After a week of lectures at the Twentieth NCR Training Department
Headquarters in Gulfport, two additional weeks of training follow
at Keesler Air Base where the material covered in the lectures is
put into practice.
The first of the two weeks is spent on the rifle range. Here
along with the hours of snapping in, listening to instructions,
pulling target butts, and policing up the brass, one also acquaints
himself with his M16 rifle and fires for qualification. The words
"With an empty magazine and one round, lock and load!" ring on in
ones ears for weeks to follow.
The second week provides far more diverse entertainment.
It is at this time when the finer points of defensive warfare are
taught. An endurance course sharpens the eye for trip flares and
booby traps as well as acquainting the trainee with the subtle niceties
of swamp wading. Scavenger hunts, both night and day, serve to
familiarize Seabees with a means of going places without becoming lost.
The grand finale, however, is an all-night defensive perimeter exercise which
teaches, if nothing else, to shoot first and ask questions later.
