Homecoming 1958 ....
Colonel John made it clear that he would tolerate no after-hour parties, but the boys in the band had collected a lot of money from a "cuss box" and by the time homecoming came around so much money was collected that it was spent on a foot locker full of food.
So in our infinite wisdom, despite being warned, we decided to have a feast at 4 AM in the band room.
As I recall, it consisted mostly of potato chips, donuts, and soft cider. (What could be better at 4 AM?)
Unfortunately, Colonel Turley saw the whole thing and submitted the names to Colonel John.
And even more unfortunately, Colonel John was not in a good mood that afternoon because Staunton kicked our butts in football, something like 34-0.
After the game came an announcement that most of the cadets in the band were to report to Colonel John's office. We did so, and while we were standing at attention, the first thing he said was, "Everyone in here who isn't already a private, is now!) He then dismissed us and told us to report for walking the beat.
After the first half hour, roll was called and the first guy answered, "Here sir, how many sir?"
The answer: "Ninety-nine and a half." We had each received 200 demerits, the most you could get without being expelled from school.
We spent the rest of that autumn walking the beat, but five weeks later everyone's rank was restored.
Everyone, that is, except one cadet who shall remain nameless, but he had been my assistant squad leader and was not seen or reported during that 4 AM party, so he got promoted above me to platoon guide.
No one turned him in, but during formations when he was inspecting me and my appearance wasn't up to snuff, he would observe that my belt buckle wasn't properly shined, or I didn't have a "spiffy" in my shirt collar. To which I replied, "Uh-huh, so what are you going to do about it?" And he would get this defeated look and say, "Well, now that I think about it, you actually look okay, so I guess you're getting a merit for excellent appearance."
They say there's a silver lining behind every cloud. All I can say about that is that I had a whole bunch of merit privileges that year :)