CALM BLUE WATERS

The long winding road going to Olanggapo awakened me as the Victory Liner bus approaches Magsaysay Avenue. It is still pitch dark as dawn wont break for another 3 to 4 hours. The ride from Manila to Subic was uneventful, thank God, on a Friday night.

As the bus creeps to a stop, the conductor hollers “habol pa kau sa goodtime …baba na po kau!!!”

I stow my backpack hurriedly and I excitedly get down from the bus. At 2:00 am in the morning, Magsaysay Avenue fronting Subic Naval Base is still kicking up quite a street party.  You can see drunken American sailors crossing from one bar to another, with exotic looking Pinay’s. My gosh, and they call themselves the best naval fleet in the world!

I follow the queue of other young men as they make their way towards Gate 01 of Subic Bay Naval Base.  My appointment card says–”report to gate 01 at 0430 hours”

I sit down on the cold dark pavement alongside about 150 other hopefuls who wish to join the mightiest naval force of the modern world.  Smokes are offered by other friendlies and I politely take a stick to make small talk. In the midst of amber glow and hazy smoke from shared cigarettes, you learn about other people quickly. Majority were motivated by the hope of being accepted by Uncle Sam as immigrants or citizens after serving their mandatory contracts. Others who are looking for better education see it as delayed-scholarship program courtesy of the US government. The more happy-go-lucky ones are lured by the US Navy’s tagline - “See the World, Join the Navy”…read as - (HAVE A GIRL AT EVERY PORT OF CALL).  There are only a few of us who have a different motivation in joining the US Navy. Become an Elite Warrior.  That has been the greatest motivation for me and a handful who right out of high school choose to enlist.

To be trained, disciplined, and exposed to the ways of an exclusive group of fighting men.  If the journey to that journey should start at the foot of Magsaysay Avenue, then so be it.

A few pimps stray into the waiting hopefuls and tries to negotiate quick-deals for a couple hundred pesos. Too bad, no takers. The young men know that the examination this morning will have a physical fitness component and it’s a suicide deal if they falter due to their libido. Hmmm perhaps business is not very good even for a dollar-rich environment that they can offer their “services” to their brown brothers.

I down my second mineral bottle at the clock nears 04:30 hrs.  I proceed to take a leak at a wall just like 150 others cleaning their bladders when the bullhorn sounds. It’s showtime. People scamper to the gate as an Ellis type  jeep approaches. It screeches to a halt and a burly black guy with a thick chart alights. We are all awed in silence.

“Today will start with a run of 2.5kms. Those who will not cross the designated end line after 15 minutes will get back on the bus. Good luck gentlemen”. We were handed a yellow card with a 4-digit number after surrendering our appointment cards.  They line us up ten men per column. We write down the time the black burly guys says and we start our run.  We follow the signs put up along the base to an unknown destination. It was a mad dash as some of the men sprint.  It was like the devil was chasing after you. I already know the folly of sprinting at the start only to lose your wind in the end. I do not go for speed but maintain a quick pace. Running track and playing football has conditioned me for long runs. Approximately 10 minutes into the run, I let it go with speed. With a raised heart-rate and warmed body temperature, it was all systems go as I race to the finish line.  I pass 4 of my run mates as I make it to the end-zone, they were already panting and walking. I reached the goal with at least 3 minutes to spare.  The late runners were herded by the burly black man into a waiting bus at the curb of the street. 15 teams of 10 mean each raced to the finish line. Approximately 40 percent or 60 men were cut at this stage.      

“In your next evolution, you will do 100 sit-ups in 60 seconds followed immediately by 50 push-ups in 120 seconds. Proceed in pairs and wait for your “orange-cards”.  The dark burly man collects the first card and hands us the orange markers labeled “Sit-ups, Push-ups “. We positioned on the ground as a partner holds down your legs in preparation for the sit-up test.  The bullhorn lashes a shrill and the test is on.  Your partner counts out your production as a verifier stands watch.  After three minutes, the test is over and another 30% were sent back to the bus.  

With less than 60 men left, we are herded into a single-storey building.  The dark burly man leads us into a spacious room with individual seats and tables.  He motions us to find our seats. “You will be tested in your written proficiency under a very stressful condition.This is an hour-long test”. As if on cue, the air condition blasts at full force.  The brightly written room with florescent lights were turned-off in favor of puny light-bulbs . Oh what the hell is this? The air conditioning is so cold and our backs are still sweaty from the physical tests that it will soon create a lot of discomfort. The bad lighting surely will affect your reading speed. But it gets better, a stack of paper, almost an inch thick is given to each applicant.  If they expect us to finish this within an hour, hell I can probably be a Navy Seal by the end of the day!

“You may begin!”boomed the dark burly man as we hurriedly flip the pages, frantically reading the instructions. I scan the first few pages and all are multiple choice questions.Ok,  at least a one of out of five choices mean a 20% chance of getting it right. I plunge right in and started answering the questions.

Jezzaz H Christ! The questions are about naval engineering, architecture, and what the fuck is pneumatics? Is this for fucking real? How do they expect Pinoy Brown Brother to pass this test when the questions are for geared towards those who have taken engineering subjects. Can’t we just swim 1.5Km in the open sea with Fins and Mask? I trained for that all year after reading the Navy Seals PT manual! The items I knew I answered as best as I could. The items which were from Mars, Venus, and Jupiter I let fate answer using the “ceiling approach”(you look at the ceiling and ask God to make your pencil land on the right choice)!!

An alarm bell goes off and the silence of the room is broken with a collective sigh of disbelief. I turn around and see a few faces shivering in the cold. Some fell asleep and hardly got passed the 1st chapter of the test.  I flipped the pages of my booklet and shake my head. Damn, I didn’t finish the whole set. I hope 75% will be good enough.

The dark burly man closes the light bulbs, lowers the air conditioning, and returns the lighting to fluorescent lamps. Our eyes took about a minute to adjust to re-glow of the room. “Gentlemen, you can proceed to the bathrooms on your left and take a 15 minutes break.Prepare for the interview “.  We hurriedly went to the bathrooms and were quite surprised to see how clean and orderly it was. The fixtures maybe old but they were all working. The plumbing had no leaks and the faucets were all neatly shined. I guess this is what they call ” in ship shape”. The hopefuls exchange stories on how they think they fared in the written test as we combed our hairs and washed our faces.  A short whistle was heard that signaled us to return to the testing room.

“When I call you name, you will proceed to front and center. Stand at attention before Staff Sergeant Éclair and receive your documents. You may proceed to your right marked Door 1254. Goodluck”…barked the dark burly man.

OMG! 2 candidates up and I haven’t been called. 6,7 more called and I feel the end is coming near. Ah finally, I am called under candidate number 0193! I walk pass the dark burly man who gives me a nod as I proceed to the desk were Staff Sgt Eclair sat. I bang at the table, make a snappy hand-salute, and say “candidate 0193 reporting as ordered, sir!”.  Staff Sgt Eclair, stands up. He says..”no need to salute Mac, you are a civilian here”..as he hands me a brown envelope. I turn around and march towards the door neatly marked as Door 1254.

The door leads to a tube, with grey carpeting much like the one’s you see in airports when boarding or alighting from a plane. The tube curves to the right and another steel door is at the end. I open the door and a bright flash of sunlight hit my face as I squint my eyes to recover my bearing.  Huh? The tube led to a steel downward ramp. The 3 flight of stairs leads down to a pavement on the road.

“Pogi, sakay na sa bus,uwi ka na”.  Crap! Door 1254 was the last cut for the whole examination.

The other young hopefuls who were cut before me were all jeering and laughing as I climbed into the bus. “Putang ina nila! Sasali tayo sa NPA!” shouted the other guys who were visibly irked at failing the exams as well. The bus trip out of the base was uneventful. Some us just hanged-out over night at cheap motels outside Subic Naval Base were we drank the blues away. Who would have known that six years later, in 1991, the mighty US Navy would finally ship out of Subic Bay after 50 years of imperialist  presence here in the Philippines.