Dear Sgt. Grit,
Re: combination locks. At MCRD San Diego (June-Aug 1968) we had two combination locks… one small for our footlocker and one large for our rifle. The rifle was attached to the racks (bunk bed style) through a hole in the rack with a bicycle lock. We were living in Quonset huts at the time.
Unfortunately, when we were at the rifle range at Camp Pendleton for two weeks, we were in brand new barracks. While our Quonset huts had to be clean at all time, the D.I.'s were under massive pressure to make sure that the new barracks were more than pristine.
This meant that many things that we had previously done indoors now had to be done outside. It also meant that we had to "play Japanese" and take off our combat boots before we could enter the barracks. No extra time was allowed for putting them back on, and as recruits are prone to do, we looked for ways to cut corners.
Our M-14s were not locked to our racks, but to a proper rifle rack. Unlocking your combination lock while a bunch of other recruits were jammed in around you urgently trying to get their locks to open the first time around… made for a real traffic jam. So most of the recruits simply had their locks set so that a simple pull would open it and release the weapon. Sad to say, I was one of those recruits.
One day our Series Officer (Captain Kean, who as a Major would be in charge at the Embassy in Saigon in 1975) was transferred out and we got an honest to goodness 2nd Lt. (just back from RVN) as a replacement. Captain Kean made a habit of bringing up any problems to the D.I.s in private. The new Lt. had different ideas.
We marched back from mess and in front of the barracks was a jumble of M-14s piled every-which-way… The Lt. had walked through the barracks and pulled every lock… most opened immediately. He ordered us to run into the barracks and retrieve our M-14s… and fall in… in one location. Those who could not find their M-14s in the rifle racks were instructed to fall in… in another place. The D.I.s were in shock… he had never brought this to their attention and was running this show in front of everybody.
As I ran into the barracks, I was resigned to a slow and painful death… The D.I.s were massively unhappy… in more ways than one… and I was going to be included in the group that helped cause the problem. I got inside and my rifle was still in the rifle rack! I pulled on the lock and it immediately opened… Either the Lt. pulled at the wrong angle, or lost his place.
Anybody out there know who the patron saint of recruits is? I owe him… big time.
James F. Owings
Platoon 3017