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Boot Camp recollections
     I had breezed through High School with very little effort, not with outstanding grades but good enough to satisfy my parents, (About a B student, they preferred A's to C's of course so B was usually my target). I had always admired my neighbor Mr. Parker who was a Civil Engineer with New York Department of Transportation. I had decide I was going to be a Civil Engineer as well. Not having money I decided to attend Hudson Valley Community College which had a 2 year program that was directly transferable to RPIs (Rennselear Polytechnic Institute) engineering program. I had earned a small New York State Regent's scholarship through testing in High School which covered my small tuition. (I had no idea how I could afford RPI when the time came). I managed a to make the Deans list the first semester in the Fall of 1969. (A lot of work carrying 18 credits with labs). By the second semester the Vietnam War became my main concern, especially when I drew a draft lottery number of 24. I also got into marijuana and LSD on top of my already being an alcoholic. My grades slide and the third semester I had a .6 GPA for the semester. They were willing to let me come back the next semester and keep my college 2-S deferment but I decided I might as well face my dilemma. By that time I was a occasional war protester and was trying to figure out how to dodge the draft. In high school I had worked with a Conscious Objector at St Peter's hospital. I briefly tried that path but was told they had changed the laws and didn't have the new forms yet. (I really didn't pursue it). I was contemplating Canada and jail as options. (I still don't believe Vietnam was a just war). When the draft board invited me down for a physical I went down to talk to the Navy recruiter. My cousin and I tried to join under the buddy system but he kept failing the IQ tests. He only missed by a few points and they were going to waver it until they found out he had been busted for one joint. The Navy denied him enlisting. Latter he tried all the other branches of the service and was denied by them because of his drug bust. Latter he was drafted into the Army, the draft board didn't care as long as you were breathing.
     Meanwhile I had tested high enough to put my IQ in the top 1%. (GCT =71, ARI + CGT =140. Forty years latter I used the GCT score to join Mensa for a year (top 2% requirement)). The recruiter saw my scores and came up with "Do I have a deal for you". I had been planning on doing 3 years to avoid the 2 year draft but he talked me into a 6 year commitment. The highest scores (125 ARI-GCT) were required for Nuclear Power School (a 7 year hitch).  Advanced Electronics required 120 and Officer Candidate School 115. A friend had put himself through computer programming school after High School and I decided on computers. I also picked ET (Electronics Technician) and AT (Aviation Electronics Technician) as second and third choices but got my first choice DS (Data Systems Technician). I joined under a 5 month delayed enlistment and went to hide out in a psychedelic Volkswagen microbus in the Florida Everglades, visit my Grandparents and get out of the Albany winter. In May of 1971 I was visiting a friend at Clarkson College of Technology near the St Laurence. I remember looking at a bridge that crossed into Canada and thinking of that possibility. Instead I turning around to hitch hiked 150 miles back though the Adirondacks to Albany and entered the Navy.
Seaman Apprentice Louis M Lenzenhuber D11 41 69

 in front of the barracks (I believe the right side has a 3rd class crow for my Recruit Mail P.O. duties) At one time the Navy wore the insignia on the the right. In my Navy it was and still is on the left shoulder. I was issued a service number D11 41 69 when I entered boot camp. By the time I graduated the service number was replaced by my social security number.
     The first plane flight I ever took was from Albany, NY to Chicago. I know I landed at O'Hare but I don't remember how I got from there to great Lakes which is in Waukegan. Illinois. I want to say the government took care of the transportation. I got to Boot Camp for the Memorial Day Weekend and the barbers where on leave. I got to laugh at all the boots with cue ball hair cuts until they got back after the holiday. I had shortened my hair considerably thinking they wouldn't scalp you as bad if your hair weren't too long. Wrong! I remember a kid named Bushey who had big boils on the back of his neck that were revealed after his long hair was removed. We started out on one side and eventually we moved to the other side of the road. (It was a milestone to make the move, just as completing service week was a measuring point on the program) Our company Commander was a Signalman Chief who looked like an orangutan. (exaggeration) Occasionally he would have us hold our riffles out at arms length in front of us until we dropped our arms from the stain. He would always join us and be the last one to drop his arms. He would let us go to a Sunday movie, then call us back in the middle. Promise his recruit Petty Officers an extra liberty then give them a physical  workout instead. Just training you for the real Navy, on the ship it seems like we would always pull out of port on a Friday and in on a Monday. 
     I was at a training session in a large hangar like building and I was bored and looking down the sights on my riffle (your riffle went everywhere with you and you marched there and back). The instructor had me do laps around the building occasionally pointing my riffle at the ceiling and yelling "Bang Bang you're dead". After a while you began to feel like a pin cushion from all the shots. (Usually from a pneumatic gun that if you moved it would slice you.) They always warned you about the square needle in the left nut. That was Bicillian, a large shot in the ass with a syringe. The company worked out after the shot to minimize the adverse effects. I didn't get the shot with the company and didn't exercise afterwards. The next morning when I hit the deck at revelry I fell to the floor. I couldn't walk right for a week or more. The bad part was I couldn't march worth a shit which pissed off the company commander. I never marched to the beat of a different drummer, I couldn't march at all, ask SMC Pectol.
     Service week was a week where you got up before 4am and got to bed around midnight. Most of us worked in the galley during that period. After a while you don't know if your coming or going because of the lack of sleep. We would turn the lights back on a little after the were put out and act like we were getting ready to start our long work day. One guy would get fully dressed until he figured out we were messing with him. One night we did it 3 times in a row. He caught on when we tried the 4th. Our company commander liked us so much we had two weeks of service week.
     We did get a couple of liberties. One in Chicago where I remember the loop and Old Town. I actually started at the USO, the only one I've ever been in. One guy had spaghetti and red wine and got sick all over his dress whites. We managed to smuggle him back into the barracks. Another liberty I ended up at a beer festival in Milwaukee. We also got marched into Soldier Field for a game between the Bears and a college all star team. We sat behind  one of the goal posts in the nose bleed section. We weren't allowed to drink, so it wasn't really a liberty it was a show of uniform.
Mail Petty Officer Recruit Petty Officer Third Class. Was supposed to get and extra liberty for volunteering, Company Commander got pissed and made the Petty Officers do an extra physical workout instead. A real promotion.... to Seaman 08/12/71 on completion of Boot Camp. My pay almost doubled during Boot Camp because the lower pay grades got a big raise. Seaman Recruit (E-1),Seaman Apprentice (E-2) and  Seaman (E-3)
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