upper-starboard along with Evelyn, my friend from boot camp. Our squad-bay wasn't cut out for watch-standers, so we had to make many adjustments. We were excused from inspections when coming off mid-watches, so we had to find someplace else to sleep, such as on the pool table at the club, etc. I became close with most of the Comm girls, as we were called, and found most of us had the same experiences regarding life in the Marine Corps at Camp LeJeune.
On the way to the base, the night I arrived at LeJeune from J'ville, I was on a bus with around forty Marines. All male. By the time I got off the bus, several of those Marines had volunteered to show me around the base and nearby town. I thought it was so nice of them.
This is another thing they hadn't prepared us for at PI: the onslaught of men. Especially when stationed at a remote base such as LeJeune. Women were few and far between. I was told at that time there were 40,000 men and 150 women stationed there.
Private Darby
