What a difference months or even weeks can make;
I was in 8102 and missed out on getting the 'jacks issued, I had to buy them. It's difficult to remember the details, I believe the regulations may have accommodated me skating through to EAOS wearing the initial issue of whites, blues and salt & peppers. Conversely, my first submarine command made the 'jacks mandatory for first day liberty or some such nonsense when we were in foreign ports. IIRC, they gave us one visit to Subic so we could get them tailored on the cheap, or we could buy them through the Navy Exchange/Uniform Store. But, Good Humor Man or Sailor Jack and Bingo I was never a fan of the dress whites, you can't go commando in dress whites. Seems I always had enough t-shirts, it was the boxers that tended to came up "short". It's been a couple of decades, and I've tended to bury the more mundane vagaries of Navy service into a foggy remembrance that immature BS just goes with the job. You can roll with it or roll out.
I, too, was in 8102...section 8--no pun intended, just the middle-of-the-road ET. Anyhow, the Crackerjacks became mandatory in '83 or '84 (I think). I cannot remember either, I had no pain in getting them because my mom wanted to see me in the 'jacks when I came home on weekends from NPS (I was from Fort Lauderdale), so she bought me a pair, which was the only way I was going to get them. I have to admit, though, the uniform was worth its weight in free beers when I hit the bars at home. I must say that uniform is very distinctive.
