Williams, Phil, Capt

Best Moment
Following graduation from Boot Camp at Parris Island on 9 November 1965 and being a Marine for the first time, I spent my first Marine Corps Birthday, 10 November 1965, on a bus with other members of 180 Series heading to our next phase of training - that being basic infantry training at Camp Lejeune, NC.    Although we were no longer Recruits, we were still heading into the unknown.  The reputation of the Infantry Training Regiment (ITR) at Camp Geiger had already started to filter through our group of new MCRD Marines.  The big question for us was “what will ITR really be like.”  We were being trained to be Marine riflemen, and we knew that Vietnam was in our immediate future once we graduated from ITR.  We all knew that being a Marine rifleman is what our DI’s had told us was the primary purpose of all Marines from the top to the bottom no matter what your MOS was.  The rumor was that some of us had already been assigned other MOSs by our Drill Instructors before we left Parris Island.  But our Drill Instructors did not even hint that had happened. 
 
After our arrival at Camp Geiger we were checked-in and needed equipment was issued.  This was our first exposure to the Cattle-Car transportation system that we would use over and over at ITR to go to our various training sites. Then we were transported to Camp Stone Bay.  This really put us out “in the country,” and we knew this was not going to provide us the “comforts” of Parris Island.
 

Worst Moment
The one thing about being in North Carolina and out in the woods at Camp Stone Bay during the winter months (starting in late October) was the weather and how unpredictable it was.  While we were issued cold weather gear at Camp Geiger when we first checked in, it was not until we reached Camp Stone Bay that we realized how necessary the winter gear would be.  While the weather always seemed to be cold, even on the sunny days, it was on those days that it rained or snowed that you really missed Parris Island and those pesky sand fleas. 
 
At ITR we received advanced weapons training, NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) instruction including the gas chamber, as well as small unit infantry training.  A memory that will last a lifetime was my first experience in the gas chamber.  Tear gas is not pleasant under any circumstance but having to remove your gas mask and sing the Marine Corps Hymn with gusto is a memory you will remember forever.  And what was worse is later realizing that it was part of being a Marine.  It seems that everywhere I was stationed in the Marine Corps (except Marine Barracks Annapolis) I had to spend some time in the gas chamber.   This is an event I would not wish on any of my friends. 
 
At Camp Geiger / Camp Stone Bay we lived in Quonset Huts with all the “comforts” and “privacy” of home.  As mentioned, we were transported around in the “Cattle Cars” for obvious reasons – quantity of passengers carried.  We had one of the Cattle Car roll on its side making a turn and the doors swung inward.  A Marine standing in the door well had his ankle turned 180o.  After the surgery to repair his ankle, we learned he was given a Medical Discharge.
 

Other Memories
Between 1954 & 1966, all Marines received 12 weeks of Boot Camp (Basic Training) and 8 weeks of Infantry Training Regiment (ITR) regardless of their Primary Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), growing out of the philosophy that all Marines are riflemen first.  The Infantry Training Battalion's mission is to train and qualify Marines in entry level infantry military occupational specialties that develops new Marines into infantrymen "who can fight, survive, and win in a combat situation".  The first two weeks are a common skills package that all MOSs share, where Marines receive instruction in combat marksmanship, use of grenades, identifying and countering improvised explosive devices, convoy operations, Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT), tactical formations, land navigation, and patrolling.  Learning tactics and being exposed to a variety of weapons and equipment was very enlightening for a “city boy” from Atlanta like me.   At Parris Island, it was our rifle and bayonet that we became comfortable with for keeping us alive.  But at ITR we learned the importance of the M-60 machine gun, the 81mm mortar and the rifle grenade launcher to add to the potential fire power of Marines in combat.  But in all cases, we were reminded over-and-over again that we were being trained to be Marine riflemen for the war in Vietnam.
 
After ITR we were each assigned our basic MOS and given orders for where we would next serve in the Marine Corps.  We packed our sea bags and set out for our assigned duty stations for on-the-job (OJT) training or to a designated Training Command.  For me, I had orders to join the 9th Engineer Battalion at Camp Pendleton, CA. for on-the-job training as a Combat Engineer with a 1300 MOS, instead of being transferred to the Marine Corps Engineer School at Courthouse Bay for formal training as a Combat Engineer.  But as part of the Marine Corps build-up for Vietnam, the 9th Engineer Battalion had been re-activated on 1 November 1965.  It needed to be staffed as rapidly as possible with both seasoned and new Combat Engineers.  Marines were already on the ground in Da Nang, Vietnam in early 1965.  And Combat Engineers would be needed as well as other support MOS’s as the Marine Corps presence increased. But receiving my orders to go directly to the 9th Engineer Battalion instead of receiving formal training at Courthouse Bay was another example of God’s plan for my life being carried out.  Had I gone to Engineer School at Courthouse Bay after ITR, I would not have crossed paths with Lt. Bob Shoff.  Being in Lt. Shoff’s Heavy Equipment Platoon set me on the path to eventually attend the United States Naval Academy.