When I was inducted into the US Navy, I was sworn in at the Army base near downtown Detroit and then we boarded a train to Chicago for a ride to boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. (the room where we were sworn in smelled very foul. The Lt jg explained, "we just had a draftee get sworn in and then he puked all over the place.")
After being sworn in, we sat in a drill hall for about 6 hours with nothing to do. After that it was my first long train ride. The boy put in charge of us had a list of our names and that is when he told the man-boy next to me, "your service number is B52 1901...D. Bernath, your service number is B52 1902, etc., etc."
That was a number that I learned on December 14, 1966 and will never forget (I'm sure you know your service number today as well)
So as we are traveling through the night we needed to be fed. The Navy could have arranged for us to be handed sandwiches and water-something I would expect.
Instead, we were taken to the dining car and sat at the tables with white tablecloths.
I remember that I had steak and little potatoes. I had never seen such tiny and elegant potatoes before!
In my immature 17 year old mind I mused, "This US Navy is pretty good. What great food you get in the Navy!"

Of course, this royal treatment ended when we got off the train in Chicago and boarded a bus for the Navy Base and arrived at 4 a.m., exhausted, only to have the E2 "Drill Instructor's Aid" yell at us to go here, go there, stand up, stop nodding off, hurry up and wait, sign this, do this, stand in line and get your head shaved like Britney Spears, grab your food and eat it STANDING UP off a tin tray because there was no room to sit and then get BACK OUTSIDE in the subfreezing weather to line up again or stand in formation...etc.

I wondered where the Navy with the white table cloths, steak and tiny potatoes had gone!