I attended recruiting school at MCRD, San Diego. As with most schools in the Marine Corps we were allowed to select three choices of assignment. For whatever reason, I selected San Francisco as my first choice. Surprise! I got it.

Introduction

Reporting in I went to Treasure Island, the headquarters of the Twelfth Marine Corps Recruiting District. I was assigned to the Recruiting Station, San Francisco so I left TI and went to Alameda (a suburb of Oakland) and reported in to that recruiting station. I was, further, assigned to Recruiting Substation (RSS), San Francisco, so I was sent across the bay to that office.

Located in the basement of the federal building, the RSS was spacious, shabby, and filled with a bunch of derelicts, drunks, and really sharp Marines. I met Master Gunnery Sergeant Percy Hairston for the first time, our NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge). Medium height, skinny as hell, lousy teeth, he had a really keen sense of humor. He constantly told people that he was the brother of “Happy” Hairston, the basketball player. Naturally he wasn’t, but it made for some great conversations in the office.

As soon as they found out that I could type over a hundred WPM I became the clerk. For the first three or four months I typed up all the reports, enlistment contracts, letters, and whatever else. I occasionally talked to applicants and managed to enlist five or six and approached Top Hairston one afternoon to point out that each recruiter was supposed to enlist three applicants per month.

“Max, don’t worry about it. Come over here.” He took me to his desk and showed me the log he kept. I was astounded that I had enlisted three applicants each month since I reported in. “All of us have our jobs to do,” he told me. “As long as you do what I tell you, you’ll make quota.”

Nuff said. We had, at the time, seven recruiters in the sub-station. One in San Rafael, one way out on Ocean Avenue, and five of us in the main office. Here’s the breakdown. The recruiting station was in Alameda. The sub-station was in San Francisco, and the Ocean Avenue and San Rafael offices were called Permanent Contact Stations. I had been there several months when Top Hairston decided to make a change in personnel. Gunny Roberts, manning the PCS Ocean Avenue, was recalled to the RSS and I was sent out to take his place.