I had a great time here. Lots of exercise, sunny, ...

I had a great time here. Lots of exercise, sunny, very close to lots of great places, and interesting food opportunities. I remember during our off hours, some recruits would hang out at the "food court" and eat.

Some would quibble over terms and say a more accurate portrayal would be sneaking out at night and scavenging MRE components from dumpsters and hiding them in their footlockers, Private Pyle Style, but they just don't know how to look on the bright side of life. Plus, all the food smuggled in wasn't just from dumpsters.

One recruit had his wife bring in a bunch of candy to the Mormon Sunday service, and several recruits joined him in hiding it under their cammies to sneak it back into the squad bay, where they recruit-taped it to the tops of the pipes above the showers. That was the best candy we ever had, let me tell you.

One lucky recruit even found some week-old Claim Jumpers leftovers that had just been thrown away one night, and got himself a nice Claim Jumpers meal, even if he did litter the head with the containers for the drill instructors to find the next morning. Despite the best efforts of the drill instructors, we never did find out who the lucky winner of the trash-digging contest was, though we all had our suspicions. While I could go on all day about the lovely food, there were plenty of other high points.

Though a few poor sports did break the rules about turning in everything on arrival including the most basic common sense, by and large, most people went along with it. There were plenty of fun events they hosted here such as the Improvise Toilet Paper Challenge, the Drill Instructor Shuffle, and the Bladder Control Failure March. In the end, I think the old motto sums the place up the best. San Diego Recruit Depot: Where Civilians Become Mentally Challenged Recruits.