We had a day or two our first week where they drilled and harassed us almost endlessly, then they we had breaks away from our DIs. The barber shop was one of those breaks. We were in line to have our heads shaved, and one kid sat down in the chair, had his head shaved, took one look in the mirror and DORed on the spot. We couldn't believe it. Why didn't he DOR 5 minutes earlier when he still had his hair?

I went the other way. One look in the mirror and there was no way I would consider quitting with that shaved head. If they didn't want me, they were going to have to throw me out...lol

I remember seeing a guy who had DORed his first week the night before I had to show up. I flew to Pensacola, and met up with another guy (ODU grad?) who had the same officer recruiter from Richmond the day before we showed up. As a Navy brat, he was a little more familiar with Pensacola, so we had dinner at McGuire's before we checked in. There was a guy with a shaved head sitting alone at the bar. There was no way I would ever be "that guy."

Speaking of "alone time" away from the DIs. Still remember when our class was sitting around waiting to get our "uniform" issue. I looked around the room, and with one exception, was able to identify everyone who would make it through AOCS. The people who were going to make it were joking with their classmates. The ones who were going to DOR were really withdrawn, and didn't talk to anyone. Only one of the withdrawn guys made it. He actually made it through flight (or NFL) school too and got his wings.

The guy from ODU, you might ask? He got a temporary NAMI-whammy bump into the next class. He also successfully made it through. I almost got a one-week bump for eyes, but I mistakenly went for a more detailed examination that day and passed. I think they wanted everyone to be rushed through, and anyone that didn't pass the initial test would be held back to get the more detailed eye exam later. After what we went through up to that point, I really didn't want to leave my class. I was also worried I would have to become a NFO...oh the horror....lol