I went through just over 11 weeks of Marine bootcamp in San Diego next to the airport. About halfway to Los Angeles, I spent another couple of months at Camp Pendleton for Infantry Training Regiment (ITR.) ITR had grenades, TNT, pre-GPS night navigation, and fully automatic, M16s ... fun stuff.
About a year later in 1972, I had orders for Okinawa Japan and a worse experience than the Marine gas hut. Taking a cloverleaf in Riverside, the pollution was so bad my eyes involuntarily teared up. Fortunately I had a t-shirt and some small amount of melted ice water and was able to clear the pain and regain sight.
Bob Wilson