would still have to take orders. He may have been drawn to another form of strict authority after becoming conditioned to taking orders. More likely, a hitch in the marines resulted from an attempt at a dramatic, irrefutable rite of passage into adulthood. No one, not even C. A. Whitman, could seriously argue that a United States Marine was anything less than a man. For Charlie Whitman, taking orders probably seemed like a small price to pay.
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At eighteen, he looked more like a toy soldier than a real one. He stood nearly six feet tall and was not overly muscular, but rather thin and boyish. His long, narrow face and his large smile caused his eyes to squint, and his blond crew-cut accentuated his youthful features. At first, his uniform and his gear looked oversized, but marine life would fill him out considerably. Charlie shortly reached his adult height of six feet, and his weight hovered around 198 pounds. He had been branded with an unsolicited nickname"Whit." As a young marine he was easy-going and prone to horseplay. During this first twenty-six-month period of active duty, Charlie underwent numerous routine physical examinations and each found him to be fit.
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Throughout his marine career, Charlie attended numerous classes ranging from sanitation to history. He kept precise notes on military protocol, law and justice. Not surprisingly, much of his notetaking involved offensive and defensive combat. On 8 October 1959 he noted:
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Individual movements while under enemy fire:
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 | 1) Rushing
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| 2) Creeping
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| 3) Crawling
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Four phases of offensive combat:
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| 1) Movement to contact
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| 2) Attack
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| 3) Consolidation
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| 4) Exploration
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Camouflage and concealment
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| Kinds
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| 1) Natural
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| 2) Artificial
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