The Grinder

The AOCS trainees called the large, paved parking lot behind the Indoc Battalion and WWII barracks, the Grinder. It was half a mile long and 200 feet wide. Near the center on the Grinder’s south side was the Aviation Cadet Recreation and Athletic Club, better known as the ACRAC. The Navy built it in 1935, and over the decades it served as the aviation cadet watering hole. In 1966, it still served the same function. It held the distinction of being the only place on the base where AOCS candidates could get a drink. Shared drinks on Friday and Saturday nights at the ACRAC built comradery with your classmates.

 The Grinder’s widespread use filled our calendars at AOCS. From our marching out of Indoc Battalion to chow on our first day to our last drink at the ACRAC the night before our commissioning, we never escaped the Grinder. There, we performed military marching movements, sword drills, and parade formations. But the Grinder’s ultimate curse involved working off our demerits on sultry Saturday afternoons.

 The Grinder picture shows a collection of AOCS candidates from various classes marching off their demerits. They were paying for an assortment of offenses discovered by DIs and Candidate Officers during the preceding week. When assigned weekend punishment as a misbehaving candidate, I would muster on the Grinder at 1300 hours. On two separate occasions, I earned a 5-1 for a dirty rifle and later a 10-2 for improperly folded socks. A 5-1 meant five demerits with one hour of marching. A 10-2 signified ten demerits with marching for two hours. To prepare for our marching, we would drink water and down our salt tablets. If a candidate was lucky enough to earn a 10-2, they got a break after one hour. They would get another drink of water. Candidate officers administered the punishment. Rifle drills with our M-1s as we marched up and down the grinder added to the workload. Wet, sweaty soaked uniforms and sore feet accompanied the workouts.

 Your classmates who escaped punishment  enjoyed liberty and were free to come and go as they desired. To include putting on their liberty whites and visiting the ACRAC, while the sinful candidates marched in the hot Florida sun. Classmates, after visiting the ACRAC, would remind you how good the cold beer tasted. It made your day knowing they were thinking of you.

 You were never alone. Your classmates joined you to pay for their sins.  They shared the marching hardships in an oppressive summer sun. We accepted our punishment, and it strengthened us.