Experience of service in the Armed Forces

[Ticklishchap]

I will repeat something I've said before. I think many of the problems that exist today with undisciplined and drifting young men and their phony egos is a result of the loss of mandatory military service. Required military service in the past had the effect of forcing immature young men into situations where they had to learn to be a part of something larger than themselves and to adapt to a modicum of social standards.

I did find this as a young man with Corps. It did certainly give me focus and was quite demanding.

 

[Harp]

Did you ever come across Huna in Hawaii? There are a lot of mainly new age books about it, claiming that it is the traditional Hawaiian spirituality, but most indigenous Hawaiians deny this. Off-topic, but just occurred to me.

At that particular time my interests were temporal.

 

[Ticklishchap]

At that particular time my interests were temporal.

So are the interests of most New Age entrepreneurs!

 

[Ticklishchap]

One of the things that was enjoyable about the Corps was the combination of rules, structure and tradition on the one hand and dry and sometimes coarse humour on the other. This is an unusual and I think valuable combination.

 

[Harp]

I did a night jump at Ft. Bragg where I'm pretty sure we were dropped from under 500 ft. Maybe closer to 300. I hit the dirt no more than five seconds after my T-10 opened. Low cloud cover that night and I think our NG pilots wanted to get back home rather than wait for weather conditions to improve, so they just dropped us from under the clouds. We were expecting a 1200 ft. drop. When my chute deployed I looked down and thought I was headed for a stand of trees so I yanked on my risers to try to drift past them and that was when I hit. My "stand of trees"was a clump of grass about three feet across. There are very few sensations in life quite like that.

Saw a Hook last week, and recall jumping at 700-800ft, a long ass drop without a prop blast as is the C-130 static line jump. A knife to the gut. Miss that stuff.

A sunny beautiful morning in Oak Lawn, Illinois, the sky is crystal clear aquamarine blue,
and fortified with a second cup of coffee the whirl of a civil helicopter passes overhead.
And the first thought is what a wonderful day to jump like I'm still a teenager.

 

[Turnip]

Did my national service in the Navy, wasted time…

Advantages: Monthly duty free liter of booze by choice and two packs of duty free cigarettes per sea day.

 

[Tiki Tom]

The further I get from my time in the military, the more I romanticize it. Sure there were some good times, some noteworthy experiences, and some foreign travel but —if I am honest— I pretty much spent the whole time counting the days till my enlistment was up. There was a lot of waiting and a lot of boredom. On the other hand, the G.I. Bill did put me through college. But I agree that the experience helped me to grow up and mature. The fact that it was peace time should also weigh into the matter.

 

[Harp]

The further I get from my time in the military, the more I romanticize it. Sure there were some good times, some noteworthy experiences, and some foreign travel....

After the war I served as an advisor with the Hellenic Army. The Colonels Junta had collapsed;
the indigenous November terrorist group struck at will; Soviet intelligence had penetrated;
several assassination attempts had been made against SEAL units based in Athens; and the
Palestine Liberation Army elected to start operations inside Greece when the CIA and US Army
Intelligence held a briefing in Thessalonikki. After a few hours the CIA staff distributed several
nude photos of Yasser Arafat's new boyfriend, a blond West German national. My first sergeant,
a topkick master sergeant professional soldier bore-to-butteplate who drank coffee and pissed
rifle bore cleaner decided to have some fun at my expense. Top didn't particularly like me since
I was rather laid back casual and gave his orderly room telephone number out to girls; also, I
was a teenage noncomissioned combat veteran. Top held up a photo and remarked how much
Yassir's that's my baby boy was a baby faced prettyboy like me. After I left the Army I could pimp
myself around. The conference room became still. I smiled and told Top that the boy toy reminded
me of him. Now the room was dead silent. 'How is that Tom,?' Top asked, or rather snarled.
'You're a pain in the ass too Top.' The house erupted in laughter. Even Top laughed.

Some time afterwards USAEUR headquarters wanted one man from the outfit to go
to Germany and attend the German Army commando course. Top chose me.

 

[Trenchfriend]

4:14, can anyone please explain, what exercise/ritual she's trying to do?

 

[Trenchfriend]

The behaviour of the (Colonial) Marines in Aliens, would that be tolerated in reality? Is Srgt. Apone to mild?

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

After the war I served as an advisor with the Hellenic Army. The Colonels Junta had collapsed;
the indigenous November terrorist group struck at will; Soviet intelligence had penetrated;
several assassination attempts had been made against SEAL units based in Athens; and the
Palestine Liberation Army elected to start operations inside Greece when the CIA and US Army
Intelligence held a briefing in Thessalonikki. After a few hours the CIA staff distributed several
nude photos of Yasser Arafat's new boyfriend, a blond West German national. My first sergeant,
a topkick master sergeant professional soldier bore-to-butteplate who drank coffee and pissed
rifle bore cleaner decided to have some fun at my expense. Top didn't particularly like me since
I was rather laid back casual and gave his orderly room telephone number out to girls; also, I
was a teenage noncomissioned combat veteran. Top held up a photo and remarked how much
Yassir's that's my baby boy was a baby faced prettyboy like me. After I left the Army I could pimp
myself around. The conference room became still. I smiled and told Top that the boy toy reminded
me of him. Now the room was dead silent. 'How is that Tom,?' Top asked, or rather snarled.
'You're a pain in the ass too Top.' The house erupted in laughter. Even Top laughed.

Some time afterwards USAEUR headquarters wanted one man from the outfit to go
to Germany and attend the German Army commando course. Top chose me.

I truly love this story @Harp.
Reminds me of the day in 74-75 at Lejeune standing in morning formation listening to the lifer Staff Sgt or Gunny telling the old “if i had to do it, you gotta do it” speech about some mindless task that day and PFC me piped up “so if you go to war and get killed that means we gotta get killed too”. Dohh
Everybody fell out laughing....i lost a stripe.

B

 

[Trenchfriend]

Is there a similar basic rule in the U.S. Navy like "Only a careful seaman is also a good seaman!"?

 

[Turnip]

In German Navy it’s: „One Hand For Yourself, One For The Ship.“

 

[Turnip]

Another one: „Non-Swimmers Are Better Seamen, They Defend Their Ships Most Purposeful.“

 

[Harp]

My first sergeant, myself, and two other American GIs were inside a Thessalonikki waterfront bar,
and ten or twelve British merchant marines walk in. First sergeant loudly proclaims that the Sun
never use to set on the British Empire, and now the Sun didn't even shit on it.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Does anyone of you know, if "Torricelumn" serum (algea extract) was really used for skin recovery by the US armed forces or any other forces in the old days of WW2 or even later?

My Mom actually got the stuff from Elizabeth Grant and so I came across the story.

 

[LostInTyme]

I took US Army basic training in February 1966, at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Succeeding that, I went on for my advanced training, in Tanks. Then I spent six years in the Ohio National Guard, 107th Armored Cavalry as a tank crew member. We went on regular maneuvers, once a month weekend drills, two week summer camps, and were called to active duty for several civil disturbances. I was stationed just outside Cleveland, Ohio. We were first called to active duty for something called the "Hough Riots" when part of Cleveland was burned and looted by some unhappy minority people. The next action took place again in Cleveland during the "Glennville Incident" again concerning minorities. This time, they, the minorities, ambushed several Police and killed them. There was a lot of trading shots during that time. The third active duty call was to escort independent Steel Houlers during the Union Truckers Strike in the spring of 1970. At that time, rioting broke out at Kent State University protesting the War in Viet Nam. Part of our regiment was sent there to help quell the rioters, and several people lost their lives when the civilian soldiers returned fire after they heard what they thought were gunshots. This was probably the most publicized incident of the time.

On a side note, after Kent State, most of the Viet Nam protesting at U.S. Universities ceased. Our unit was not called to active duty after that. I was discharged in October, 1971.

 

[Who?]

Enlisted US Army in January of 1957, basic training at Ft. Dix with a recycle due to a week in the URI ward of the Ft. Dix hospital.

School at Ft. Monmouth, NJ. (Electronic Warfare) retained as an instructor until January 1960, then Ft. Dix for release from active duty. (SP5, E5)

I, like many, play the endless game of “If I had stayed in ……. “ but I will say that if I had it to do over, I would become a Warrant Officer.

It was a great experience, which I wouldn’t trade for anything.

 

[Ticklishchap]

I took US Army basic training in February 1966, at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Succeeding that, I went on for my advanced training, in Tanks. Then I spent six years in the Ohio National Guard, 107th Armored Cavalry as a tank crew member. We went on regular maneuvers, once a month weekend drills, two week summer camps, and were called to active duty for several civil disturbances. I was stationed just outside Cleveland, Ohio. We were first called to active duty for something called the "Hough Riots" when part of Cleveland was burned and looted by some unhappy minority people. The next action took place again in Cleveland during the "Glennville Incident" again concerning minorities. This time, they, the minorities, ambushed several Police and killed them. There was a lot of trading shots during that time. The third active duty call was to escort independent Steel Houlers during the Union Truckers Strike in the spring of 1970. At that time, rioting broke out at Kent State University protesting the War in Viet Nam. Part of our regiment was sent there to help quell the rioters, and several people lost their lives when the civilian soldiers returned fire after they heard what they thought were gunshots. This was probably the most publicized incident of the time.

On a side note, after Kent State, most of the Viet Nam protesting at U.S. Universities ceased. Our unit was not called to active duty after that. I was discharged in October, 1971.

View attachment 434968

That Kent State photo has acquired iconic status over the decades.

 

[LostInTyme]

Enlisted US Army in January of 1957, basic training at Ft. Dix with a recycle due to a week in the URI ward of the Ft. Dix hospital.

Ahhh, the URI ward. Every base had one, probably still do. In Feb. '66, flu was so bad that unless you had a temp of 102 F., or higher, you had to stay in your barracks, in your bunk, with sneeze sheets (ponchos) hung on either side of your bed to keep the germs in. Our barracks had sneeze sheets around almost every bunk. Cepacol was the medicine of choice back then. It didn't do much, but we drank a lot of it. I think it was supposed to be a gargle, but we drank it. Anyway, if you didn't succumb to the flu, it generally passed in a few days, and you could return to duty.