Whether it’s the chow, PFT, gas chamber, firing range or barracks life, pretty much everybody in the military – past or present – has a funny, odd, or disturbing story about their boot camp experience. Especially those who served as Recruit Commanders, Drill Sergeants, and Military Training Instructors.
Please share your stories in the comment section below.
We were at the qualification range in 1971 at Fort Polk, LA. After each firing secission there are bolo rounds. Well this guy named Ott had about five or six bolo rounds so he and several other guys were set to five these rounds, they were down in the prone position but never had the "begin Firing" from the Drill Instructor. About then a deer came out of the wood and began to run across the firing range and all of a sudden Ott began to fire but he was firing at the deer racing across the firing range. He shot and kill the deer and when asked about why he shot at the deer he told the Drill Instructor that that was a better qualification target than the paper one.
Good one.
Awesome!
That sucks.
so…how'd it taste?pennsylvania deer taste wild…in a good way!ohio deer,flat…all that corn,wheat,soybeans,ya know?i bet ott was a hero for that trick!!!great story,man…$20MIKE-U.S.ARMY-71-74…
Hilarious!
While going through "Basic" at Ft. Lewis WA., late 1966, our training company, D-5-1 had gone through the "gas chamber" to test our ability to deal with a couple of different gasses, CS-CN or whatever.
It went fine or what I thought fine, until we were all standing in a loose formation waiting to march out, when there was a loud POP and GAS-GAS-GAS!!!
Well there was this little guy from Montana, a sheep herder, or some such thing and unable to deploy his mask and in a panic to escape, started yelling, running off into a grove of lodge pole pines about 4" in diameter and oh say, 2' apart, screaming the whole way and you could see which direction he was going by looking to the tree tops and notice the directional swaying and snapping of tree trunks and the screaming, it still haunts me!!! He miraculously survived…
Ya know, I'd have walked back into the gas chamber without my protective mask, than do what he did!!!
Once while walking firewatch in the early mornig hours, I spotted someone in the head with a flashlight. I ducked back out the door to report it to the on-duty drill instructor which was what I was suppose to do. The senoir drill instructor was on duty that night and I had a little fear of him. I decided to correct the offender myself. I turned off the flashlight and softly entered the head. I could make out his outline in the dim light. As I approched him I raised my light to shine in his eyes to blind him. I felt like a fool when I blinded my self in a mirror.
Love it.
This funny, I love tis story
hahaha that's some funny shit
thats so funny!
I'm glad you was'nt in my plt . you sound like a regular , Gomer pile.
LOL!
Great Story!
Well i was on Parris Island Aug 7th 1971-one day the drill instructor had yelled at me that he wanted me DEAD! I looked at the fellow recruit next to me and said-"Well on the positive side he 'Wants Me'-but i have to be 'Dead'. My God what if the man is a Necrophile".-Yup i got it good for that smart ass remark.
Another time we came horn to horn when he yelled at me:
"Keep it UP *****" (can't say my last name)
I whispered under my breathe:
"Well isn't that the way u like it *****(can't mention his first name).
I was killed that day!!
Another time-same Drill Instructor-young chap of 21 as i remember-am 67 now-He repeated that he wanted me DEAD!
I said for all around me to hear:
"Oh God we're not doing that scene again, are we?? All last week in scared the panties off me with his military expose on Night of The Living Dead!". The penalty was hell!
I received a full Honorable Discharge Oct 22, 1971.
I was stationed in Twenty Nine Palms back in 1999 going through radio school when I was cut orders to leave and report to my next duty station. I was waiting for the exit interview from radio school in the admin office when some colonel farted and screamed to me "pfc do your thing" and I yelled gas gas gas and did the international sign for gas. I was laughing so hard afterwards I couldn't believe what happened.
While going through basic at C Battery 1st Battalion 40th Field Artillery Fort Sill Oklahoma, class 07-01. We were going through the gas chamber, and being one of the last groups to go through we were entering a 2nd room where the CS gas was very thick and felt like it was burning the back of my neck where my dog tags were at. I looked up at another group that had gone in before us and I just happend to see a fellow recruit's gas mask explode on the inside with vomit, he obviously did not seal his mask properly. While he tried to run out he slipped because the floor was covered in boogers and vomit and I just remember looking at his BDU bottoms covered in vomit thinking "WTF did I get my self into". The good old days !
most people say if you go to the army and come back than you end up kinda weird because of all the dead people you see and such is that true?
No, you actually end up kind of weird because of all the ignorant people who ask you how many people you killed or whether you saw dead people. . .
Certain things will stick with you and may affect you. When you talk about people coming back weird I think you are referring to PTSD. PTSD is a rough thing to get through and it happens sometimes. The human mind works in some strange ways and affects people different. Not everyone will be weird like you called it but some of the stuff people witness can change the way you look at the whole living and dying. I know the first time I saw someone die that I knew it changed me but I think this is normal for anyone that has to witness this type of event.
Kid, get offa here
The number of people that see dead bodies, or the type of combat you see in movies/video games, are exceedingly low. The majority of the armed forces are in support roles (think mechanics, medical, food prep, transportation, etc.)
Squee. Now that was the real answer and well thought out and totally correct.
Did you not see the title to this thread? It's about telling stories from Boot Camp, not about people's responses about seeing death. Now get down and give 50!
I was at Leonard Wood in '03 doing the Army BCT thing. Good times. I drew attention to myself on Day Zero fresh off the bus because I was the one recruit whose duffel was facing the opposite direction from everyone else's. Next thing I knew, had about 8 Drills screaming at me, "DO YOU THINK YOU'RE SPECIAL??!" I remember the Drill Sergeants walking around ON TOP OF the dining hall tables our first meal with them. I ate too slow, so the whole table chanted EAT EAT EAT at me until I was through. Out on the FTX we found a baby fawn, and took a break from acting like we were on patrol in 'Nam to tip toe around the thing. Very cute. We went through bayonet training on my birthday. We had a couple folks try to go AWOL hilariously and one try to commit suicide not so hilariously. But the crowning glory of this whole experience was when the Sr Drill Sergeant blew up his hat when he left it on the firing line while demonstrating the use of a Claymore Mine to us all. Laughing our butts off at him was SO worth every push up.
AH Rachael that is a funny story!!!!!!!!!!!
Man I wish I could have seen that! I went to Leonard Wood back in 1988 myself. Yes, the Claymore demonstration was pretty cool.
check $20MIKE'S claymore story down the page !!
I went to boot camp at Ft. Dix , NJ in 1984. B-1-5. My buddy and I were advancing on a machine gun bunker and took cover behind an old log. I went first and yelled, " cover me while I throw my grenade". He yelled "got you covered buddy"and started firing while I threw. When it was his turn he got a little too excited and yelled " cover….. THROW ME WHILE I COVER MY GRENADE". I just rolled over and fired straight in the air laughing so hard , I was crying.
I was a Bravo Bulldog at the same time! Drill Sergeants were SSG Richardson and SSG Rodriguez. Name's Arnum…
Well im not in the Army yet, but my brother went to BCT at Ft. Knox in 2008. They were out on field excercises and they had pitched thier tents on a ridgeline somewhere on base. In the middle of the night he heard a scuffling sound and a whisper from his battle buddy "dont move…theres a skunk at your feet. As soon as the skunk moved on, he got out of bed and went to the drill sgt. tent and alerted the sr. drill sgt. that there was a skunk in the tent. This man, irritated that a recruit would wake him up in the middle of the night for something as trivial as this, gave him a simple command: wait here. All of a sudden he heard "COME HERE YOU LITTLE SOB!" along with a scuffling sound of rocks and running feet and a loud CLANG followed by more successive clangs. He then came back with blood spattering his face told him he's lucky to be alive for waking him up. The next morning the skunk was posed on the metal folding chair used to kill it along with a sign: "Death of Peppe LePeau"
My stepmother sent me an Easter cake; she baked it herself. The senior drill instructor brought us to attention, stood beside the trash can on the quarterdeck, held up the cake and shouted, “Happy Easter, Oliver!” Then he slam-dunked the cake into the trash.
The instructor was out of line. I d not know how that action was of benefit to the student in quality of training and positive motivation. Any instructor who does not respect the student’s disrespects the students, the training organization, and the mission. That instructor had or has no business training our nation’s best. What a poor example of Integrity first, Service before self, and Excellence in all we do. I am glad that motivational training is being addressed in hopes that the dignity of our service members is maintained while demanding total commitment and dedication from the students and the instructor force. Respect and authority flow both ways in human relationships.
Right on, Rosie, tell it like it realy is!
Well hopefully he's dead now. What a douchebag.
The benefit would be not letting them eat crap like that when he's in the middle of physically conditioning men at boot camp. The point is to create soldiers, not fat bodies.
I hate to be rude but what in the hell was your stepmother thinking? Where did she think you were? I can't imagine any drill instructor NOT throwing it out, or eating it themselves!
We had this kid from Puerto Rico in our platoon. He pulled CQ runner one night. The next morning he was gone. Turns out he saw a cat on the quad during the night and went to pet it.
It's not that he wasn't a smart kid – it's just that they don't have skunks in Puerto Rico.
They had to take him somewhere else to wash the stink off of him.
We dont have cats, very funny!
Funny Stuff!
While in AF basic back in 09 we had this kid get recycled. A week later while marching off to class or whatever, our DI starts yelling and we stop and see that the kid that got recycled somehow ended up back in our formation.
it was our last day before graduation and we had free range of the base as long as we were back before 5pm well somehow our DI changed the time to 4pm and everyone didnt get the memo A buddy and I were he verry last 2 back and everyone else had to wait to eat until we got back. After chow while packing up our lockers our DI comes to us and taked the lock from our footlocker and the key wqhich was on our dog tags and secures us to our bunks so we couldnt “take off”
went to basic with my twin brother. The DI's could not tell us apart, my brother did alot of push ups for stuff I did.
November 1971, we were on the grinder at MCRD San Diego. We had about two weeks to go. The airport is next door to the Depot. A United 727 takes off, our DI ( Sgt. Rufus Kennedy Lake Charles, LA) takes a look at the plane, then his watch, and asks,"any of you privates from Chicago? You just missed the 2:30 flight home!" Ran into Sgt Kennedy when I was on Okinawa in '74, and he laughed when I recounted that tale to him. He went back to the Drill Field to make some more Marines. A funny and very mean man.
how is that funny
I'm sure most of you had a designated "Gomer Pyle" in your platoon. At Ft Benning in '98, ours was a typical fat body type that was always screwing up. One day before a class, the drill sgts decided to have a little fun with this guy. They got him up on the stage and had him lie down on his back and start writhing around and moaning in pain (they were attempting to have him act out the scene from Full Metal Jacket when the fat guy is on the receiving end of a blanket party).
However, when the drill sgt asked the group what movie the fat soldier is acting out, one of the recruits shouted "Free Willy!" The whole company erupted in laughter and even the drill sgts were wiping tears from their eyes.
MCRD San Diego. Had a Sgt Carter, 5ft something and a Pvt Pyle, 6ft plus. Needless to say, Pvt Pyle was transferred within a couple of weeks to another platoon. The best day we had in Marine Boot was, after multiple tours in Vietnam, Sgt Carter had some mail finally catch up to him. One of the letters was his Army draft notice. This was just after the draft officially ended in '73. About the only time we had the Drill Instructors laugh for an entire day.
i'm not sure if you guys saw full metal jacket but that "gomer pyle" went apeshit. juvenile stuff like this shouldn't be coming from the instructor.
that is the greatest thing ever
I was in Air Force Basic Training at Lackland from July 14 to August 31, 1977. While there, The King of Rock and Roll (Elvis Pressley) passed away. Our TI called everyone into the Day Room and announced the news (which was probably the only way we would have found out!). Judging from the reaction of several of my fellow trainees (who were obviously Elvis fans), you would have thought the world had come to an end! I was not an Elvis fan, so it was kind of funny to watch these guys react to the news.
Shiite, too bad it wasn't Tupac Shakur's death celebration.
Same thing happened to me. Parris Island, Plt. 3085. July – Oct. 1977.
At MCRD San Diego in 87, in the barracks. My DI hollered for my sorry butt to report to him. I took off at a dead run and jumped about six feet from him coming down at the position of attention in front of him and reported. The DI lost his bearing and started laughing and went back in the duty hut. Needless to say, when he came back out in a few minutes he regained his bearing and calmly asked me why I was not doing squat thrusts. After that, I had a big bullseye on my butt.
Now that one is Funny. To make a DI lose his bearing is good to go!
why did he start laughing?
I was in basic training back in 2003 the whole day all of my flight was heckling me because they knew when it came time for the gas chamber I would have to give my whole reporting statement. When I went in and they set off the gas I was ordered to state " Sir trainee Cristopher Alexander Intagliata-Hooker reports as ordered" the gas chamber guy told me to repeat it because I was not loud enough so " I repeated Sir Trainee Cristopher Alexander Intagliata-Hooker reports as ordered" by that time I had snot and stuff coming out of my ears/nose/eyes when I walked out the air hit me and I couldnt breathe as if I could when I was in the gas chamber. That was the most intense type of burning I had felt in my entire life up to that point
5 recruits in a porta shitter ‘buff said.
Did basic at Fort Polk. At the range for night fire someone ran out of the woods and grabbed several M-16s, then when the lights went out again, they came out and grabbed amunition. After awhile they lined us along the road, and using a bullhorn, warned whoever was hiding in the woods that 300 troops was coming after them. I was thinking, 300 unarmed troops and one heavily armed person, who is going to win this one. Never caught them as far as I know.
HILARIOUS!!!
Being relaltively smart, (I thought) I hitchhiked to California in 1960 to enlist in the army to avoid being drafted and having to go through basic at little South Korea (aka Fort Leonard Wood. I wasn't aware that basic in California would be at fog bound, rainey Fort Ord. I entered on Nov. 22, was selected for kp on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Years Day while waiting for enough people to start a training cycle. One week into basic I entered the hospital for pneumonia and was recycled into another company when discharged. Three weeks later I reentered hospital for pneumonia again. After being in hospital for four weeks, I contracted the measles from some other poor slob. Recycled into another company upon discharge from the hospital I began basic where I left off. I'm the only soldier to ever take five months to get through basic training.
You're not the only one ever, but you're in the top contenders.
I went to language school at the Presidio of Monterey, right next to Ft Ord. They've closed it down now. But yeah, late November through January is the ONLY time of year it's not sunny and reasonably warm (though the fog can strike any month of the year.) You picked a heckuva a time.
Went to Fort Leonard Wood in fall 1961. We called it "the rock capital of the world" as the gravel covering all the PT fields was a minimum of 2" in diameter and rough.
Yep "relativly smart" your Dad must have had to marry his sister.
5 Months is not bad, I met a guy in MRP that had torn something in his knee and was going on 8+ months in basic. When I left he was still recovering. The Drill Instructors were always joking that he would make Sergeant before he ever crossed that Parade Deck.
Arriving at Fort Polk in 1972 after the collage cross country season I could run like the wind. During the company’s runs others in the company noticed this and when we heard there was going to be a new LT platoon leader. As we got ready for a mile run on the 440 yard track the LT said he would run in the rear to help the back runners. Some of the guys asked the LT what he would do if someone lapped him… He said he would give that person 10 push ups in front of the company…. Well there I was, a E3 having a LT giving me 10 in Basic Training!! Pretty cool!!!!
Went through Basic at Ft. Lost In The Woods, MO in 1960 (E-4-2). Had to guys who had done WW II, got out, Did Korea and got out. Both had Silver Stars from WW II and one had a Silver Star from Korea. The latter, Leo Underwood, was beating me all over the place in bayonet drill. Stud 2nd Lt. stepped up, pushed me aside and told me to watch and learn. A couple of seconds later he was flat on his back looking up at a bayonet. He got up, said he knew how to counter that and tried a long thrust. Immediately he was flat on his back looking up at a bayonet. After a total of 5 tries, he pulled up his shredded ego, and told me to "carry on Private". (None of us died laughing somehow) Leo G. Underwood from Florida…if you are still alive, I will never forget that. I learned to NEVER challenged an old vet…
we went to our first class where we were inside seated at desks when i looked down at the desk i was sitting in and someone had taken a long time to carve something in my desk that has stayed with me for almost 40 years. it was "God said let there be MARINES and the gates of HELL opened."
ft. knox,ky….i kept seeing "F.T.A." carved,spraypainted,written,…all over the place…asked an "oldtimer" permanent party guy what it meant….he says…FUN,TRAVEL,ADVENTURE!!! i say thank you,corporal…start to walk away…he say ,c'mere recruit!! i come back,thinking UH-OH…push-ups!!! the corporal sez…T.A. stands for… THE ARMY!!!WHADDYA THINK THAT "F"STANDS FOR??? [lightbulb comes on in my 17 year old head]oh..OH!! THANK YOU,CORPORAL!! saw FTA EVERYWHERE i went…if ya looked hard enough.. went overseas….they made us camo our 5-tons [M-818]and trailers…being a smart guy,i worked FTA onto the hood AND both sides AND the rear of my trailer, all abstract art-like!!!nobody noticed,unless i pointed it out,but it "jumped off the page"if you looked for a minute!!! my unit also invented CAR-CRUSHING in 1972,but that's another story…my typing finger's tired!! $20MIKE -71-74
It was the first day of basic and after several hours of madness, the Senior Drill Instructor had my platoon together in the bay and wanted to know about us and why we joined the Army. Everyone had interesting stories but the one that will forever stay with me was Robert T. Caswell from Texarcana. The Senior asked Caswell, who was the oldest in the platoon at 35, why he joined. Caswell calmly stated, "Well, the recruiter told me that retirement age in the army is 38. I think I can do three years". Everyone, including the Senior Drill, laughed our asses off.
While in Basic at Amarillo back in 1967, one of the young men in our flight was the proverbial klutz and misfit, totally buggered up everything he did. One morning as we fell out for formation at 0'dark 30, the whole sleepy gaggle lined up in front of the dorm for the usual screaming and insulting lecture. The flight misfit was in the first rank and the flood light shown directly on him. His shirt was partially buttoned, belt hanging loose and boot laces untied. The TI immediately jumped into his kit and verbally abused him for an eternity then made him take his boots off, tie the laces together , hang them around his neck and skip around the quad yelling " I am a dittybopper" over and over for quite a long time. It roused up all the other flights and created quite the lasting impression of how NOT t show up for formation.
About a month into Parris Island, one of our DI's asked Recruit Cooper what the Marine Corps motto was.
Cooper was not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.
He said, "Sir, the Marine Corps motto is 'Semper Fly', sir!"
It was the only time I saw DI Sgt. Seger turn away and walk. I'm positive he was exercising intense discipline not to bust out laughing.
It was hilarious!
Chris Moline, LEED AP
Parris Island '88, 1st Bn, A Co, Series 1048 2d Plt 1049
Semper Fi
I took basic at Ft. Leonard, MO (affectionately known as Ft. Lost-in-the-Woods and Little Korea) in Feb/Mar 1958. It was freezing cold with heavy snow and ice. I can't think of anything funny that happened then.
I was there too in 1996 for basic and AIT from August-December. We got nailed with huge snow and ice storms with temps in the single digits. We had to wear those huge yellow mickey mouse gloves everywhere we went. Everyone was so miserable, especially the guys from Cali, Texas, and Florida who had no clue.
You know how RDCs like to single out the recruits with funny sounding last names. Since my last name was "Quick," I was instantly singled out by one of my RDCs, IC2. IC2's favorite phrase was" You are not so quick Quick." I put up with this for three weeks. Then my moment came. IC2 drilled everyone in the division about the chain of command. If you got the name wrong, you were dropped. When the drill was over, I was the only one left standing.
My cousin Reported To Boot as Pvt. Ralph Peed. When the Sr. Drill read this he had to call a meeting of all the Drill Seargents. after about 10 minutes He was refered to as Pvt. PISS For the remainder of Boot Camp!
Basic at Ft Knox in 73. We had a very small soldier in our platoon. Went to the M203 range to fire 40MM. The DS showed us the round and convinced this soldier that the kick from this round would break his shoulder if he didn't fire it correctly. Of course he was the first up to demonstrate. He was so scared that when he fired the round he pulled back and the round went nearly straight up. As some of you know that round is slowwwwww and you can see it. The DS goes "Oh S#it" and hauls ass! The bleachers where we were sitting empties in a flash into the woods away from the firing line. The range OIC and NCOIC in the tower, jump out of the tower (second floor) and into the woods. The round lands about 40 meters down range. It takes them an hour to get everybody back! One of the funniest things I've ever seen!
I went to Marine corp basic Training at paris Island. There I met my twin . They say everyone has a twin why basic traing ? So The drill Instructor could never tell us apart. So everytime my twin got in trouble. We both had to do extra exercises. Then we were called the Motivational Brothers.
It was Ft. Dix the summer of 1969. We were in hand to hand combat class. The E6 DS picked me to demonstrate on him the rear strangle takedown , with out actually killing him. So me a 135 pound draftee has to take down a 200 plus pound DS. He gave his little talk to the class then told me to come up on him and take him down. So I did. I slapped him in the upper chest, just below the throat, jabbed him in the kidney and brought him down in a real hurry. I helped him up. Then while clearing his throat he began to tell everyone that was an excellent demonstration of how to do it. He at that moment got respect for me and relied on me more and more. That was a real moment. US Army 1969-1971 SP4 Alan Johnson
I was at Fort Leonard Wood for basic training in 1996. I was on fire watch about 2am with my battle buddy, a real sweat guy from China who weighed about 130 pounds soaking wet. We decided to split the cleaning duties to get them done faster. I would clean the head and he would buff the hallway floors with our big buffing machine which was a monster. Well, I'm in the middle of cleaning the head and I hear what sounds like the buffing machine going out of control. I pear around the corner and observe my battle buddy, in mid-air with feet dangling holding on to the buffing machine for dear life and yelling out my name, "Jenkins!". The buffing machine was having it's way with him and he looked like a rag doll. It was like straight out of a cartoon and was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
Did jump school in March '87. I am from Ireland and was there for St Patrick's day. We had a 'black hat' called Stewart who spent Paddy's day looking for me. Managed to hide from him for most of the day but he caught me in the mess hall where I ended up eating chow doing pushups in the middle of the mess hall. Didn't eat much that day!!
I went through Great lakes during the summer of '02. My buddy Tabb and I had just been to dental to get our wisdom teeth pulled, the next morning we woke up and Tabb looks over at me and with the look of what the heck just happened. He proceeds to tell me that he just swallowed the gauze that was in his mouth from the wisdom teeth being pulled, that had to be the funniest day at boot camp.
While going through boot camp at MCRD, San Diego w/ Plt. 305 in 1964, our Jr. DI, Cpl. Coen, would take the platoon on 3-mile runs along the base's back perimeter's fence which separated MCRD from the Navy's boot camp (NTC). Needless to say, we took a lot of catcalls and abuse from the squid recruits as we ran along the 8-ft. barbwire-topped cyclone fence. One day, without any instructions, he brought the platoon formation to a halt a couple of hundred yards from our abusers, and from the positon of attention gave the command, "Bend Over and Pick Up Two Rocks, HUH!" He then got the platoon back into our running formation and when we we were directly across the fence from about 50 jeering squids., he brought us to a halt, gave us a "Right Face, HUH" and followed it with a command of "Throw First Rock, HUH!", rapidly followed by, "Throw Second Rock, HUH!". It was the greatest morale builder in our 12 weeks of boot camp to see that group of squids scatter under the two barrages of 60 some odd rocks! As far as we recruits knew, there never was any repercussions, and we never again encountered the squid gauntlet!
i remember those runs as well. the only time we were allowed to laugh was if the navy boots were out drilling. we would stop and laugh at how sloppy they were.
Although I'm a Navy guy (former E6), I have to admit this is a great story. I'd like to know how those Navy recruits got away with the cat calls. When I was a boot in Orlando (1976), we not only didn't have that kind of free time but our Company Commander would never have let us get away with such a thing.
Excellent story! That's hilarious!
EnterEarly January, 1968. Navy Boot Camp in Sad Diego. I was in the holding battalion about a week, when a Marine car pulled up, in front of the building. Out came two guys, in civvies. As the Marine driver was getting back in his car, he was shacking his head. The guys were taken up to the office. Both had Marine boot haircuts. They were so scared, they couldn't hold a cup of coffee without spilling it. Seems they got into the wrong bus at the airport! The Marine DI's were yelling so much, they couldn't say anything till after the haircut, and were in line for their boot issue stuff. They finally just yelled. "We're suppose to be in the Navy!!" Guess they were offered to switch to Marines, since they had already got that far. They turned that offer down! text right here!
That's epic.
nice story
Ft. Benning 1/50th Inf. 1997..
This retard tried to hang himself from the sealing with his boot strings. When he went to swing, the roof collapsed, then he got up and went to run and jump off the second tier, but got restrained. Last time I saw him they had him strapped down and was rolling him away.. I laughed my ass off and to this day, it’s one of the funnest things I have seen.
On the final FTX in AIT, we were soaking wet, a guy got naked to try and get dry, all of a sudden one of our DS said HEY!!! He threw a CS grenade at him and dude took off butt ass naked with only his boots on trying to put on his pro mask… The CS grenade landed right next to him, LMFAO.
There is nothing funny about suicide no matter who it is.
fucking horribly…..why the fuck are tears of laughter flowing…My DS was right…I am fucked in the head…….
In 97 on Perris Island we were doing our hygiene time in the head. The D.I started counting down always for us to clear out. As all the recruits were running out the head, some half naked, or with shaving cream still on, one recruit still wet and naked slipped and fell into the D.I. The D.I. Screamed with a loud and long NNNNOOOOOOO WAAAAYYYYYY. He said "so you want run down my highway naked huh. You're gonna run down my highway saying its jiggling baby, and the rest of yall say go head Baby." He ran up and down the squad bay for about 10min. This is one of many form Plt. 3095. I. Co.
I was the platoon guide for my platoon in AIT at Ft. Polk, LA, in early 1971. Everyone hated 'speed' marches. Once, when the platoon was supposed to 'speed march' to a training range, the Drill Sergeant left the platoon saying he'd meet us at the range. As we started through the somewhat jungle-like terrain on a trail, I stopped the platoon, and convinced them to 'skip', instead of walking, pointing out that it was faster and easier on the legs than walking. So here we are, the whole platoon skipping along the trail, when we round a turn just before arriving at the range to find the Drill Sergeant waiting for us. I thought he was going to have apoplexy at the sight of his platoon skipping like school girls, as he put it. Needless to say, even though it WAS easier than walking, we never did that again.
While attending MP Officer Basic at Fort McClellan Alabama in early 1991 our unit was on Pelham Range doing 2 weeks of field operations. During this we were to done an early morning attack on an airfield. We were moving too slow for the TAC Officers and soon they were popping CS gas. The gas soon filled the valley as we put on our masks. Our vehicle was tasked to block the road leading to the airfield. As I covered the road with an M-60 a white van approached. I told a fellow 2Lt named George Lopez to stop the van. He stepped out with his M-16 and his hand up-raised to stop the van. The van started weaving all over the road and started increasing its speed. Its roared passed us with the driver still driving all over the road. We found out shortly after this the van contained the women from the Mess Hall who were bring us a hot breakfast. They were not happy to get gassed with CS that morning!
Did BCT at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO (affectionately known as Fort Lost-in-the-woods-misery…), and while in morning formation a couple of us recruits were shooting the breeze. The assistant DI Holcum came out yelling, and asked who was doing the talking? Well, one of the slower recruits informed the DI who it was, and the DI replied, "So, you like telling on your squad-mates do you? Squat down! Now walk! NO, don't stand up, walk in the squatting position!!! Now quack like a duck!!!" After hearing several snickers, the DI yelled, "Whoever is laughing, drop and push the pavment!!!" Everyone in the platoon dropped (except duck..), and laughed our a$$e$ off!!! Quack…quack..
In Air Force basic training last year I had to clean up feces from the latrine, off the floor, took about an hour to find a toilet that would actually flush the damn thing. Horrific night. No one would claim in either. Nasty females.
My socks were never rolled tight enough so they were frequently referred to as "loose a**holes"
I accidently referred to the latrine as a bathroom and the TI took my canteen and poured in on the floor and said "does this looks like a bath to you?!?!?"
too many funny stories to mention…….
werent funny at the time though.
Basic Training at USNTC GT LAKES 1962
Until we got to CAMP PORTER..the LAST PHASE of basic..We were in barracks that were probably built during the Spanish Inquisition..However Camp Porter had "New and Improved" barracks…withe lockers running through the center of the room…Petty Officer On Watch would try and catch us talking after lights out..and invaribly we'd end up doin "25" or even "50"..but since he couldn't watch both sides ..those of us say on the "left" were clinking our dog tags with our hands..we could see under the lockers when he moved towards the other side the other guys started doin the same thing
My story starts in Basic Training, 12/9/1973. It was my last Sunday morning at Lackland AFB and I was working as an usher at the chapel. Being 19 and cocky, I had no manners. A young lady came walking up the steps to the chapel. She had just gotten there and didn’t have her uniforms yet. She was wearing a very short mini shirt, popular at the time, and I made a comment about how great I thought her legs were. Oh my, did she let me have it right then and there. I felt so bad.
Well, I left the next day for Lowry AFB for munitions school. In June of 1974, I was transferred to Kirkland AFB. I was sitting in the room with several other people for in-processing when this young female airman walks up to me and asked, “Did you mean what you said?” I looked up and sure enough, there she was and in-processing to the same unit as I. Well, we grew to become my best friends and she was the love of life. We married in June of 1975. We were married for 12 wonderful years until the Lord decided it was her time to go home and be with him. All thanks to Basic Training.
What a sweet story! Thanks for sharing.
that i fantistac man
Awesome story! God Bless!
The best Basic story, they do not get any better than this. I know you miss her!
What a great story with such a sad ending. Sorry for your loss. You must have had great times together.
I was in Navy Boot at Great Lakes in 1963. We were to jump off the tower and demonstrate our ability to swim to the side of the pool for our swimming test. I grew up near a lake with a 40 ft. diving tower so this was no big deal. So i did a big swan dive and swam under water to the edge of the pool. The DI made me swim back and forth across the pool while the entire company completed their test. Needless to say but I was hardly able to pull myself out of the pool when done. This is how you learn to follow orders.
Back in the fall of 1967 at Ft. Jackson, S.C., our drill sergeants had a sadistic, sick sense of humor. On the asphalt doing bayonet training when one of us would mess up the entire platoon were made to lay on our backs with our M14s raise overhead, legs overhead kicking and saying I'm a dying cockroach in the hot Carolina sun. I can truly say I know what a dying cockroach feel like, maybe like the cockroaches we all survived.
Ft.Jackson Feb.1975,coming from beiwack 3 day playing war games,we all cleaning our gear,weapons,stuff I am tieing the camo netting,I pull real hard I busted the net,ties,By then the platoon DI pass by I hit him!The time the ties busted,I knock him on he's ass He stumble over.He stare with anger,everybody look at me,The DI look and laugh at me and stated,I bet you always wanted to have the chance to hit me or any Drill Sgt. I am glad I did! In 1968 at the Pan Am games he he got a Bronze Medal Light weight in boxing!But I almost knock him.with a luckly shot
WTF? And just when did you get your green card?
sgt.z tells a good story…you try to aggrandize yerself….that makes you a…L.O.S.E.R. a military acronym that describes your "comment"nicely……to wit…living off someone else's reputation……. enlist and serve..it won't hurt ya…then you may comment
While in basic at Ft. Silly, OK. in 83 our platoon got a new DI toward the end of our cycle. He was hell on wheels feeling the power of the brown derby. A couple of guys played a con on him by standing around the corner of the building talking about how cool the DI was. That the platoon was going to get him a Stetson Hat to give him at graduation. Of course he let up on us the last week or so we had to go. His expression was priceless as we took off after graduation without his receiving his expensive Stetson.
Stetson, while a big name, is totally inferior to Resistol.
Went to Ft. Polk, LA in 1965 for basic training. In the company area were three 55 gallon cans for trash. One night while on fire watch I was walking outside around 0200 when I heard the cans being banged around. I cautiously ran around the corner to see a couple of long horned steers beating on the cans with their horns. I let them continue.
Another time one of our guys was guarding the ammunition dump. He was confronted by an alligator. He let the 'gator have all the ammo it wanted.
And another time we were practicing choke holds in hand-to-hand combat. This took place in an open pit filled with sawdust. Fortunately it was raining. The guy I was choking from the rear vomited. The DI made him pick up the mess with his hands and throw it out of the pit.
MCRD San Diego 2009, 4 straight weeks of pneumonia and not whining about made my pull-ups hit rock bottom of 1 during initial PFT, needless to say that I didn't really leave the quarterdeck throughout 2nd phase.
Come inventory pft things haven't improved and the morning of I wasn't sure what I was capable. I get up there and do a rock solid 5. After the whole thing is over the platoon is in formation to run back to squadbay and I hear "AAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH! GET YOUR A$$ OVER HERE" I report and Senior tells me to about face so he can see my score card. I execute and he says "WOW, HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET 5 PULLUPS!" "GRACE OF GOD, SIR!" was my reply. I watched his cover drop to shield his face, only time I made him lose his bearing. Felt a little better about my self as I was getting ITed 10 minutes later.
I went to Navy boot camp in June/69. Myself along with 51 other people made up what they called Drill Co. Guess what we did a lot of?You're right , drilled. For 5 weeks we drilled. Our Co. was made up of mostly athletes. Football players, track stars, wrestlers, karate students, etc. At the end of our 5th week we had a change of Company Commanders. Our new CC was a SEAL. He introduced himself one Sunday afternoon by bustin' into the barracks with one of his buddies and commenced to kickin' some major butt. He had 52 guys on the run. After he got us all back together he told us to grab our weapons and fall out on the grinder. When we were formed up he said,"we will now do 5,000 jumping jacks with our weapons." Nobody made it.Big
In 1942 I was in the Seabees, 27th Battalion, at Norfolk, Virginia. We had real drill instructors, but, later on in the training period, they decided to let our Chief Petty Officers drill us. Now our CPOs were rank civillions just like we all were. On one occasion, the group was approaching a ditch and the CPO, in blind panic, yelled out, "Jump ditch, JUMP!"
When I left for boot camp on August 5 1969 my sweet mom and I did not see exactly eye to eye on a lot of things and when you consider that I was 17 at a time perhaps some of you might understand. Well, time ran in the boot camp and I did not write much home, in fact not a peep. I honestly did not have the time. Well, one day I got the call to report to the office of the battalion commander. There I was handed a 5/38 projectile and was told to memorize an article, I knew it by heart when they finally took it back and then I was told why I was there. My sweet mom wrote to the CO of the Training Unit and complained that her son did not write home. I was told to sit down and write a nice letter home which was to be reviewed by the Senior Chief sitting there. I sat down and wrote a most angry letter explaining what her letter did to me but, not in English. The Senior Chief just smiled and said, promise me you will write home once a week, OK? Yes Sir I replied and gratefully rejoined Co. 516. My mom got her letter once a week but, she also never again wrote to any of my CO's .
I obviously don't know the history between you and your Mom, but I suspect you will live to regret your inconsiderate actions one day.
In April '66, I was in BCT at Ft. Ord, CA. We had a guy that snitched to the drills about anything he thought we did wrong while in the barracks. Late one Saturday afternoon, he went to the latrine to take a shower. A group of us took this moment to get back at him. We bunked on the third floor, so we hung his foot locker out of a third floor bay window. When he returned, found his footlocker missing, he ran down to the first floor to report the missing footlocker to the on-duty drill. By the time they returned, his footlocker was back in place. The drill took the guy with him which signalled to us to put the footlocker back out the window. Again, this guy returned, found the footlocker missing and ran down to the drill. They returned to find the footlocker back in place. The drill emptied a lot of profanity on this guy and was about to depart when a captain entered the bay wanting to know why a footlocker was hanging out the window. Needless to say, a lot of explaining was called for, but not asked for. Several of the guys involved ended up on KP for a week.
Now that's funny
This isn't really funny, but it is true. I was in navy bootcamp from June until August of 1969. I always had a problem doing the change step while marching–never could seem to get it right. My CC who stood around 6 foot 4 inches picked me up off the ground like I was a tooth pick and shook me back and forth. You have to understand he had his hands around my neck. He could have broken my neck. Also being the country boy that I was I didn't understand half of the cuss words he was calling me. On another occassion he climbed up onto the scrub brush tables and started throwing scrub bushes at anyone he thought he could hit. He got a score of ten because he did break one guys wrist. Plus there were a lot of other things they did back then that they can't do today in our politically correct military such as slapping a recruit's face.
This guy seems to have had a serious attitude problem with a major need for 'adjustment'. Someone should have given it to him. If someone was shaking me in the air by my neck it would be the last mistake they made. Jesus!
As an OCSA (Officer Candidate Seaman Apprentice) it was midwinter and I lived with my Company on the second floor of an old wooden barracks at the Officer Candidate School in Newport. During our weekly barracks field day another OC and I had the job of taking the filled trash cans down the stairs (ladder) to the dumpster. That evening it was cold and windy and we got a labor saving idea. We found some rope (line) and a pulley and rigged a makeshift system where we could lower the heavy trash cans out the window down the rope to the dumpster. We'd take turns on who'd be upstairs in the warm barrack and who'd have to be out in the cold. It was working fine until a big gust of wind hit the trash can halfway down the ropeway. The wind gust caused the can to whirl round the ropes and all the trash was blown out onto the Newport Naval base. Scared, my buddy and I quickly unrigged our jury rig system and hid the rope and pulleys. Later our company officer came and asked if we knew the source of all the trash that was spread over the area. Of course no one in our company seemed to know anything about it. The nice thing about the Navy was the good buddies.
Ft Lost In The Woods, spring of 1970. Rifle range with vertical cement culverts for foxholes and mechanical targets from 25 to 300 meters. City kid is shooting two foxholes right of me. He never saw a weapon before Basic and couldn't hit a barn on purpose. He finally hits a target. He stands up and turns to exclaim his success to the DI, sweeping the entire firing line with a loaded weapon and his finger inside the trigger guard. The guy between us hits the dirt and his weapon goes twenty feet into the air spinning end over end. I duck down. The recruit's rifle goes one way and his helmet goes about thirty feet downrange. I'm pretty sure that his head was not in it.
One DI had a measured single step around 55 inches, imagine that on a 20-mile road march. Same DI was immune to the gas in the gas chamber — he stood in there for hours running people in an out without a mask.
In the Old Corps back in '54, our Platoon 364 pulled guard duty and during the middle of the night the boot who was walking guard around the battalion parking lot spotted two people in one of the parked cars. So, as instructed, he called the Corporal of the Guard, etc. Turned out that one of the occupants of the car was the battalion senior di who had gotten lucky that night. At an all hands briefing the next day, we were instructed in no uncertain terms that we were not, repeat NOT, to call the corporal of the guard when we saw the '49 red and black Buick Century rocking and rolling in the parking lot. SemperFi
Fort benning 247 delta co. June 2000
I was at Parris Island in 1984. As a female from the hills of Ky, two things really stand out to me. First, I turned 18 while I was there and my mom thought it would be sooooooo cute to send me a birthday card with a poodle on the front signed by my miniature French poodle with her paw print stamped on the inside. As a birthday present itself, that wasn't enough amusement for the DIs. Nooooo….they repeatedly asked me questions to which they allowed the other 59 female recruits laugh at my responses due to my extreme Hillbilly accent including how I pronounced my name. I learned very quickly how to lose most of the Loretta Lynn accent and speak pretty fluent acceptably understandable Southern English now. Ooh Rah Marines!
Boot Camp, Great Lakes Illinois, 1965. We had been warned of not smoking cigarettes when the smoking lamp was out. One recruit got a pack from his girl friend and was caught smoking in the drying room by the Company Commander, who asked if the recruit liked those cigarettes. When the reply was yes, the CC had the recruit eat his pack of cigarettes, paper, tobacco and all. Needless to say, they didn't stay down very long at all.
1969 – While attending officer candidate training in Pensacola Fla., we were subject to a unit barracks inspection. There were four candidates assigned to a room. We were all standing at attention at the foot of our bunks with our closet doors open and ready for inspection. Several of us noticed that one of our roommates trousers were hanging in the closet with the fly facing the front of the closet as opposed to rear of the closet as they should. We informed him and as he was in the closet correcting the error, our unit DI kicked open the door to our room, knocking our roommate into the closet while simultaneously slamming the closet door shut behind him. The DI, immediately noticing the absence of one of the candidates assigned to the room, inquired as to his whereabouts. We informed the DI, " Sir, he is in the closet, Sir ". With an inquisitive look, the DI opened the door to the closet to verify the truth in our comment. As the door opened, our roommate was standing at attention and said " going up sir ". Maybe you had to be there, but even our DI found the levity in the situation.
I actually remember being told that story. I was there in 1974. We had an empty room in the battalion where we'd meet to disparage the Navy, our Marine DI (SSgt Penn, who retired as a LtCol) and whatever came to mind. So one day, after 5 or so minutes of BS, a locker door slams open, and out unfolds SSgt Penn, reaches back in for his campaign hat, rises to full height – he was not short. We're struck dumb, but finally someone calls attention on deck. It was the funniest thing any of us had seen, and about half of us made the mistake of laughing. Thought the PT session would never end!
Now THAT's funny! Your roommate was quick and witty, and your DI had a sense of humor.
While in Boot Camp Great Lakes, IL, cleanliness was emphasized due to close living quarters, AND some had not learned it at home. One night after Taps, when all quiet was the rule one voice piped up in a strained whisper " Hey Joe, did you take a shower today – the answer – also in a strained whisper – "No, is there one missing". The barrack fell apart laughing.
CDR USN Retired Linus Heydon, Sequim, WA
We had a tough company commander. He caught one of the boots talking in ranks. Pulled him out. Put a bucket over his head. Lined the company up single file. As we passed the recruit by we rapped on the bucket. the recruit lifted the bucket and said, "I'm a s— bird. I can't talk to you.".
I got caught looking around during formation. DI says, "Davis, jumping jacks forever, begin!" The platoon marched off and as far as I can tell, I'm still doing them.
Navy Boot Camp, San Diego, September 1980
Two of us on roving patrol guard duty at about 0200 around the barracks on Worm Island sometime during the first couple of weeks of basic. Those barracks are (were) right at the at end of the runway of the San Diego Airport and planes passed over the barracks 24/7 not more than a few hundred feet high. Between the barracks and the runway was the running track and that night one of us happened to look out towards the track and spotted a guy sprinting across the field a couple hundred yards away. All you could see of him was his white T-shirt bobbing along in the dark. We watched him for several seconds until all of a sudden you heard the familiar "cling!" of him hitting the chainlink fence at the end of the airport property..then he was gone into the night. Me and my partner looked at each other for a second, then busted out laughing. I said, "I didn't see anything, did you?" He agreed. Don't know who the guy was but he wasn't from our company and we never heard anything from anyone else regarding anyone going UA. I've thought about that many times over the years and wondered if they ever caught the guy.
In San diego? Sounds like he was crossing into America
I was raped at Navy boot camp with a drug. I don't recall the details yet I wrote the letter below to the Navy recently about it: I was drugged by someone.
From: Stephanie E-Mail Address: harriesstephanie@yahoo.com
Message: I"ve told this numerous times to countless people- even much while I was at Basic Training. I woke up with deep cuts with coagulated blood on each one of my knuckles and my nail beds of my thumbs. I was extremely sore- and I was a virgin- so I would not have known what sexual assault – or even sex would have been like from personal experience. Anyway, I had to lie back down on my rack for a couple of seconds after I first attempted to arise at the sound of revielle. I felt like the breath had been knocked out of me.
should be legal to kyll whoever did it.might have been male..wasn't a MAN!!! sorry i wasn't there to kick "him"off the planet!!!
– continued from previous-Now, I know it's too late to do anything about it- for prosecution. I will tell you this though, I was in shock and I had a deep cut above my right eyebrow my bangs helped to hide. I had an RDC by the last name of ____ or ____. He had his hand bandaged up from the wrist all the way to the tips of his fingers. I had no reason to believe anyone had done anything to me at the time- what I mean is I didn't want to believe I was that vulnerable. Anyway, I thought he was fine and yet I had no explanation for what occurred. I certainly did not want it to have even been true. Therefore all the doubts people may experience in reading this I have already been through. For 5 fell years I felt it must have been my fault.
This is all I want. I want you to make sure that no one is raped again. Just keep the rapists away from the recruits. Boot camp is hard enough.
i am sorry to hear you were violated in such a way .
just found the rest of your comment,and no,it's not too late for investigation. that's the beauty of it. everything is a matter of record..names..times..injuries..times are changing…people,too..even the NAVY..SO..if not for yourself,think of the others…and there are others…its not revenge if someone "deserving"gets a cloud over their head,delays their promotion,makes them the butt of a whispering campaign…they deserve it…you deserve better…words fail me…for once. here's hoping you did well after that…and that KARMA WORKED!!!! WITH ALL MY LOVE!$20MIKE…U.S.ARMY 1971-1974
Nobody should suffer an attack like this. Stay strong, KEEP telling your story until someone takes action. Not everyone is thick skinned as the people you've already told (and have not taken action). People do care…
As a former DrillSgt at Ft. Mcclellan in 1989 we had just got in a new bunch of Soldiers to train. My fellow DrillSgt was teaching them present arms and I saw this soldier holding his right arm up. I went up to him and ask what the H__l are you doing and he said I am presenting my arm. Whatever when I went inside I laughed my butt off
At Lackland AFB I was on CQ duty one night. About 0300 in the morning I heard this voice from one of the sleeping bays. "Yes sir, volunteer sir." Over and over again the voice came. I went over to the bunk it came from and Amn. Rutledge was sleeping at attention and yelling this phrase over and over again in his sleep.
One time in the chowhall it was this fat recruit named Chandler tried to grab a brownie. My kill hat saw it and as soon as Chandler sat down my kill hat smashed it with his fist and said “Now that’s what I call a pound cake bitch!” I lost all bearing and got I.T’d pretty badly that day lol. You should’ve seen the look on Chandlers face!
We were in week four of Basic at Lackland AFB back in November of 1983. We had just picked up our coveted blues. We stuffed all of our greens into our duffle bags and, at the TI's instruction, tied our boots to the outside of the duffle. On the march back to the barracks, Airman Fred Frye from Fleawood, PA called out "Sir, permission to adjust, my boots keep kicking me in the butt!" After a moment of laughter, the TI, SSgt Billy Smith says "Airman, those boots are doing what I have been wanting to do from day one! Permission granted!" It was a rare moment of levity that I will remember always.
Bootcamp, Orlando FL, 78. Had been up 48 hrs, came straight from the airport, haircut and clothes stenciling. DI had us popped tall, chewing out a recruit at the other end of the barracks, for throwing his stencil away. Oh sh#* I had thrown mine away too. He called out for anyone else having thrown theirs away too, I had to answer I had. He can running, and screaming, asking why. I said the man next to me did, and I thought I had missed the command to throw it away, so I followed suit. He asked if the other guy across the barracks dropped and sucked his @#*% if I would too. I answered NO SIR! He asked why not since I seem to be a follower. I answered I knew better sir. That got a stifled snicker from a downturned head so I could not see him laughing, and must have earned his respect as he never messed with me again.
ROTC Summer Camp 1969 at Ft Lewis WA. We were allowed to familiarize with a 45. Since each target was held up by a wood stake, we all decided we weren't gong to fire at our targets, but we were going to fire at the stake. As we each began to fire, you could hear the Drill Sergeants yelling, "aim higher!" As soon as the first stake was cut and the target keeled over, a cheer went up across the firing line. Little pleasures like that meant a lot.
I was in the Navy at basic training. While learning to march we were told not to anticipate a command, e.g. column left, etc. Every morning we had to go to a large drill hall that accomodated, I guess, six, or seven, companies of recruits (600-700 men) where we first had a uniform inspection, then practiced marching. While marching toward the end of the drill hall our recruit company commander (a fellow recruit with some college education) called out "Column Left". With all the noise from the other companies that were also training, no one heard the command, and being taught not to anticipate a command, we marched right into the wall at the end of the drill shed. It was something right out of "Stripes". We did many push ups that day! I still laugh to myself when I think about it.
I was in D-1-3 at Fort Dix during the summer of 1970. We were on a bivouac exercise near the ranges, and had been ordered to stay in our pup tents after dark. One of the other trainees had a gallon of rum stashed in the bleachers on a range nearby, so some of us snuck off in the dark to drink and play cards. I got the bright idea (under the influence) to scare another trainee when we got back to the bivouac area. I put my gas mask on and crawled over top of him in his pup tent growling like a bear. I was in the wrong pup tent. I had scared the biggest trainee in the platoon. He took off after me, very upset, but couldn't catch me in the dark. I could run, and under the circumstances could run even faster despite the fact that I was laughing so hard. In the process we were running into tents and tripping over ropes pulling other tents down. I got away, and then made it back into my own tent before the Drill Sergeants figured out what was going on. No one ever figured out who had created all the commotion. You win some, you lost some, but just this once I did not get caught. I still laugh every time I think about this incident.
Another incident with D-1-3 at Fort Dix during the summer of 1970:
When we were introduced to the M16 on the range the Drill Sergeant called out a trainee as a demonstrator to convince us that it did not have enough recoil to hurt. The Drill Sergeant was facing the bleachers, and the trainee was facing downrange. The Drill Sergeant had the trainee fire the weapon with it in his crotch, and then on his forehead. The Drill Sergeant couldn't see what we could from the bleachers at that point. As the trainee fired he was aiming too high, and the rounds were hitting the top of the pole with the speaker system wired to it bringing down the speaker and the wires while chewing up the top of the pole. You can imagine that the trainee had a hard time hearing the Drill Sergeant's screamed, "Cease fire!" over the howls of our laughter!
Near the end of AF basic training we were marching to chow as usual. We always had to do a "column left" to get to the door. Without thinking, our instructior shouts, "Column right, march!" Well you guessed it. Everyone went right, just as he commanded. The only one who went left was the instructor. He went marching off by himself. After he halted us and got us turned around, he tried to chew us out for embarrassing him, but he was grinning from ear to ear.
While in AF Basic training at Lackland AFB back in 1954, one of the persons in my squadron had the habbit of walking up to another member and ask three questions. "Got a cigarette, got a light, what time is it". I was reported that someone saw him at the post office mailing what looked like a cartons of cirgarettes. Needless to say, after that people ignord his question. Not being a smoker, I never donated to his probable cause.
tHERE WAS NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT MY BOOT CAMP!
The best way to get through boot camp is to think of it as a game. But as in any game, the ups and downs kind of smooth out and most people enjoy it better that way.
really? nobody fucked up to the point the DI just went apeshit?
AF basic at Lackland TX July 1980, The flight was in formation learning the correct way to salute, the guy next to me was holding his cross under his thumb, which wouldn't have been bad if his hand would have been tilted down correctly. As it was the Instructor saw part of it and asked what it was. " My cross sir, I figured we could use all the help we could get." I'm biting my lip to keep from laughting, the Instructor just kind-of shook his head corrected his hand angle and moved on.
I went to Great Lakes for Navy Boot camp, And I remember the first time I saw my CC he walked in and I thought- "Its freaking John Wayne! He looked like, talked and walked just like him. After Graduation- I went to a few schools and then to my career, and while at GITMO, we had the refresher gas trainer, We entered, with our MK V's, strapped in the bag, and as the word "gas attack was sounded, I watched as a guy in my division, wildly opened and donned his gas mask with lightening speed! But as he went to draw the straps back, I watched as his super adrenaline charged hands snapped off both of the straps to give him a tight seal on the mask,,lol. All I remember is his eyes going from small beady to huge wide eyed wild look through his mask as he looked at both straps in his hands and let out a yell of terror,,lol. It was the funniest thing I ever saw, I laughed so hard, I never got my mask on, I was laughing all the way out of the chamber, just tears pouring and laughing at Lonnie for the laughter he provided to me.
Basic Training, Ft. Chaffee Arkansas, 1962. A kid burped real loud during our morning formation. The Drill Sgt. went bonkers and demanded to know who did it. The kid admitted to it and said that he had a medical condition and couldn't help it. The Drill Sgt. screamed " Well you had better learn to blow it out your ass !". We all cracked up until he made us "wipe those smiles off your faces "!
Grew up near Ft. Chaffee. Looks totally different now.
While in Basic trainig at Ft. Dix, NJ, we were all told not to recieve packages from home. One of out recruits had a grandmother that sent a large box of cookies. Our drill sargent (female) first yelled at the entire squad and then told us to dispose of the package within 3 minutes. We were all eating quickly when the recruit asked the drll if she wanted a cookie. Her reply was that she was watching her slim, trim figure. One of the other recruits replied " Thats all right drill sargent, we'll watch it for you." The entie room just droped to the floor and started doing push-ups trying to contain the laughter.
Toward to the of Infantry OSUT at Ft Benning in 1987, we all thought we had figured out the drill sgt. I had pulled a early morning fire watch the night before and I was exhausted, so while my battle buddy shinned his shoes, I decided to take a little nap and to do so and not get caught I slipped under my buddies bunk and hooked my thumbs under the springs to make it look like I was tighting the bed sheets……I thougjht I was pretty smart……..till the DS came up the fire escape ladder, behind me and caught me right handed! He yelled the nick name he gave me and I woke up and hitting my head on the bottom of the bunk. Something that he taught me must ahve worked out, I am abuot to retire with 25 years service.
Summer, 1964, Ft Gordan GA, A-7-3, Inf AIT. New Tng Company formed from old W.W.II square brick prison compound. Had to scrounge windows from other bldgs. We had a small recruit in our bks named Dennis. He had trouble waking up. The D.I. came in at o dark 30, rattled his night stick around in the trash can. Dennis stayed in bed. Moments later the D.I. reintered the bldg, grabbed the bottom rung of Dennis' bunk, heaved straight up….Dennis flew, feet first, through the window, breaking frame and all. Waking problem solved.
There was a certain Master Chief Boatswains Mate of Hollywood fame that held a P.I. inspection of us at Little Creek, Va. Amphib Base duty station every week. I had always had a sparkling clean uniform. Sea salt, baking soda, tooth brushed, no communist tags, no Irish Pennants, bright white piping, razor sharp creases. I had never been gigged for almost 4 months. NO DUTY for me ,, I was thinking knowing that the ones who got gigged , also pulled duty for the weekend. And I had planned a great weekend with this gal I just met. As Master Chief walked by, inspecting my superior uniform, a stop, hard look up and down, and then actually commented to me, – "Nice Uniform" . And on to the next contestant,, "YES!" I thought to myself,, No duty! And then- the world stood still,,actually came to a screeching halt as the Master Chief, Stopped, turned with the look of a laughing shark, turned to me in the most nonchalant demeanor and in an UN-apologetically dutiful voice and said, "Oh- by the way, You have the Duty this weekend" I was thinking,, What? I didn't get hit on anything? Hair cut -fresh, shave- baby smooth, Shoes- radar reflectors, And as he saw the confusion and disbelief in my eyes and face, he quietly said: "You haven't had duty in 4 months, Its just Your turn Son". And I knew right then- that's the way it is. Sometimes, its just your turn. The Navy Way- Duty first, -everyone pulls their weight. no matter what. I just got schooled. Old School. And I learned a lifelong lesson in less than 2 minutes.
1964, Ft Knox, Firing Range with electric pop up targets. D.I. watching me fire says "Good shooting." My a–, says I, I gotta shoot low & to the right in order to hit anything. This rifle sucks!" The D.I. throws his helmet liner at me, knocking off my helmet and begins cursing. "What the h–l did we tell you KY boys about KY windage & TN elevation," he says. Git chore a– up here & learn how to adjust those sights. (On top of that I hadn't paid attention about how a loose gas cylinder could make an M-14 kick harder. My shoulder was bruised bad. (I got a good score though.)
I served two years of my three year tour of duty at Fort Richardson AK.back in 1966-68. We did a lot of activity; river boat, mountain climbing, repelling off cliffs, winter war games,just to mention a few. As a SGT part of my duties was working the stockade guard duty. We had one private who didn't want to be there or in the Army period, so every chance he got he would head to the airport to go home.We knew where to find him and would put him in the stockade again, he would serve his time in the brigg and would head to the airport again. He wasn't mean or angry just didn't want to be there, needless to say he spent a lot of time behind bars. It was an enjoyable time, even in the Army.
IN Dec '61 At Lackland AFB BMT3506, we had a guy who was as nice as could be and could entertain us all with his sharp wit. Unfortunately, he had been discharged from the Navy for some reason and he was told he was being discharged for fraudulent enlistment. I can still remember him singing "I'll Be Home For Christmas." His name was E.A. Bory-he'd have made a good airman in my opinion but..he was home by Christmas and we were in a cold barracks Christmas Day.
Basic Training was easy for me, I had a hard life as a civilian and enlisted telling everyone that I had taken care of myself since age 11 and now Uncle Sam could take care of me the next 20 years. They laughed at me and called me "lifer" but I'd bet a month of my retirement income that they wish they'd remained on active duty. There is an old saying, "He who laughs last laughs best."
After a few days of zero week waiting on the BCT to fill up so we would have enough guys for training,, the very first day in company area, you know the deal, the DS get on the bus and with a lot of colorful comments tells you have 2 minutes to get off his f**king bus. We get off the bus and get in front of the barracks, where where we are told too empty our duffle bags…….in the dirt. We prove that we donthave anything we are not required toahve and then he says he have 2 minutes to put everything back inside. that just was not going to happen, so he tells me to get in it and jump on my stuff to push it down. I do that and later found out that the full container of laundry soap broke open and so I spent the entire first day washing cloths in the one and only washer in the barracks…….I can tell you the very first day of training was the longest day of life.!
Another soldier and I cam out of the gas chamber hacking and recovering and sat by a tree to get it together. Along comes a gold bar not even slightly connected to us, and frankly we didn't think of doing anything, so we just sat sat there. He just about passed us when he remembered himself and stopped dead, turned and asked: "Aren't you supposed to do something when an officer passes?" We both tried to remember, and shortly stood and half-saluted. He turned red and told us to drop and give him 20, then he turned and walked off through the woods. We dropped, but when he turned his back and started walking away, we just sat back down, calling out: "One, Lieutenant, two, lieutenant…" until he was out of sight.
I was in boot camp Parris Island back in 1999 3rd Battalion India Company marching past some dummies used for bayonet training, when the drill instructor was yelling to the recruit next to me ,"what are you looking at?" He replied with a blank stare and the drill instructor screamed at him, "go run to the dummy and pick the booger out of his nose." As we are marching by he had to go run to it pick the pretend booger then run back to the platoon as we all are snickering and trying not to laugh hard at him run to the dummy and back.
I enlisted in the AF in Jul 1980, after completing 3 weeks of Basic they told me I had to go home because I was pregnant. I left but not before I told the DI's I would be back. To make a long story short, I ended up having a miscarriage so I went back to basic in Jul 1981. The funny part of the story was when I ended up in the same squadron 3743rd with the same DI's as the year before. Needless to say the section commander came through the barracks just to see the girl who made it back. The DI ask me "Do you know what the odds of you ending up in the same squadron let alone the same flight?" Of course I answer no Maam, I told you I would be back.. Inside I was laughing my head off, as nothing they could say to do could shake me as I had already been there, done that etc.
One Friday during Basic Training, our Company Commander came into the barracks and while we were standing at attention, he announced that he had a "special deal" for eight of us that would make our weekends better. He went on to say that he needed eight men who had valid driver's licenses from any state. Continuing he said, "C'mon men, all you will be doing for the next three weekends is driving – nothing else. How easy can it get?" After a couple of minutes hesitation, several guys stepped forward. He selected eight men and they were herded from the barracks and into the back of a half-ton truck. When they came back, that night, they looked terrible. As it turns out, they were taken to the far side of the base, dropped off, and handed steel fence posts and sledge hammers. Then they were ordered to "Start driving." They learned a lot about the concept of volunteering.
Took basic at Ft Lost in the Woods in the state of Misery, D-2-3 Aug-Oct 1975, Every unit has one. Foster was ours. Foster was alway doing something he was not supoose to be doing or not doing something he was suppose to be doing. We were confined to the company area and Foster is pickedup off base by the MPs after someone atempting to rob him shoves a starter pistol in his face and pulls the trigger. He faints and everyone thinks he is dead. MPs revive him. Foster had a serious problem with saluting. Eventually he came to the attention of the post commander for failing to salute him in his car (twice). Ultimately he is on almost continious KP. DIs obtain a spare General Officer car ID plate ( the red plate with white stars) and place it on the wall just above the pots and pans sink Foster has been more or less assigned to. Foster is ordered to salute the General's ID plate after each pot or pan is washed. Foster did not complete basic with us. As best I can remember he was recycled. It was that or he is still at Lost in the Woods washing pots and pans.
I was on watch one day and noticed something odd about our senior drill instructor as he was making coffee. I approached him and said, “Senior Chief, respectfully request permission to make a statement”. “what is it, recruit?!” “Senior Chief, your zipper is down”. That’s the first time I heard a Senior Chief say thank you.
Took basic at Sampson AFB NY Nov 53- Feb 54. Our Flight was sent to help fill bottles of GI Jen (cough Medicine). Well me and some more NC recruits got the bright idea to sneak a few back to the barracks. That weekend we drinked some and it made us sick. TI found out and we had to clean the back of the barracks with a tooth brush. We also had a Airman that always got lost . The TI told me and another guy to keep a watch over him. He still walked away while we were getting fitted for military clothes. We had to go find him , he was just wandering around not far away. After about 3 wks he discharged. Frank K MSGT USAF RET -77
AF basic training – at chow we couldn't get up with food in our mouth but of course we were so rushed it was easy to forget and a Drill SGT caught me on day. He called me to the head table where all the drill SGT's were eating. They were having there fun, screaming and making a huge racket at me, when I finally had an opportunity to say, Sir Airman XXX reporting…a piece of food came out of my mouth and made an perfect arch toward the Drill SGT's shoulder who I was reporting too. He jumped up and really let me have it then! I was physically shaking at the time but all I can do now is just laugh thinking back on the incident.
My company in the summer opf 74 was older, adverage age was 21. So when the whole company came down with the measles felt like kids. The young woman who started it got them again at the end of the week. They did not know if they should hold the whole company back, luck for us they decided, it was an act of God, so we got to continue on.
Basic training, Fort Leonard Wood, MO. The task that we were being trained on was "React to a Nuclear Explosion". It was the middle of one of the hottest Summers on record. The Drill SGT opened the training by pointing at the first trainee and saying, "There's been a Nuclear explosion and you have two minutes to live. What are you going to do? The Trainee said "I don't know. Call my girlfriend?". Drill SGT asked all of us and everyone had a different idea. He came to me. I was hot, I was tired, sweaty and pissed. I asked, "Are we all together?" The Drill SGT said, "OK, Yeah. We're all together." I said, "Then I'd kill you, Drill SGT". After he had heard all the comments, he said he liked mine. He said, "All of you had two minutes left, and only one of you thought of taking a minute away from me!"
In 1969, during my early weeks of Boot camp at Great Lakes RTC, I walked onto the quarterdeck for the first time to report my assignment as a watch relief. A big eagle was engraved on most of the marble floor, and not knowing the correct procedure, I walked right across the eagle and reported my presence to the officer behind the counter. The officer immediately took my unloaded M1 rifle from my hand, pointed it at me, and said, "Bang, you're a dead cockroach." I stood there wide-eyed and bewildered until he again yelled, "You're a dead cockroach boy, lay on you back with both arms and legs straight up in the air." I assumed and remained in that positioned for many minutes, as the other watch reliefs properly entered the quarterdeck by pivoting around the eagle (and my dead cockroach body).
RTC Great Lakes 1969 back when we had "ditty bays" hanging on our rack, clean uniform inside of them. CC a BT1 named S.D. **** checked this one kids stuff out, his drawers were dirty, yes, skid marks. Looked him square in the eye, and said "open maggot" poor kid opened his mouth only to have them stuffed in. CC said "clean em" poor kid commenced chewing, I hope he's not scarred for life but we had a ton of new nick names for him, he was a pretty good guy to boot.
That BTW is a no **** story.
RTC Great Lakes 1969 back when we had "ditty bays" hanging on our rack, clean uniform inside of them. CC a BT1 named S.D. **** checked this one kids stuff out, his drawers were dirty, yes, skid marks. Looked him square in the eye, and said "open maggot" poor kid opened his mouth only to have them stuffed in. CC said "clean em" poor kid commenced chewing, I hope he's not scarred for life but we had a ton of new nick names for him, he was a pretty good guy to boot.
1958 San Diego boot camp: one morning at one of the mindless after chow personnel inspection by the TD guys, I was able to bring some laughter into their lives and enhance my physical fitness with "gimme 10, RIGHT NOW". RTC San Diego probably has more sea gulls than the rest of the world. While standing at attention awaiting the inspector to approach me, I felt and smelled something hit my white hat. Within 10-15 seconds the inspector was in my face yelling, "what's that on your cover, recruit"? I was 22 years old (only a few less than the TD) so felt I should give an honest answer. Mustering my best imitation of his voice, I yelled at the top of my lungs, "SIR, bird shit, SIR"! After his look of amazement that lowly recruit would actually yell in his face, he burst out laughing as did his fellow inspectors, my BM1 Company Commander and most of the surrounding troops awaiting inspection. Hence, some push ups and extra attention for the rest of the day. Yes, it was worth it.
BCT 04' Ft Leonard Wood – We were on our final FTX. We had dug our foxholes and were waiting for night with our Promasks on. Two foxholes down were a pair of guys that had created a barricade with fallen branches in front of their fighting position. When it got dark, it was pitch black and all you could hear was the deafening sounds of cicadas. Around midnight, I heard some tromping in the woods in front of me. I searched the blackness for movement. ( I could see in the dark pretty well and many of my battle buddies asked me to take them to the latrines…) Suddenly I heard loud crashes and snaps and then I hear 1SG's voice yelling "Alright GD! You got me, you got me!!!" We turned on our flashlights to see 1SG all tangled up in the branches of the other guys barracade. He had to get help from the other DS to get out since they had popped several cans of gas and he couldn't see! BTW, seeing the DS get up on top of the defac tables was freakin' cool!
I was doing Basic Training at Ft. Dix in 1947 … a screw up was being chewed out by the drill sgt. and as he finished his barrage the recruit was looking very sorrowful so the sgt finished with "If you're looking for sympathy you'll find it between sh-t and syphilis in the dictionary"
Heard that one in Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood in 1997. My civilian friends love that!
I remember going through boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Traing Center in 65. Every morning at personnel inspection we would have to hook our thumbs under our T-shirt collars to prove there was no ring-around-the-collar dirt from sweat. To prevent any from forming between the barracks and the grinder we would put a piece of toilet paper there to absorb any sweat to just before the inspection. Now what to do with the TP…we'd tuck it in our mouths and swallow, but our collars were spottless.
Jan, 1953 second week of Basic Training. Back then we all had to know by memory the eleven Air Force General Orders. It was a Saturday morning and we were haveing a stand by inspection with class a uniform and open foot lockers.The LT. was doing the inspection. And he stopped at this Airman next to me. He was a Georgia boy and he talked real slow. The LT ask the Airman if he knew his General Orders. He said Sir I know all my General Orders except number 6. The LT then said Airman what is the 7 General Order. He said "Sir I don't know that one either". The whole lower bay had tears in our eyes trying to hold back the laughter. Even the LT and our TI. The LT just done a right face and went to the next Airman. CMSGT USAF RETIRED
AF basic Lackland AFB, I was flight leader. '58 Flight Commander ordered me to teach the flight how to erect a pup tent. Air Force – pup tent. Didn't compute, but follow orders. Drew two shelter halves and the rest of the stuff to train the following day. Erect tent day, raining, flight going out of the barracks. Sergeant walking by said, 'Airman, what the hell are you doing?' 'Sergeant, I am going to train these airmen on how to erect a pup tent!' 'In the rain airman, do you have BB's in your head? Go in that barracks and train!' "Yes, Sergeant." It took ten airman to hold up that tent. Two inside holding poles. Eight outside as tent pegs. An unbelievable sight.
When reporting to OCS, I was told to bring my enlisted uniform, which I did in a green duffel bag. I got off the bus in Newport and put my suitcase down (large gray Samcsonite) and went back on the bus to get my duffel and the only thing I owned in the world: A tennis racket with a wooden frame press.
I am standing in front of the Drill Instructor, and he walked over to me, leaned in so his Smokey the Bear hat was 2 inches from my nose, and asked me if I thought I was at God D*** Resort. Then he told me I owed him 50 for bringing that racket onto the base.
Nice start. I am sure he got a laugh out of it.
Dorm guard duty has never been so eventful! I was letting my flight out for chow, and I took my eyes off the hallway to see how many flight members still had to leave. I'll call the drill instructor SSgt V. SSgt V was RIGHT there when I looked at the hallway again. SSgt V told me it was to late…to close the door. We fought at the door. I tried to close it, and she kept trying to open it. We fought with the door for a few minutes. SSgt V came into the room, and I pushed her out into the hallway. SSgt V came back in, and I pushed her out again. This back-and-forth kept going on for what seams like a LONG time. SSgt V was yelling at my flight members to pull me off of her. After a few times of her yelling at them, I was pulled off of SSgt V. I was escorted to chow by a few flight members. A couple of SPs were in the chow hall picking up someone who failed their drug test. SSgt V came to my left ear yelling "You see those SPs, you see those SPs? Do you know who they are here for?" "Yes Ma'am" "Who they here for?" "Me Ma'am" That's right YOU ARE GOING TO JAIL!" We had just watched the video of the UCMJ. I was scared out of my mind. All I could hear is my mom saying "We have 7 children and not one of them have been to jail!" I didn't go to jail, and my flight members told me they would follow me to war any time. Oh SSgt V ended up being my TI! CRAAAP! It sucked at first.
Navy boot camp, Orlando 85
Our C.C. was tough was upholding his record of having companies with the most honors (flags and pennants) by cycling us for the maximum hours allowable per day. In short we were wiped out, in trouble and scared s***less while other companies were having pizza parties with girls over!
Every night we had a guard posted at the door and a female C.C. walks through and he doesn't stop her! She chews us out for poor security and chucks an imaginary grenade. Some joker waaaay down the line yells BOOM!
She leaves and we all start taking guard duty really seriously from there on. Our C.C. would explode over an improperly made bunk, what will this do to him.
The next day went by and we didn't hear anything. So far so good. Later that night, same woman shows up and this time the guy on guard duty gets in her way and is struggling to read a list of instructions on the wall. She shoves him out of her way and starts yelling that he didn't stop her and she is going to report us to our C.C. And she says ANY ONE CAN STOP ME. About two seconds later she is on the bottom of a thirty man dogpile. I vividly remember someone flying over my head like Superman. She wiggles out disheveled and dizzily staggers out the door. We never heard a word about it. Living on 4 hrs sleep boot camp to me is just a string of surreal memories like that one
Seemed to me that everyone had this one individual that tried his best, but just couldn't make it. Well, we were out on bivouac, when one of our DIs found a weapon sitting near a soldier unattended, and not with the soldier. The DI picked up the weapon and presuming it belonged to the soldier near it, he shouted, "soldier, what is this?" The soldier jumped up and said, "that's my gun!" BIG MISTAKE!! There were listerbags that were placed at each end of our bivouac area (aprox. 80 yards) , whereas the DI instructed the soldier to run to each bag and repeat. . ."weapon, weapon, weapon" at the top of his voice for an hour. Think he ever called it a 'gun' again?!!
If I remember correctly, we were shown the difference when the drill sergeant held up the weapon and said "This is a weapon, this is a gun (holding crotch). This is for killing, this is for fun." I think that's how it went. It's been a while.
I would believe it hasn't changed, if our beloved DIs are on top of things!
ft.knox,ky.1971…bivouac….drill sgt. warned us "charlie"will try to sneak into your tent and steal your weapon,prolly cut your throat just for fun,so secure it at all times!!!i went to sleep w/my M-16 sling over my shoulder.drill sgt.crawled in between a row of shelter halfs,reaches in mine and tries to tug my weapon out from under me,waking me up…it's still slung over my shoulder,no way he's gettin' mine!! i layed still hoping he'd go away…no such luck!! finally,he's half in my tent,still tryin'..i rolled over,stuck my index finger in his face and yelled BANG!BANG!he didn't say a word,backs out,moves on to the next poor recruit's hooch….next day,0dark30,they had about half of 1st platoon's weapons,boots,bayonets,webgear,c-rats,you name it,stacked in a pile!many pushups were done,only myself and a few others still had all our gear…got to watch the rest do their thing minus boots, pants,shirts,hats…went first to chow while they scrambled to sort out the pile of tore up gear,disassembled M-16s,scattered C-rats………..GOOD TRAINING,FER SURE!!!1stPlt.C-10-5-july1971
On our first day of basic at Ft. Jackson, S.C. we had to fill out a ton of paperwork. As usual the Drill sergeants were talking a mile a minute and we had a hell of a time keeping up. Finally we passed in all the paperwork and the drills started proofing it. The senior drill got to one packet, sighed deeply and asked; " Which one of you dumb asses put down RANGER for component?" One poor kid in the back stood up and admitted to the flub. Which questioned on where his brains were he replied he didn't know whether he was RA, NG, or ER so he just put them all down! After thinking about it for a minute the drill admitted he might not be as dumb as he looked, and we all had a good laugh, followed by about 50 push-ups!
At one of the first batallion orientation meetings "will all the college graduates please stand up." I had heard about not volunteering for anything so me and my BBA kept my seat warm. About twenty or so stood up proudly. "All right all of you geniuses report to Corporal Smith for wheelbarrow duty." We loved it.
I had a hard time adjusting to the civilian life after the military. When I first got out, I took a food service job. I made a mistake in the kitchen…and it was brought to the attention of my manager. When she called my name, I snapped to attention and said “yes ma’am?”. Next she said “What did I tell you about saluting me? You are not in the military anymore. Now go back to work.” When my manager left, a fellow employee whispered to me “You need to relax.”. I automatically went to parade rest. I eventually got more adjusted to civilian life as time went by.
just means you did a damn good job.
….I did Navy boot camp in Orlando in 1989…..Yes, I was a nuke (nuclear machinist mate)….while there in July I and several of my shipmates performed our FIRST top secret mission….we snuck into WSPT (water safety and physical training) building and acquired several unauthorized items (all legally of course)…..aka, gedunk…namely skittles…Just to clarify, WSPT was run by the SEALs……Master Chief Williams would have been proud…and had our butts down 8 count body builders, forever….BEGIN!!!!!!!
At MCRD San Diego in the 70's while walking firewatch in the early morning hours one of the recruit's in our platoon found the window's and door's so he bravely did what he was required to do. He woke up that platoon's D.I. and informed him that the windows needed to be opened and the doors unlocked and stayed there while the D.I. did so. After which the recruit went back on firewatch and reported (as required) to our D.I. when he got off watch.
Our platoon's D.I. was in a very good mood come morning.
The other platoon's D.I. was in a very, very bad mood come morning.
I left the flight to relax in the afternoon after they had marched in a parade and I goofed off too. I went to the dorm in mid-afternoon and in the dayroom one of the squad leaders was resting. I yelled "Get-up, Get-up, Get-up" like I did when I woke the flight up in the morning. Apparantly others had been doing the same thing because the next thing I saw was him flipping me off. At first it made me mad and went over and thumped him on the chest. He had his hat over his face and started pulling it down slowly and when he saw it was me his eyes got as big as silver dollars and he covered up his face with his hat. When I saw his eyes I started laughing and went into the flight office.
A few seconds later there was a knock on the door and he came in apologizing and almost in tears — he didn't know it was me, he was sorry.
I had a good laugh and told him to forget it that I knew he didn't mean it.
A former MTI and Section Supervisor
My mom sent me a batch of pinwheel cookies while in Vietnam.(my all-time favorite cookie)..I got to eat every last one of them myself. How? Well, somehow on the flight over, they got doused in lighter fluid. No one else would touch them! I burped lighter fluid for a couple weeks, BUT, they were still good.
awsome. they don't mke them like that anymore. Most of the soldiers I know would have said "screw this" and got rid of them. as for you…..thnk you for your service. I had family in world war 1 world war 2 and in nam. my grandfater was there for d-day on the first wave on utah.
We were getting ready to go the fob at Fort Knox. We were in a formation and the DS says I repeat only get hygiene products at the shopette. My buddy raises his hand and says does that include razors. The DS was dumb founded he finally says private how many times it take you to get through kindergarten. Well my buddy didn't miss a beat. He goes DS I believe got through the second time. The DS lost his composure and busted out laughing.
NTC/RTC San Diego 1982 , on a saturday afternoon the whole co. Was shooting the breeze when a couple of recruits started to demonstrate how if you put a folded towel over someone's eyes while lying on his back and count backwards from 10 to 0, keeping your eyes closed when the towel is removed you cannot get up. After the demonstration they wanted to be proved wrong and asked for a volunteer, many hands went up and a kid from the midwest was chosen, as he started the count with towel covering his eyes another recruit very quietly positioned himself in front, lowered his trousers and skivvies to his knees and as soon as the count was over the kid lying down got up and buried his face in coopers crack.
I went to boot at Great Lakes in the winter of 1959 in the old WW2 wooden barracks. My top bunk was next to a broken window so I caught pneumonia.
One night at Parris Island (summer of 1975) a fellow recruit asked to call his mother. The drill instructor put him on the landing of the third deck stairwell, pointed him toward the swamp and said "call the b—-"! After about ten minutes of "calling" mom, the drill instructor returned and asked if he was tired of calling her. "Sir, yes sir, was the reply." "I think you need to keep talking", he said and walked away. Several minutes later the recruit was asked the same question. "Sir, no sir," was the reply. "Good, keep talking". Not much later the drill instructor allowed the boy use of a pay phone. None of the rest of us ever asked to call mom!
1972 I was an instructor at RTC (W) in Orlando. Our Division Officer was a WREN from the Royal Navy. As we were preparing our lesson for the day we heard a thumping coming from the next office. The 2nd Officer said to me, "PN go see what the noise is." I went next door and discovered a service week buffing the floor. I reported back what I found and the 2nd officer corrected me, don't you mean a bumper? In the Royal Navy a Buffer is equal to our Chief Petty Officer.
While in USAF basic we had a set of twin brothers in the same flight and there were bunked one on each side of the floor. Well, one brother was very neat and the other brother wasn't so neat. It took the TI's about a week to discover that there were twins in the flight and that they weren't seeing double. They made them bunk side by side so the organized brother could help his not so organized brother make it through basic.
June 1961. After being in the U.S. for 4 mos.I spoke a few words of english. I then enlisted in the ARMY. Ft. Leonard Wood,MO. Armpit! on the 1st evening, after drawing my equipment and getting my 1st haircut(?) the word went out that we were having a G.I. party! I went to the PX and downed a bunch of cheap beers and hours later, when I returned to the barracks, my buddies were just finished cleaning the joint. When I asked when the party was starting, I was tols that I missed all the fun. I didn't get it until I figured out that
the party that Elvis was singing about, wasn't a G.I. party at all! My loss…..
I now speak good english but did not forget my deutsch.
While serving this great country, I asked a stupid question: How can you tell a south viet from a north viet from a viet cong? I still don't know. Help me!
What is "Armpit!" in reference to? I don't remember anyone being allowed to drink beer during basic training.
how old are you?horste clearly states 1961.i drank draft beer at the PX,in basic training,fort knox,1971,w/on post privileges,of course!
I went to boot camp at San Diego in the summer of 1956. I became Recruit Chief Petty Officer of my company. I had some problems with recruits horsing around after lights out. No one would tell me who was responsible. My answer was to take the company out to the grinder for a little close order drill. After an hour we would return to the barracks and things would settle down for that night. This went on for 3 or 4 nights. A recruit mentioned to me some of those not responsible were gong to complain to the company commander.
I told him what had been happening. He said he would take care of it.
He asked the company it there were complaints about having to drill at night.
He asked why they had to do it. Then he told the company because no one had told the RCPO who was responsible everyone had to pay the price.. Mr. Nellis never referred to me by my name, always as the RCPO. He went on to explain that while we were in Boot Camp he was God, and pointing at me, he said the RCPO is Jesus Christ.. I never had to take the company out on the grinder after lights out again. That is how I remember the story. I have told it so many time I believe it is true.
I was in Navy boot camp early spring of ’03. It was the last day of p-days and we were eating in the galley when bam! I had to sh@! My brains out. So there I sat, my whole body shaking, my eyes wide trying to hold back the flood gates. As I was for some reason debating whether I could hold it long enough to ask the RDC’s to use the head our Jr RDC had walked behind me and asked me what was wrong? I jumped up and blerted recruit asks permission to use the head. Well he just grinned and said what? So I repeated and he smiled and said the fu#% did you just say? So I repeated again this time my voice broke. He just laughed a little and said sure go ahead. Then I realised I didn’t even know where it was and before I could even ask him he laughed loud as hell and said you don’t even know where it is do you. Then he told me where it was so I took off not so quickly walking like an old man praying I wouldn’t crap myself.
CG Boot Camp 1963
One of my fellow recruits was sent running all the way down to a small shack to get the temperature because he was goofing off in the chow line. He came running back and reported that the temperature was 98 degrees. He was then sent back, running all the way to and fro, to see if the reading was Farenheit or Centigrade.
I went thur Basic at Ft Sill. I was older then most the guys and I was allowed to clean the Drill Sgt's Office. On day my buddy and I were mopping up when I saw "it " hanging on the wall… A Drill Sgt's Hat! I could not resist. I put it on my head and told my buddy to take a Picture. Other guys thought it would be fun also. They used there phones to take pics. that was not so smart. When one guy got caught using his phone the Dr. Sgt. saw the pics. we were ALL in trouble. Standing at Attention with the Drill Sgt's hat is still one of my most prized photo's.
USCG Basic Boot Camp, 1971, May-August, Alemeda, CA. Brother entered basic in April and myself May. After my first week in basic, I auditioned to play drums in the Coast Guard Band. My brother who played in Jr. High, high school. band and orchestra, and had his own rock and roll band. I had only watched him play at home was given the job as base drummer. Being very tall I was given the job without stroking one beat of the drum. My f irst parade was the Rose festival in Portland, Or, 4.5 miles long. My brother played snare in front of me. So my boot camp experience was weekends off attending parades and liberty for many hours afterward. "Zoom" as we said when getting time off. I stayed on after basic for three more months touring with the band and Honor Guard. I was in Oscar Company. Entry Company was Echo 80. i am now retired after 23 years in the Coast Guard Reserves.
While attending Military Police School at Ft. Gordon, GA in Dec of 1965, it was against the rules to be in any building while wearing any kind of headgear – except one.
One of our instructors hated for anyone to fall asleep in his class and was an excellent shot with a blackboard eraser – hence the reason we were required to wear our helmet liners in class. Well as luck would have it, I got caught sleeping and got the eraser dead center of my headgear to prove it. The DI instructed me to report for extra duty right after evening chow. Later in that same class we were given a quiz. Lucky me, I was the only student to score a perfect 100 on the test. So, I challenged the DI: If I was the only one to score 100, then the rest of the class must have been sleeping as well and needed the extra duty! I got away with it!
March 1988 Fort Jackson South Carolina. Just got off guard duty at the 50cal and went down the road with two other recruits to the port-a-Jon. After just finishing our business, we heard trucks coming. We threw our ponchos over ourselves and hid in an open spot just behind the port-a-Jon. Op 4 was getting out of the trucks to attack our compound. As they departed, we jumped up and began to run through the woods towards our encampment. The other two recruits were captured. I slid into a ditch next to a road. Being inexperienced I began shooting my m-16 blanks in their general direction. I spun around in my prone position just in time to get grabbed by my gear and brought to my feet. All three of us were then thrown into the port-a-Jon and the door was secured with a stick. We were pounding on the sides to make noise in order to alert the company. One OP 4 said, “Don’t tip that thing or you will be covered in blue.” We stopped, they opened the door and we ran into the direction of the 50cal yelling the password, “Lollypop!”. The 50cal opened fire anyway, but at least the company was alerted because of all the noise we made.
If I may join in with a story from the "other side". I was a DoD paramedic at Fort Leonard Wood in the late 80's. After the suicide of a recruit (not funny) all cadre there were instructed to watch trainees for any indications they may be at risk for harming themselves. Any indications would require a psych evaluation. One morning, my partner and I were dispatched to pick up a recruit for such an evaluation. He insisted he wasn't trying to kill himself and shouldn't have to go. So I asked what happened. He says " I was running to formation and tripped over my bootlaces". As I was on the ground tying my boots, my Drill Sgt. comes over and I said "Wow, a person could kill themself around here." The next thing I know, I'm standing at attention waiting for an ambulance. We still had to take him in, but I believe my partner and I laughed all the way back to the hospital.
This is for ,the MP, at FT.Gordon , I was taking Airborne Inantry training. Iwas on my way to Vietnam 67to 69. I was with (91st Trng Grp. (Ft. Benning Georgia inWe wtnesed jump school Trainning running in tennis shoe's. I was shocked. What a bunche a pussies:
On our last of training at RTC Orlando in '83, our CC had us out doing our daily PT routine, this time on the calisthenics course. As this was also the day we got our "Uncontrolled Liberty", as our sister company co. came running by, the CC had us get into the 8-point body-builder position in position #2 and do "pelvic thrust" exersices! The women in our sister co. were going nuts. At chow that evening, he instructed us to all get ice-cream sandwiches. When our sister came into chow hall, he announced "Sandwiches verticle- LICK!" It was great to see the look on those womens faces.
passed thru louisville years back when ft. knox was still an "open post",decided to show my wife where i did basic.she's heard lotsa stories about how tough it was,etc.didn't take long to find my old barracks,not much had changed…visually,that is.stopped the car,pointed out this+that when this drill sgt. storms out of the orderly room yelling+gesturing at MY old barracks, 1st.platoon!wow!i tell her,wait'll you see this!!the hat yells some more..nothing happens! after a bit,the door opens+some people wearing blue coveralls amble out…all casual+smiling,cracking wise,looking around,eventually arriving at the formation …and that's when i noticed about half were females!the wife looks at me funny,says "thought ya said basic was s'posed real tuff???"i drove off,said i must be lost,maybe that's my old barracks down there or somethin' ….sheesh!!!
and
Lackland AFB 1969 –Flight 618- – was in one of the old barracks, built during the Second World War, that were supposed to be "temprorary" – open bay. We designated various jobs to individuals.
The guy in charge of "laundry" (washing all the barracks laundry) stuffed a washing machine SOLID with t-shirts and shorts , added a full gallon of bleach, THEN started the water. The agitator didn't even move…. Needless to say, people had HOLES in their underwear, bad news in basic!. Almost started a fistfight. The TI was disgusted.
Later, a few guys from Philly were sitting around talking about their girlfriends, and one pulled out a picture of his. Another guy spoke up and said "HEY- that's my ex-fiance! Turned out that the "fiance" had been double-teaming him with the other guy! The afianced had been LOOKING for the boyfriend. AND, two of the OTHER guys in the group had ALSO been out with her! They all had a good laugh about that.
Back in 1964 I pulled 1st CQ in Basic at Ft. Gordon and had a rough cough/cold. NCOIC – told me to reach into the Field 1st's desk drawer and use the small clear bottles. He had just come from the NCO clubl and rpetty well tanked from the looks of it so he went to sleep in the S4 part of the old WWII Building. I was too tired to care what it was and bottle looked like cough syrup size so took a gulp. Hot to the taste and soothing to the throat. Took some more later and then a little more! Woke up at 4AM with him yelling at me to wake up and explain where the contents of the bottle were. Learned in the process that this is what they called GI Gin and not sure if it was codeine or morphine but is sure as H put my 17 year old butt out. They poured me in a rack until Monday morning and kept checking on me to include the young 1st LT CO. Probably afraid to turn me in to the hospital or they would have all caught hell is my guess. Didn't cough again for a month and they never mentioned it (or let me pull CQ again)
Went to basic at Fort Jackson in 1987. Drill Sergeant (E-5) Cook responded to a soldier on the range saying there was a snake in his firing position. He calmly walked over to that firing position picked up a two foot snake and bit its head off right in front of us. We were all so shocked, yet also impressed. From that day forward we all thought SGT Cook was a total bada$$.
I remember standing in formation at attention in Lackland back in 1977 wearing those goofy looking fatigue hats when a bird flew over and dropped a load on the bill of my cap. There I stood at attention watching this stuff drip off the bill and the TI was laughing so hard he couldn’t put us at ease so I could wipe it off. When the time finally came and he composed himself enough to put us at ease, the entire flight had to fall out due to their laughing so hard. That was the first time I drew attention from my TI. No more staying undercover from that day on.
In Boot Camp in San Diego NTC in 1965, our company "scrounge" kept forgetiing to leave the toilet seat up in the head. The Company Commander finally got fed up, and decided to punish the whole company. He had all 60-70 recruits wash our faces in the toilets (after thorough cleaning by the RCPO and APO1) no one ever forgot again!
Jan,46, at mcrd san deigo,we all lined up while our DI layed out 5 canister of tear gas. We had to march thru the gas. I wasn,t stupid, I went around the edge of the gas. We were at the far corner of the base. A road was located on the other side of the fence.A good wind came up and blew the gas out on the road. It was a warm day,and the driver,s of the car,s had there window,s down.They were stopping all over the place. We got out of there quick
While in boot camp at Amarillo AFB in 1966, they were taking everybody. It was hard to get a medical deferment. This one poor fellow from Fairmont Neb. named Kunkle was allergic to everything, including the wool blankets. He was also deformed some, and his body wouldn't stand straight. He had trouble keeping his head up. He was at the dispensary nearly everyday. One day we were marching and the drill SGT. said "Kunkle get your eyes off the ground, there ain't no allergies down there"
During basic at Lackland AFB in 1966 our flight was brought to parade rest and SSgt Turner said he wanted the smartest airman in the flight to leave ranks and t approach him. No one moved. SSgt Turner said he had not made a request, it was an order – the smartest guy in the flight was to leave ranks and go forward. When no one moved my friend who was next to me pushed me out of the formation. Turner asked me if I was the smartest airman in the flight and I said, "I must be Sgt, I'm here." Whereupon he took me aside, showed me an empty package of Tiperillos, gave me $10.00 and said, "go to the PX get me a package of these and a soda or ice cream for yourself and meet us back in the barracks in an hour." After that, I was always happy to hear the words "Where's the smartest airman in this flight?"
Navy Recruit Training Command, San Diego, late 1963: A week or so into Navy life, it was apparent that one of our members just wasn't catching on to the mechanics of marching. With the company at parade rest, our CC took the recruit by himself for some one on one instruction. After a few moments they were just two figures floating in the heat waves rising from the expansive grinder when we heard the Chief in his unmistakable voice of frustration scream: "Your other left you f****** dummy". The entire company fell apart in laughter.
My Basic Training was in 1949 at Camp Breckinridge, KY. I was sent to Japan nearSendai. Three other Recruits and my self, all Recruits, I guess we were too dumb to be classed as Privates. We reported to the Orderly Room, but told to wait outside for the 1st Sgt. We were told it may take awhile. It was a nice warm day, sun shine so we laid down alongside a small picket fence. We were flat prone on our backs. From out of nowhere comes a 1st Lt. We knew we were supposed to stand and salute, but it was the amount of time it took to stand, We saluted laying down. The Lt. returned the salute, shook his head and said "It must be the weather."
At lackland in '79, the 3706 had one inexperienced male TI trainee and 2 very loud, very short, female TI's. We were under SSGTSnow. The inexperienced TI had us marching around the assembling pad and marched us into 2 tires on the pad.
Things went well for about half of us. We would step into one tire, resume the march for 6 steps and step into another tire, and then compose our march and carry on. About 3 steps after the last tire, the TI shouted out a double left flank which brought us in the front parrallel to the chaos about to happen . About halfway in the ranks, an airman lost his step and tripped on the tire. From then on it was a domino effect. It's a wonder that the first fallen guy survived all those basic trainees falling on him. I laughed so hard that I lost all control. Got a reprimand for my newly found humor and inability to stop laughing.
97 at MCRD, we had two guy with the last name "Fruit" so when the DI comes out of the hut and yells "WHERE ARE MY TWO FRUITS!" you couldn't help but bust out laughing about it. I went to the deck a few times due to that. Best memory was the last day we see one of the DI's POV POS in the parking lot. After I made a statement of "Who's POS is that!" He walked over, looked at the car and said "That is my POS. Hit the deck." he was kind enough to grind me with several other guys. I can't remember how long it was but we didn't care and laughed the entire time about it.
I went thru boot camp in 1952 at San Deigo. I had a bad cold one day and the Chief sent me to hdq. to get a walking chit to sick bay. The chief there asked me if I wanted to go to sick bay & I said yeah. He asked me what I said & I said yeah again. He said that if I yeah him once more I would be going there for something other than what I was going for. I immediately snapped back YES SIR. He then asked me again if I wanted to go to sick bay & I said Yes Sir. I never said yeah in boot camp again or very seldom after that.
It was basic training 1966 when we were given the dreaded guard duty around some buildings next to the railroad tracks. There is a strange soothing sound that blows through the tracks at night. One recruit was so sleepy he put the muzzel of his M-16 against the wall and folded his arms on top of it and promptly dozed off,,,standing there.
Later that night the sargent of the guard noticed there was no movement around the buildings and went to investigate.
Quietly sneaking up on the soldier he stood next to him and cleared his throat where the recruit looked down at the spit polished boots and wispered "Shhhh, I think I hear sombody inside".
The call for stories included the disturbing,so…I was a BT washout.Sent home in a Jody suit.They called it' terminal homesickness.'I had always wanted to be a soldier,loved the military,still do.But I was weak.It is the one regret in my life,enormous guilt and shame.47 years ago and I am sorry.
I have regrets too! After getting out after 8 years, one month and 17 days in the AF. Sorry you did not have the joy of service. I regret not doing 20!
hey- at least you showed up and made the effort – that takes something! – lots of people today don't even do that. Don't sweat it, guy.
I wish I could go back to BT and take more from it myself. It was the first time I've ever been away from home and a complete culture-shock. But the fact that you had the courage to make that step is awesome and speaks volumes about your character. You're an alright guy!
ralph…not much else i can add ,madden,peterson+rachel hit it on the head!!!you're not the failure….those who didn't try at all missed out,not you!!! you served,brother!NO REGRETS,OK?take it easy,ralph…$20mike said that…
i was the only one who flinched during claymore class when the drill sgt. clicked the firing handle.he yelled "shumaker!front and center!"everyone else!drop!!25!! then he explained how the blasting cap was replaced w/a piece of copper pipe and shumaker was the only one paying enough attention to notice so when we all get to 'nam,give shumaker all the claymores,none of you recruits will know which end is up!…at about 120 DECIBELS,OF COURSE!!me and zach got picked for shite detail after grenade range,as we were leaving up the hill,the instructors started throwing leftover grenades.we thought we were cool,draggin' butt,whole platoon watchin'us!piece of shrapnel hits zach in the forearm,spins him around towards me,we look,it's a scratch,but bleeds like hell.he gets woozy,i gotta carry him up the hill,they're still throwing grenades behind us,oblivious.time we get to the top we're both streaked with blood,zach's pale+sweaty,platoon gathers around us,drill sgt's wanna know what i did to zach!!!explained 3 times…at attention…what happened.zach gets to ride back,i march back bloody,get to explain it again..+again..+again.. Fort Knox-C-10-5BCTJuly1971
Boot Camp USN 1983. We wore leggings over our boots. lace up with hooks to speed up assembly. Some new boot put em on backwards. Hooks on the inside facing the laces of the other. He made it all the way to the chow hall then hooks hit laces. His full tray of food was still in the air when his face hit the floor. Then his chow landed on top of him. He went down that fast. Damn! It hurts just thinking about it again.
I went through Air Force Basic at Lackland AFB, Texas May-July 1973. One of our TI's was a Sgt. Sprague, and for a short little guy, he he was the meanest looking SOB you could imagine. I still have the brochure from my recruiter with Sprague's picture dressing down some sorry recruit. Sarg was a stickler for discipline; everything had to be perfect– from your uniform to the placement of personal articles in your footlocker. He had us at attention one hot afternoon, holding us there for a while just to see how long it would take before someone would hiccup, twitch or scratch that unbearable itch. The poor guy standing right in front of me was doing just fine until some very large, very ugly bug flew up and landed right on the back of his neck! I thought the guy was gonna crawl out of his skin. So I watched the TI carefully to see a moment of opportunity, when he looked to his right and away from my end of the formation. When He did, I took a swat at the bug, fast as my hand would move, trying to get the bug off my squadron mate. But sure as hell, Sprague saw this out of the corner of his eye and he locked onto to me like a heat-seeking missile. McCandlish! Front and center, right now! I immediately complied. "Why the hell were you moving in MY FORMATION, Airman?" He growled at me, practically nose to nose. "Sargent! The Airman in front of me had a bug on his neck! I was trying to remove it, Sargent!" I belted out. "Well was it BITING HIM???" He yelled. (The Squad behind me starts snickering.) "I don't know, Sargent, I never saw a big, ugly bug like that before!" (More laughing.) "I was afraid it might be poisonous or something! By now Sprague was trying hard to suppress a laugh himself, and just barely able to. "Drop and give me twenty!" So I did. Later in the day, amid the hot Texas sun, we gathered for a briefing in the shade of a large tree next to our barracks. Sprague was giving us the details when a crow flew up into the tree above him. And before Sprague could even look up, the crow took a big dump and
hit the Sarg square on his flat rimmed hat! God I never laughed so hard in my life. And the beauty of the situation was, that as tough as Sprague was on the outside, he could laugh at himself in that situation, and he did. It showed us that he was a human being after all.
I was in Company 1554 at Great Lakes NTS in Oct-Nov 1943. We would fall in outside the barrack at 0500 (or was it 0600?) for calesthenics. At the end of doing jumping jacks, etc., we would run up the road 1/4 (or was it 1/2?) mile and back again to fall out. One morning, two recruits detached themselves in the roadside bush a short distance up the road. By the time we returned, they had almost frozen to death. And that was the end of that kind of frigging off.
In 1975 at Officer's Basic at Ft. Bliss we had a unit on drug awareness. After getting instruction on what various drugs look like, what to look for in terms of paraphernalia, drug use signs in soldiers, etc., the Major giving us the training pulled out what looked like an incense burner and told us "Now I am going to demonstrate for you what marijuana smells like!" He then lit the incense and smoke wafted into the room. "Take a good whiff gentlemen so that when you get to your units you will know the smell!" A number of us then blurted out, "That' not what grass smells like!" We were, of course, a product of the 70's
at my 1st duty station after basic,[50th eng.west point,n.y.]some of the NCO'S and officers admitted they'd rather have a crew of stoners than "juicers" or "cowboys"…stoners were ready for anything at 0-dark thirty,move a mountain,pour concrete in a blizzard,all with a smile…the drunks,on the other hand weren't worth a damn till about 1000hours or so,scared to try anything new,get too dirty,take a 5 ton dump where it mite get stuck…..and of course,couldn't wait for quitting time!!!dec1971….
re: benjamin burton · 1 week ago
Back in the fall of 1967 at Ft. Jackson, S.C., our drill sergeants had a sadistic, sick sense of humor. On the asphalt doing bayonet training when one of us would mess up the entire platoon were made to lay on our backs with our M14s raise overhead, legs overhead kicking and saying I'm a dying cockroach in the hot Carolina sun. I can truly say I know what a dying cockroach feel like, maybe like the cockroaches we all survived.
The ARMY's dying cockroach position in 1968, was to lay on your back, arms and legs straight out with your hands and feet SIX inches off the ground and keep them there.
Army 1968, Ft Campbell, D-1-1: It was our 2nd day in the Army – Saturday as I remember – and we hadn't started in-processing so we were still in our civies. One drafted guy was wearing his "Mad Hatter" costume from the play he had been in. A corporal saw us standing around and came over. The cpl said to him, "So you're an actor. Let's see how good you can act. Go into that Day room and act." In that Day room were two drill sgts playing pool. He chased them around the pool table twice. We heard later that if he had chased them around one more time, one of the DIs was planning on running a pool cue right through him.
Army 1968, Ft Campbell, D-1-1: Part way through BCT a new sgt was assigned to our company. He didn't want to be a DI and it became quite obvious. He was marching us one day and when we came to our destination he commanded, "Hippity hop. Platoon stop!"
During training on Mount MF, during Marine Corps Boot Camp, we reached "combat town" about 1am (0100). Our group went to the top 2nd floor and got some sleep. At about 3 am (0300) I had to urinate so bad, but it was cold, I was soaking wet, and it was a long way down the stairs and out of the building. I leaned over through the window frame, no glass, and started relieving myself. Felt good, had the little shiver and all, then from out of nowhere, I hear someone hollering, "Hey, what the hell!" I quickly buttoned up and rolled back into the corner as a newly commissioned 2nd lieutenant came in the room with a very wet cover. He left disgusted when not one person would wake up and admit to it. Someone else took credit for it later and one of our DI's gave him the "nod of approval" and started calling him "pisshead" for the rest of Boot Camp.
At the Camp Elliot, CA rifle range, a recruit took it upon hmself to get a pint of ice cream and was caught eating it. In the Marine Corps, you are not even permitted to die without permission, much less eating ice cream when you want to. He was called to the position of attention, remaining perfectly still, and the pint of ice cream was placed upside down on top of his burr haircut. The hot California sun only took a few minutes for the ice cream to start running down his face, and the flies were waiting to also enjoy the cream. Joining the Marines does not imply acceptance, only that you are given the chance to see if you can meet their entrance requirements. Our DI said "We are the world's best killing machine and your part number is hanging around your neck. Any part that does not function will be declared defective and removed." Semper Fi
I graduated officer's basic in San Antonio earlier this year. Granted, it's a far cry from basic training, but we did have a hell of a good time. My platoon was the platoon full of jokers. One of our favorite passtimes was to steal other platoons' guidons and hide them in creative locations. Most of the time, the folks who did this were seasoned prior enlisted guys. One Monday after the weekend, we all went to our classroom after formation and our platoon advisor was walking around, asking us how our weekend had been when two of our soldiers burst out laughing and a third one yelled at them to keep quiet. Needless to say, the moment she left the room, we heard the story. Apparently, in an effort to get in on the guidon-stealing action, this soldier had stolen a guidon on Friday, She had very excited called one of our battle buddies to tell her. "Really?" Her friend asked. "Yeah," She replied, "And it has a star on it".
She spent the next day and a half figuring out how to return the General's guidon without anyone realizing who had taken it in the first place.
Ft. Hood 1998 404th ASB. I had a problem soldier who just couldnt keep his nose clean. Countless times pulling extra duty. Well one night on extra duty i got a call and said dont be late to PT from him. desk. He had to strip and wax the 1sg's floor. Didnt think to hard about what he was talking about. Anyway at PT formation 1sg calls fall in, we do report. Then 1sg goes in and says ALRIGHT! WHO SHIT IN MY KEYBOX… Wouldnt you know my problem soldier jumps out at attention and says, I SHIT IN YOUR KEYBOX TOP!!
a red roper and my cheif got me in and empty barracks alone and MASHED me for 3 hours. I later got caught smoking in the head after taps and was sent to MTU, holding an M-1 out stretched for long periods of time. My Cheif would not let me take the last PT test until 4am on graduation day after MTU the day before and standing the mid watch. Ha! I made it…. Sorry HTC Black, how ya like them eggs… lol there after i was looked to lead in all my assignments…What i have a sign on my back? lol
As all sailors know, the process to put your name on all your gear in the first days of boot camp is exhaustive. After what seemed like hours of tellig us exactly where to put our name on every piece of gear we had one guy in my company put his white hat on and we all, including the company commander, realised he had stenciled his name on the front. That happened 25yrs ago in San Diego and I'll never forget the look on our CC's face….priceless!!!!
At a Meps Station early 80's. Pre Boot medical examination the Nurse comes out Says "Bill Smith" "Bill smith" like 5 times. Finally some guy answers. Thats me! The nurse says "do you know yo have a 30 percent hearing loss in your left ear". He replies "What"? Deaf and dumb I guess.
A friend of mine told me that when he reported to U.S.M.C recruit. training depot at Parris Island he wanted to make a good first impression. He got some combat boots and spit shined them, a high and tight haircut, starched jeans and the red t-shirt with the Marine Corp bulldog on the front and back. When he got off the bus he said 3-4 D.I.s jumped in his face screaming what right did he have to look like he had already graduated boot camp. He was made to do countless push-ups and running in place, took off his t-shirt and said he spent over an hour being yelled at and doing exercises. Finally a Captain showed up and ordered for him to stop and put his shirt on inside out and continue on.
During Basic Training at Fort Ord C-1-3 in 1973 we were at the 50 cal. range and I had just started firing my gun, every 3rd round was a tracer. As I fired I say tracer rounds going over my target so I keot lowering the barrel. Soon after that I felt a pounding on my helmet, it was the Drill Sgt SSG Flores screaming at me that I was firing into the ground about 15 feet out. I told him to watch the tracer rounds as I fired, but before I started firing he saw the tracer rounds go over the top of my target. The trainee next to me was firing at my target, and not doing it well. I thought I was going to piss myself laughing. The Drill Sgt looked at me and yelled that SOB is crossed eyed.
The last week of boot camp in Great Lakes summer of 1968 things were getting a slack , the assistant company commander told us to get the barracks cleaned top to bottom,with the deck especially cleaned and shiny. We jumped to it and at the end we had to get the deck done, but couldn't find floor wax. Two of the recruit PO's ducked out and came back with about 8 cans of Pledge furniture polish. Sure did look nice and really SHINY. It rains in the summer in Illinois, that 's a given. Zero hour approached and we assumed the postions at the bunk line and the Company Commander and a couple of the other Company CC's strided in on the double, he hit the deck, literally, and slid on his back about 2/3's of the way down the line. In the shocked 2 seconds when all eyes were bugged out of heads…one of the other CC simply piped up "And he's saaaaafe…Cubs win!!! Cubs Win!! Laughed so hard it hurt. Miraculously… so did the Commander
we bought many a can of johnson's wax in tin pop tops,lit it on fire and poured it on the floor of them yellow WW2 barracks,and started buffing.first with the bristle brush,then we'd put a towel under the brush and set the littlest guy in the platoon on top the buffer and let 'er rip!a shine+smell you didn't forget.it was july/august so it dried like glass!sadly,no lifers were hurt or embarassed,but still a good memory. C-10-5 BCT ft. knox,ky.1971
At Fort Lost in the Woods (1978), does anyone remember the "Three D’s (Dipsey Dumpster Detail). This consisted of cleaning the trash out of one, putting it in another, then clean that one out and put all the garbage back in it. There were usually four of these dumpsters. I vaguely remember having it once and another trainee. I'd rather do KP which I had a few times.
During a 2nd phase hump in the San Onefre mountains in Camp Pendelton back in 1991, our DI was mad that we were lagging and not tight in formation. The entire company was moving along the dirt road in two columns. Our DI, in a fit of rage, began wildly kicking sand at us while screaming for us to tighten up the formation. The next thing we know, the DI loses his balance and does a face plant directly in the middle of the road…arms and feet flailing. Since we were going downhill at the time, he struggled to flip around to get back on his feet. It was THE funniest thing! The only thing that topped it was at the end of boot camp we had a time in the squad bay where we could skits and two of the clown recruits re-lived that special moment when our DI ate dust. We all laughed so hard we were crying.
My MCRD bunk mate (platoon 3039, 1991) in the squad bay just happened to be what we called a 'diet private' Being slightly overweight, he had a card that dictated what and how much he could eat. Needless to say, partaking of a rare treat from a care package was highly forbidden. I made the mistake one day of giving him a sucker on the sly since I felt sorry he never got anything good. Instead of eating it, he hid the sucker in his footlocker. Of course, it was discovered when we were out in the field and I never saw three DI's so blamed mad, including our senior DI who was ALWAYS controlled. Basically, we were scared as the entire platoon's footlockers were dumped into a pile in the middle of the squad bay and kicked around like garbage. I even remember the several of the bunk racks being thrown across the bay. It was sheer chaos! The penalty was for the entire squad to sit in the squad bay and watch my bunk mate eat this massive summer sausage, while marching in place on 4 different care packages filled with candy and goodies. The funny thing was, my bunk mate actually was smiling as he ate that summer sausage! And he never ratted me out for giving him the sucker! He was a good man!
I went through Navy boot camp in San Diego in 1959 with Co. 111. In our Company there were about 15 from Texasas was I. One day as we marching to the grinder for PT our Company Commander shouted out Company halt and all you Texans whoaaa.
Well my comment on going to war and coming back. Its the way you look at it do you belive in your self, being out of the USA. And doing your duty find something you love to do out there keep the faith and keep praying for yourself god will always know how you are. Talk to the chaplin an ask him questions. He will alway lead the way for you so good luck and be smart about the things you do. Keep the Faith
Navy Boot Camp, 1973. We went to the rifle range. I had just gotten Navy issue specs and couldn’t see worth a damn. The recruit ahead of me had boogered the sights on the .22 rifle I was using, and I don’t think I even hit the targets. There was a lot of cheating going on between companies, and one other CC, a PO1, was watching us tally our scores. He then allegedly fudged his company’s score higher, somehow, to just exceed our composite score. After that, OUR CC had the guys punch holes in every target that didn’t have the full count of holes. Turns out that I was the high shooter of our company! What the guys did was stab holes with a pencil. Well, the PO1 came over, hot as hell, and started in on our CC, who was a CPO. We’re all snickering, and when the Chief had heard a little, he pointed out that the PO1 was going up for disrespect to a CPO. He stormed off, bright red. Now, I’m actually a pretty good shot, but I know I didn’t shoot that well that day.
Our first day on the rifle range in 1969 the tower NCOIC commanded "Fire at Will". The first thing I said was "wher is Will"…the Drill Instructor didn't find that funny and let me know it. After firing and missing the target the Drill Sergeant hollowed at me saying "PVT Tate you couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a Base Fiddle". Everyone started laughing so hard the tower had to holla "Seace Fire, the range is no longer clear! We all walked back to the barracks that day, 12 long miles! 26 years later I still don't know if I ever got much better! Such great memories..Lord I miss the Army still!
Ah, the gas chamber. 1964 at the Navy NTC in San Diego, it was our day to do the gas chamber. As many of you likely experienced, we were lined up and received our gas mask instructions, and told how to check and seal them. Following the instruction, the DI asked if there were any defective masks.
My valve apparently wasn't working at all, so I reluctantly raised my hand. I was ignored. Throughout our ensuing ordeal, the DI again asked us a few more times if there were any problems. Each time, I raised my hand, and each time, I was ignored.
When we left the chamber, the DI again asked if there were any defective masks. I raised my hand again, and this time, the DI came over and checked the mask. "Sure enough, you got a bad mask – you should have reported it!" He then took the mask and returned it right back onto the rack for some lucky boot in the next group to discover.
I still wonder if that was standard practice, or if we just had one DI who particularly enjoyed that game.
Lackland ABF June thru September 1958, after eight weeks of basic and four weeks of basic medical training, we were on casual status awaiting PCS orders. Assigned the shot lines to give new recruits their shots (this was just before they started using the medical shot guns), we would stand with needles ready. We could look down the line and see the looks on the recruits faces. After a few days we could spot the recruits who were going to pass out before they got their shots. If they hit the deck before whey got their shots they had to be revived and schedule another day to be given their shots. So two of us set up a system of looking down the line to spot that glazed look, and go down the line and hit the recruit before they passed out. They were easy to spot and the NCOIC new we were doing the recruit a favor, so he let us continue saving these recruits a return trip to the shot lines. He said some of these recruits would pass out on return trips and have to keep coming back.
After three and a half years as a medic and over four and a half as an engineer (extended for an overseas tour), I left the AF and have been sorry ever since. The best time of my life and I wish I had known that before I left.
It was chow time at B11 basic training company at Fort Polk, April 1966. I was at chow and a drill sergeant came through the door and yelled my name loudly proclaiming that there was a pregnant woman outside looking for me. The whole mess hall erupted in laughter. Knowing I could not be responsible (my wife of
three years was 500 miles away) I got up to find out what was going on. I was loudly cheered as I went to the orderly room. Turns out my bunk mate John D. Hart of Damon Mound Texas, was in the base hospital undergoing hemorrhoid surgery and he told his girlfriend to ask for me. She had an El Camino full of iced beer. Needless to say the whole ward got drunk and I became famous.
August 1974 I was at the Fort Ord, CA. reception station as a trainee. One of our assigned drill sergeants was teaching us the position of Parade Rest. Of course we were instructed not to move an inch and our eyeballs had to remained frozen to the front. We heard what sounded like a opened water spigot. Nobody dared to move to have a quick look. Finally, the drill sergeant spoke up, "Hunter!, What the hell do you think you're doing?!". "I'm pissing in my pants". was his reply. The drill sergeant immediately did an about-face and was doing his best to control his convulsing body of laughter. We, in the formation had a hard time controlling ourselves.
Lackland ABF June thru September 1958, after eight weeks of basic and four weeks of basic medical training, we were on casual status awaiting PCS orders. Assigned the shot lines to give new recruits their shots (this was just before they started using the medical shot guns), we would stand with needles ready. We could look down the line and see the looks on the recruits faces. After a few days we could spot the recruits who were going to pass out before they got their shots. If they hit the deck before whey got their shots they had to be revived and schedule another day to be given their shots. So two of us set up a system of looking down the line to spot that glazed look, and go down the line and hit the recruit before they passed out. They were easy to spot and the NCOIC new we were doing the recruit a favor, so he let us continue saving these recruits a return trip to the shot lines. He said some of these recruits would pass out on return trips and have to keep coming back.
1971,ft.knox,ky.some guys got those shots,became ill,we never saw them again..i never liked the"medical shotguns"as you call'em.they ran us by like it was a race between platoons..and some guys jerked away,slashing their arm open with the jet of compressed air used to squirt the vaccine in you..yellow fever,dengue,bubonic…can't even remember all of 'em..by the way,we called anyone who treated us…"DOC"
I loved basic. It was like summer camp with machine guns. I wanted to go through again. We went on hikes all of the time, sang songs, and even went camping. Ah the good 'ol days.
Are you kidding me??? Hikes instead of road marches…songs instead of cadences…camping instead of bivouac…machine guns instead of weapons? Sound like a civilian trying to play Army to me!
While at Ft.Polk La.infantry training in 1970 our platoon all chipped in and we sent away for a blowup doll.We were staying in the old WWII wooden,two story barracks with a outside landing and fire escape for the second floor.The parade field was right in front of the barracks.We managed to steal the drill seregant's Smokey the Bear hat from the platoon next to us.We put the blowup doll with his drill seregant's hat on it and sat it down on a folding chair on the landing facing the parade field below.At morning formation all platoons could look above and see this only a few feet away.The drill seregant came out of the barracks in a baseball cap with his back to the blowup doll and was hopping mad at the SOBs who stole his hat and told us what he would do to them when he caught them.The whole company including the other drill seregants were laughing so hard we fell out of formation till he turned around and looked up to see what was so funny then went up the fire escape to retrieve his hat.We all did extra PT that day for that stunt but smiled the whole time.
KNOX 1987 – Armor Basic (17 years old) was a bit a a smart ass, somehow SFC Holderbee decides he is going to challenge me and after a good smoking – I am the "lead wead". Platoons were coming up with KILL KILL mottos, blood makes the grass grow crap but I flexed my new found authority to the dismay of many of the older privates/trainees. Next morning at PT formation SSG Amos has me call the platoon to attention – he walked away giggling. and said "Navis put them at "at ease" I want SFC Holderbee to hear this loud" SFC Holderbee comes out asks why we were not at attention and I explained that SSG Amos thought "you would appreciate this DS" – "Platoon Attention" – MOTTO, "Clowns where big floppy shoes so who the hell are you" – SFC's response "Drop drop just fuc*^%$ drop" PT that morning began with the front leaning rest outside of the barrack until muscle failure – I was relieved and happier. anyone from Alpha 3/81 Tankers out there yet?
M-60's passed us marching up "agony"+"misery"…in july,no less..they were belching fire out the exhaust,making maybe 1mph,the heat was murder when they went by…drill sgt. noticed me slow down,starts yelling my name,catches up,tries to kick me in the ass,hits my sleeping bag under my pack…it flies up and over my head,snaps came loose,i'm now carrying a "mummy" uphill…ever try to re-roll a sleeping bag while marching up a 50%grade?thought you tankers had it made at the time…why walk when you can ride and all that.C-10-5BCTKNOXjuly1971
The first detail I was assigned to after arriving at my BCT company (C-2-1, Ft. Polk, LA, July '75) was KP. One of the cooks, in his Maryland drawl told me "Hey Joe! Go get me some serp!" I looked around, spotted two cans of G.I. maple syrup and returned to the PFC with the requested items. "You gettin' smart wid me, Joe?!" he bellowed. "I don't want no sorop! I wanted SERP! S-O-A-P! SERP!
A few weeks into Basic (D-3-10, Ft. Leonard Wood, May-July '97) one of the privates from another platoon flipped out. He tried to go AWOL by rapelling from the 2nd story barracks window one night using 100 mph tape. The tape was too short and he fell onto the concrete below busting his head. Was kinda comical seeing him in march in formation without a rifle and his head wrapped in gauze. Would make a good commercial for Duck Products!
On my first duty assignment, I was station at a radar statin in Las Cruces NM. We lived in an open bay quanset hut and AiC Foldenhour was in the aisle and practicing his quick draw with a real pistol. I fondly remember this because he was a good guy and nowadays one cannot have a gun on base/post etc. But the bad guys can if they can sneak it on post. Also, Amn Sergeant got a good chewing out by a major after he answered the phone Amn Sergeant speaking. I realize this isn't basic training so please forgive me for the memory.
I actually enjoyed basic training, I got yelled at at home, had no a/c, no running water, an outhouse and no bath tub-literally except for a wash tub. I carried railroad ties on my shoulder to burn for firewood to keep warm in the winter so basic was a piece of cake. At that young age though, I couldn't figure out why some guys would cry at night. I looked forward to every morning wakeup, each day was a new one and had new experiences. I remember Arnold Hall how huge it was and when I returned to see Arnold Hall 18 years later, I found out it wasn't as large as I first thought. Those were the good old days!
I went to Army basic training in 1983 at Ft Know Kentucky. While there we decided that we would make our own cleaning solution. So we mixed Bleach with amonia and created a toxic gas (we didnt know at the time). We then proceded to walk around and let people smell our new cleaner. One soldier took a deep inhale of or mixture and started to cough and became light headed. He eventually had to be taken to the hospital because he was vomiting. I know it isn't funny yet but here it comes. After 3 days he returned to the platoon at which time he was presented with an Article 15! Yes he was presented not us. The Drill Sergeant said that since he was stupid enough to smell something which he had no idea what it was, then he deserved the article 15! True Story!!
Navy bootcamp 1983 We had a ABH1 as CC. I was fresh out of the Appalachian Mountains. We are on the grinder dressed out for our first PT and ABH1 stops in front of me.
ABH1: Recruit, I bet this is the first time you have ever worn shoes?
Me: Yes Sir it is!
ABH1: I bet this is the first time that you have ever worn underwear too?
Me: No Sir we wore underwear we just didn't change it every day like we do here!
Thought he was going to bust a gut trying to keep from laughing.
fort knox,ky.1971.my pal from w.va.admitted to me he couldn,t read or write too good,saw me writing home.asked if i'd write home for him…his family assumed the army taught him how…except for his big sister,that is!they visited one weekend…he introduced me as his best friend…sis figures out i'm the one wrote the letters to her and the others…i walked her around hand in hand,major mutual crush,told me her life story,i told her mine…she kissed really nice…next day in formation,our senior drill sgt.chews me out,saying "do i intend to marry her,i've got a target on my back,shotgun wedding in my future…"luckily,no hard feelings from my barracks buddy!she came back a few more times,the whole family loved me….greatest people on the planet…i either dodged a bullet or missed out ,i'll never know…1ST platoon-C-10-5ft.knox,ky.july1971
During the first few weeks of boot camp in the Marine Corps, you had to continuously sound off, by yelling at the top of your voice, "aye aye sir." After hours of yelling one day, and while standing on my foot locker, at the position of present arms with my weapon – my stomach finally gave out. I wanted to puke and puke real bad. I could feel it coming up my throat, but I knew that if I puked, I would be a marked man for the rest of boot camp.
My stomach heaved and the only thing I could thing to do was press my lips together. Well that puke came up and my cheeks puffed out, but I didn't puke – but because of the pressure inside my mouth , I start sending out fine yets of spray through my lips onto the private directly in front of me. He was positioned on his foot locker four feet away from me. Let me tell you, he was getting a real worried look about him. After I stopped wanted to puke, I had a mouthful of puke, but I couldn't break position. So I looked at the private gave him a WTF look and swallowed everything in my mouth.
OMFG…..gotta love the mariens.I m sittin here crying my eyes out on base…..everyone is starting at me or lauging at the LT that is busting his gut and in tears….I have to share this with everyone. Thank you for the Post and thank you for your service. Gonna go try to catch my breath, doubt full thats gonna happen.
I was OTH'ed from the Marines 15 years ago and the pain and regret still lingers deep in my heart probably until my last breath; and I can only wish I had had the maturity I now have and take it all back. It was my dream as a kid to wear the uniform and the day I graduated from Boot Camp was such a proud day–I was forever changed. And, I take all the experiences, the good and the bad, knowing that it has helped me become a better person with integrity. To my buddies in my unit I can only say I'm sorry and hope that my present and future success exemplify the type of person you would have wanted me to be–they type of person you would want me to be. I wish there were a program–a second chance: I know we were all young. I know some would not hesitate to go back and finish unfinished business–only this time with more maturity, conviction, and determination to be a leader. I'll always love the Corps till the day I die.
gutman…you took more from them than they took from you…i don't know the situation,but i recall unhappy lifers delighting in petty pursuits,whispering campaigns,jealousy of youth,setups,dramas,intrigue…prolly too much saltpeter in their chow,maybe boredom in their bedroom…or both….i clearly recall some of them saying "i'm not trying to mess up your life,i'm just…" blah blah blah…tell ya what i see in your comment….smart…literate…high IQ..some people hate that in a MAN..you went…you served…you learned…A LOT!!! chalk it up to…that was then…THIS IS NOW!! i just know yer doin' fine now,RIGHT? no more regrets,gutman…they're counterproductive…hope i haven't said too much.take it easy,ol'buddy! $20 MIKE said that.army71-74
If that hppened to me I would not have the guts to go back. what you did mkes you a man….a better man than half the people that I know(including me). One with dedication to his county to do his duty and do his time. I salute you brother. thank you.
gutman….$20 mike here… bet yer doin' good…it's been awhile…
When I was going through Boot-Camp to become an officer I noticed this big shining light over the hill when the spot lights would go across it and when I got time off I asked if I could camp where I seen the light on Base and asked about finding dimonds or gold or things that I could keep and was told anything found could be kept, so I went camping and went to the spot of the light and their she was bright shining in the hill side, so I collected the dimond and found out their was no real help for other military individual serving in the Army so I shared a % with fellow service members and set up a % rate others could buy into to make money until the dimond was gone, Catch is I went back to call to collect my part and they was like da what dimond, Jambalea/BWV.
anybody get some of those golfballs/clubs from AMVETS POST21?___th?M.A.W.,wright patterson A.F.B. VIA A'stan?? possibly some to Iraq… had a business card in the shrink-wrap w/email adress….drop them a line or two,they had a "ball "collecting 17,500 golfballs,packing,weighing+haulin' 'em down there,meetin'+greetin'… and lookin' at the BIG silver bird!! rumour is,they're sending an additional 1300Lbs..balls+clubs…so you can retire your
old ones!take it easy…$20MIKE said that…OK,slightly off topic. still…
While at boot camp at Fort Jackson we were going thru an Omaha Beach simulation with live ammo. Just as I crawled out from under some barbed wire, I noticed this other girl who had just rolled onto her belly between a DI's legs. I think she thought she was coming up between 2 people's legs. He yelled at her to get moving and she did—right over the top of him!!
One morning in formation my DI called me out front. He started rambling about how I needed to quit sending him flowers at work. I hollered "yes, drill sergeant!" and ran back to my place thinking I can play along with the joke. He called me out front again and says to get my flowers. There on a table were a vase of roses sent by my fiance from Iowa. How embarrassing. I was allowed to keep them as long as they didn't drop any petals and dirty DI's barracks. lol
Way back in 82' while in Army basic our drill instructor came into the bay and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown! Seems we were his first female platoon. He went off! "How come I can tell a male platoon what we are going to do and I get is "Yes Sir!" But you women want to know what the weather is going to be like, what's for breakfast, what time are we leaving, when will we be back! I can't take it! Tomorrow morning be in formation at 0500!" One of the girls then asked "0500!? pajamas or uniforms?!" No kidding!
My My My I am so glad no one saw you big stuff. That was too funny, I was expecting something awesome. I got awesomely funny lol.
I was sationed at Ft. Dix in 1981. I had witnessed a suicide (beautiful young blond girl from B Company 3-5. I was in D-3-5. This incident was approximately june-August of 81. Anyone with info please e-mail me at pablojasso@elp.rr.com. Thank you kindly Pablo Jasso
Does anyone remember Sgt. Love from Fort Gordon, 1968?
We had a gomer pyle in our Platoon, but what we had somehow shaped the essence of our cycle.
Our Drill Sgts call our 4 platoons out to the breezways of our barracks. We're told to do a singoff between 1'st and 2nd, and 3rd and 4th, of the Army Song. We all star singing, and you can imagine how crummy we sounded…. when suddenly, out of nowhere, we heard a voice like a singing GOD sound off the "high high hey" portion as we sang.
the Co. is silenced, and we hear this one SPC form 2nd platoon start rolling out the army song some more. Our DS calls out his to listen to him, he sings it again with a higher note than the last time, and the DS looks at him, says "…. holy S***! ", and drops down and does pushups for the soldier. Soon afterwards, he demonstrates his italian singing, and his name was made.
It turned out that before the soldier joined the force, he was a professional Opera singer for 12 years before. From that point on, almost every other night, our DS's would have him sing a song for the Co. He even wrote a song for 2nd platoon.
RTC Great Lakes, Div 393, Ship 12 Sept. 2006 – It was in the first week ("p-days") we had this guy named Germosen. Our RDC had him report to confirm some information where the RDC was sitting in the middle of our berthing. We had to wear our "smurfs" (sweats) the first week, so one of Germosen's sweat pants leg was up. The RDC ordered: "PULL YOUR PANTS DOWN!" Germosen correctly understood the RDC's instructions and literally pulled his sweat pants down to reveal his skivvies. We can all see our RDC trying to maintain his bearing, but after the whole division broke out laughing the RDC couldn't maintain his bearing and broke out laughing as well.
WITH A NAME LIKE" BOOT/BASIC TRAINING STORIES"…300 COMMENTS?? REALLY?
Parris Island… I was almost a Marine… 3 days until the crucible I started getting sick. It started out with a sore throat.. nothin haven’t been through so it was no biggie. Later that night marching to chow. I couldn’t hold it in and had to vomit. After that I felt like a truck hit me almost instantly. I got sent back to the squad bay and ate later. The next morning I could barely move and there was blood on my pillow. The one thing I remember is during an indoor drill I was on bedrest for strep is I coughed and my DI said “Recruit!… Either shut up or die already!” I want d to laugh
Parris Island… I was almost a Marine… 3 days until the crucible I started getting sick. It started out with a sore throat.. nothin haven’t been through so it was no biggie. Later that night marching to chow. I couldn’t hold it in and had to vomit. After that I felt like a truck hit me almost instantly. I got sent back to the squad bay and ate later. The next morning I could barely move and there was blood on my pillow. The one thing I remember is during an indoor drill I was on bedrest for strep is I coughed and my DI said “Recruit!… Either shut up or die already!” I want d to laugh… next day more blood doc came to the bay and said I needed oral surgery and that I would be sent home. They gave me something to help me sleep and morphine for the pain. The morning of the crucible the corpsman came to get me and my throat was cleared like nothing ever happened. I hurrily got my things together and became one of the Elite
In 1971 I joined the Navy.
The recruiter explained that boot camp would be at the Great Lakes Training Center near Chicago. On Jan 3 1971 I was to report to Fort Hayes at 0500 to be transported to the airport to catch a flight along with other recruits. My dad dropped me off at 0430.
At 0600. 0700 0800 0900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 still waiting..
At about 1500 hours they started screaming names..
Line up your plane is waiting outside.
Our plane was a Trailways bus.
It's like I've been cursed with a small bladder or something, because the few times I got in trouble in the Marines (I was a pretty good kid) it was usually because I had to use the head at inopportune times (don't worry all these incidents were funny in hindsight, nothing bad). It was well into Phase 3 at Parris Island, late 1999. Just a quiet 18 year old kid then…but on this day I really REALLY had to hit the head and drain the dragon. Everyone was resting on their footlockers after a rather intense Pit session, so no one wanted to go with me (buddy system at all times ya know). So I thought, I'll be in and out I gotta do this. I hit the head and ahhh such relief! Until I heard the voice of DI Sgt. Wyatt behind me. "Paaarker?! Where's your buuuuddy?!" Since I didn't have one with me he decided to assign me one. Taking the first aid dummy from storage he said "this is your buddy now, he'll go everywhere you go." Back on line, marching to chow, cleaning our rifles (my buddy's rifle was appropriately enough one of the rubber training M-16s) I slung that big heavy first aid dummy everywhere for about two days. Fast forward two years later…I'm in 29 Palms, a Corporal now. Chilling out outside my barracks off-duty I hear "Paaarker where's your buuuuddy?!" Had a nice catching up conversation with him after that one ha!
lmao some guy in my platoon did that. needless to say the platoon got somked for it but it was epic. thank you for your service.
My hair was pretty short at the time going through AF basic '08 Lackland, so when the barber was giving everyone the obligatory 'wiffle' cut, I asked "just a little off the sides please, and trim up the sideburns". and that's what the barber did. Everyone was like "you can do that", "yes you can", I replied lol!
Just after boot camp, I saw a private go into the PX just in front of a female Major, a Marine. She called the private back and berated him for not opening the door for her. He said, "I'm sorry, sir. I did not see you." The Major said, "Sir! Sir! Do I look like I have a dick between my legs?" The private saluted and said, "Yes Sir!", spun around and ran off, leaving the Major red-faced and flabbergasted and everyone trying to not laugh out loud.
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My experience at Parris Island, SC, included that of having no toilet paper the whole 13 weeks I was there. So, we took napkins from the chow hall in order to refrain from whiping our asses with our nasty little hands. Our drill instructors eventually found out about our secret tactic after various dumps of our footlockers, and told us that taking napkins from the chow hall would no longer happen. I was caught with napkins at the range about a week later and long story short, I discovered that napkins are in fact……..edible.
4th Battalion Marine here from the island, graduated 1998. Peculiar thing happened to me while I was on the rifle range. I remember being in the prone as my Senior approached me. I was more than convinced that my Senior hated me as much as any of the other recruits. She was mean looking for sure. She reminded me of one of those depictions of the mean aliens when she got really worked up, which of course was at a constant clip, until that moment she stood over me as I was enjoying my rifle training. She actually complimented me on how well I was doing on the range. It sort of shocked me. I was not sure how to respond. But, before I could, she ordered me to stand by and that soon another drill instructor she would introduce me to would take me and some other recruits to be collected along the way, to a building on the depot wherein we were not sure exactly what we would be doing. I try to remember to this day what happened, but all I remember is this: Marine instructors were using softer voices with us, a dark room, some clips from Disney's The Lion King, recruits around me crying and instructors talking about akuda-matada, (I am spelling phonetically because I am not sure of the spelling right now.) Anyway, I know we were there a while, but I don't remember much more about it. I remember at the time thinking it was a little odd that I was watching a children's film in Marine Corps bootcamp. Did anyone else reading experience this?
wow..that should start the ball rollin, hope you weren't 'harmed' in ANY way… read on down the page…you'll see what i mean…C.Y.A. at all times!!
take it easy,7051…$20MIKE SAID THAT!!!
army-71-74,basic training at ft.knox,ky….
When i was in Fort Jackson S.C. in 1980, I went through so much. I had a preexisting foot condition, which elevated from wearing those hard black leather boots. I was stationed in Delta 3-1-1 and my company commander was a fresh man, as well as one of the drill instructors. I was asked for sexual favors, when i denied them i was given KP. What i hate the most is when they line everyone up at the reception station and began to administer the injections,there was no changing of the needles, because they used the Munji Air Injector Gun, and later on i found out i have Hep C.
48 weeks ago….not 48 years ago…$20MIKE SAID THAT !