Military Memories!

[Dennis1209]

Thought a light thread on some of your military memories would be fun and nostalgic.

 

Basic training, Ft. Leonard Wood, MO., 1970:

 

Had to hang a sign on the foot of my bunk bed for 3:00 A.M. so the C.Q. runner got me up for my first KP (Kitchen Patrol) duty in basic training. The rotating hourly trainee fire guard pacing the hallway for no apparent reason wasn't allowed to wake anyone. The E-2 C.Q. runner had to loudly barge in and yell at the top of his lungs, "get up, get up trainee"...

 

Getting up, showering, shaving, getting dressed to military standards, making my bunk tight enough to bounce a quarter off of in "ten" minutes was quite a feat! Anywho, reported to the mess Sergeant for duty on time. Because in Army basic training there's nothing not on time unless you're a glutton for punishment.

 

My rank at the time was "E" nothing and I was being yelled at "DRO" come here, do this, do that? What the heck is DRO and was never told and dare not ask. There were PFC'S (E-3) on mess staff yelling at me to do this and this. Being a private E-Zero, I thought a PFC was almost God, much-less someone who had more stripes!

 

Preparing for afternoon mess, my military Deity called me and another basic trainee to sit down here on a pickle bucket and peel these potato's, with one of those little hand peelers. I should mention at this point our mess hall fed the entire battalion. We had to haul out all the potato's from the storage room, fifty pound sacks at a time. I'm here to state, the entire state of Idaho doesn't produce this amount of potato's in a year!

 

We're getting yelled at to hurry up and peel faster... We're doing our very best and now it's about time to start cooking them, and we're only 1/4 done peeling them. Times up, now we get a severe chewing out with some select words frequently used to describe us trainees. Then we're instructed to take all the unpeeled potato's you so-and-so trainees over to them two huge stainless steel appliances over there and dump them in. Come to find out, they're stainless steel potato peelers, and in short order they are all peeled, but maybe half their original size. We're thinking, what the heck, why didn't they just use them in the first place? That was my first experience on why I loved the Army so much and spent a couple of decades in their ranks.

 

My second experience...

 

Wrapping up evening mess and everything is about clean (8:00 P.M.) and I'm pooped and ready to go back to the barracks and get all the sweat and grease off me. Here comes the E-6 (Staff Sergeant) mess Sergeant toward us and we snap to "parade rest" awaiting his instruction to return to your company. He states that me and two other trainees are going to clean out the grease trap before we are released.

 

At eighteen years old I thought, no problem, let's get this done in a hurry and back to the barracks. My eyes are shifting back and forth to a number of sinks and wonder which one(s) needed cleaning!

 

The Mess Sergeant directs one of his PFC'S to take us and get the pump, shovels and barrels. I'm thinking...

 

I'm here to tell you in no uncertain terms... If you've never pumped and shoveled the most vile stinking sludge ever known to man...

 

Some things just stick in your nostrils, you know?

 

In hind sight, what an experience and went from boy to man faster than natural progression. Did I mention I love the Army?

[UncleJak]

I have several experiences with grease traps, it certainly does take a man to clean one out.

[golfnfish]

I'm really impressed you remember your basic training days so clearly.  I took basic at Ft Knox late 1970 as a draftee and thought I had been dropped on another planet.  Its all just a blur now but I remember thinking it was nothing like the military movies I had seen.  LOL.

[enfield]

I peeled potatoes Thanksgiving Day, 1971.  A lot of potatoes, but it was company mess only.  You had to be particularly unpopular with the Drill Sergeants to get KP on Thanksgiving.  They kept a list . . .

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Was not in  the military but I worked in the Club on  Ft.McClellan from 96 to 99 and we catered and set up alot of graduation dinners for Officers and Enlisted.We also did the various Balls  for the Marines and Army..

 

I worked for a retired ( I think) Col..his name was Buckner..he was one of the best people to work for..I hated to leave that place when it shut down

Anyway...We had to cook for a lot  of people back then and I remember having to cook so much chicken and different stuff ,it was insane. Sometimes the sheer volume of food was crazy  But I loved it..Thaat place was always a place you loved to work at.

We did  alos a lot of Thanksgiving dinner and brunches on Easter Sunday..And the food was good..

[Moped]

I had my basic training at Ft. Dix, NJ (Should have been named Ft. S#$thole, NJ), and not once did I have KP.  We had one poor old guy (he was 34 and a school teacher from Vermont), that got it 4 times!  I never did understand how they did the KP roster.  The thing I remember about BT was they asked for volunteers for a construction project and wanted Heavy Equipment Operators.  They ended up with 4 volunteers, who were taken around the back of the barracks.  A few minutes later, they came back around pushing wheel barrows.  Lesson learned was never volunteer! 

 

Actually, I did volunteer for Guard Duty, at a motor pool.  We drew our weapons and one magazine with 3 rounds in it (that was for all 6 of us, we had to turn the magazine over to the next shift.  It was about 3 in the morning and I had been on guard duty for about 45 minutes, walking back and forth in front of the main gate of the motor pool, when I heard someone rushing up to the gate, so I challenged them.  It was our CO. XO  and he demanded to be let into the motor pool. Of course, he wasn't on the access list, he kept on demanding to be let in, so I charge my rifle and made him get down in the front leaning rest position and started yelling my head off to the Sargent of the Guard (our Drill Sargent), who after about 3 or 4 minutes came down out of the tower next to the gate.  I explained to him what was going on and he told me to carry on and that he would handle it from there.  I swear I think the Drill was either asleep or was punishing the LT, since the man had to stay in the front leaning rest position until he came down out of the tower and found out what was going on.  I will never know which.

 

That same LT was about 6'-6" tall and he would lead us on the road marches.  That man could MOVE  you didn't want to be the last platoon in the column or you were playing catch up all the time, because the column moved like an accordion!

[Tncobra]

I'm another Ft Knox grad. Bravo 15-4

My fondest memory, " If you can taste your food, you are taking too long."

Loved marching up those hills too. ;)

[Patton]

It was 10 years ago this month that I left Basic/AIT at Leonard Wood. I rode a bus with about a dozen of my buds from basic to Ft Benning for Airborne School. I never did KP but I did just about everything else a soldier could do and then some, seriously. I don't believe most people believe me when I tell them all the things I got to do in 5years of AD and just 1 year in the guard.

[espacef1fan]

Ill save my military memories for any TGO meet I attend.

[dlm37015]

I'm another Ft Knox grad. Bravo 15-4

My fondest memory, " If you can taste your food, you are taking too long."

Loved marching up those hills too. ;)

delta 15 4 here

[espacef1fan]

E 2/81AR grad from Knox here.

[enfield]

By the way, Alpha 2-2, Ft. Polk LA, the garden spot of the south.

[dlm37015]

the winter of 73 at ft knox will never leave my mind

[1gewehr]

Shortly after the end of the Vietnam War, I enlisted.  After Basic training at Ft Jackson, SC, I was sent to Ft Benning, Ga for Infantry training.  the first day was normal admin BS, with just getting situated, equipment issues, etc.  The morning of the second day, we fell out for PT in a company formation, and the First Sergeant was there.  Now, for a bunch of guys straight out of Basic, the First Sergeant was barely a step away from Jesus in the celestial hierarchy.  After a few minutes of warmup exercises, we started on a nice, long road run.  So, we ran.  And we ran.  And we ran.  The sun came up and the South Georgia heat and humidity began to be felt.  And we ran.  Eventually, guys started to drop out despite all the screaming from the Drill Sergeants running alongside.

Since none of us had ever been to Ft Benning before, and we were way out in the boonies, we had no idea how far we ran or where we really were.  Eventually, we went to 'quicktime, march'.  And found out after a short march to catch our breath that we were only a short distance from our barracks.

The First Sergeant addressed us as a company and announced that we had run five miles!  As a confidence builder, I cannot imagine a better way to make an impression.  As for those that fell out, they know where KP lists come from!

[Major Kong]

I was winter of '94 at Ft Knox. I still vividly remember Agony, Misery and Heartbreak.

[swim615]

I'm in basic training and we are at the grenade training range, we are eating chow and our drill sergeant comes down the line yelling as usual (WHO HASN'T THROWN THEIR 2 GRENADES FOR LIVE FIRE QUALIFICATION) This private across the table raises his hand and the drill sergeant yanks him up by the collar ,his food is gone before his feet hit the ground. :ugh:

 

The ten nearest privates hit his tray like it was their first meal in weeks. :rofl:

 

Ah Good times Good times :usa:

[LagerHead]

Did my basic at Ft. Jackson, SC. I believe my company was A 1/28 but don't quote me. It was directly across the street from the rappel tower. I got a week's leave before heading to language school at the Defenese Language Institute and Foreign Language Center in Monterey, CA. After a year there I headed to Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, TX for AIT. That's right, I started AIT when I had been in the Army for 17 months. I finally hit my first duty station 22 months after I stepped off the bus in Ft. Jackson, SC. Ahh, lovely Camp Hovey, Korea. It's lovely at...well, no time. 

 

From Korea I went to Airborne school and then to 2nd Bn, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) in beautiful Ft. Lewis, WA. Had a great time there before heading back to the land of the morning mist at Camp Essayons, about 1.5 miles east of Camp Red Cloud, Korea. ETS from Korea in 1997.

 

My best memories are all about how people bonded in the military. The folks in your squad, on your team, in your platoon, whatever, generally had your back. There was the occasional "Blue Falcon" of course but for the most part they were good people. I also appreciate that the military fosters an environment where you can mentor a person (or be mentored by your superiors) in an open and honest fashion, instead of the politically correct way we dance around the real issues here in "real life." I don't miss the pay but I often miss the people. 

[Patton]

The bonding of the military was completely different than I could have ever imagined. The military is really small when it comes down to it. I shipped out to basic with a guy from my hometown, we went to basic/AIT together, we went to Hawaii together, and were in the same squad in Afghanistan.

[buck1032]

Since it seems that the Army is the majority here I feel the Navy should make an appearance. LOL Here's a story I posted on another thread on the Knife board.

 

From 1997 to 2000 I was lucky enough to get orders to SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) where I spent my first two years as a Field Instructor. Basically we taught the survival and evasion phases of training. It was fun and I had a blast there doing that. So I was there for a year and a half and it was winter 98. Without giving too much of the training away let’s just say I was playing a role in civilian clothes walking around in the middle of the night. On the training course (Remote Training Site Warner Springs) there is no live ammo, period. As we moved through Fall and into Winter there had been reports of mountain lions in the area. Earlier that day the coordinator had passed the word that a mountain lion had been seen in the Northern area where we train. So as I walk around all night I have the mountain lion in the back of my head. As I said I am in civilian clothes, but I do have a rifle, an M-14 with 100 rounds of blanks. I have my Mk-3 Mod O issued knife and a 2 cell mag light. I am walking South in the San Luis Rey River, its winter so there is some water flowing but not much. At this time it’s just a small stream. I start hearing a bit of noise in front of me, maybe a 100 meters out. I am out there to perform a role, and one of those roles is suppression. I wasn’t the OPFOR (opposition force) so I am not supposed to engage the students. As I quietly work my way to the noise, please keep in mind this is about 0230 on a moonless night, I get maybe 30 meters out and stop. I am trying to pin point the noise as I obviously can’t see anything. I slowly creep up to where I am about 10 meters from the noise and at that point I realize the noise isn’t on the ground! My first thought was oh $hit, mountain lion. I am standing there in the middle of the night with 20 pounds of useless junk (M-14 and blanks). I just slowly ease the rifle to the ground, grab the mag light with my left hand and draw out the Mk-3 with my right. About the time I get the mag light up to head level and the Mk-3 in front of my chest it sounded like all hell was coming at me from the trees in front of me. I hit the light and thought my heart blew up! Something was coming down at me from a tree that I thought was 10 meters, but it was more like 5 meters. After what seemed like 15 or 20 seconds after my light came on illuminated the “object” coming at me and my mind realizing what was happening and actually identifying the object as a turkey. After the adrenalin dump, I just stood there as the turkey landed in front of me and ran off to my right. There I was preparing to go toe to toe with a big cat, and most likely lose, and a freaking turkey almost blew my heart out and caused me to defecate myself. I did learn that an M-14 is heavy and useless unless you actually have ammo and a Mk-3 would be a poor choice to wrestle a mountain lion.

[Just2Honor]

I'll confess:   For a period of time I was a Training Officer in a basic company, the XO of the Drill Sergeant School, and a CO of a basic company at Ft Bliss, TX  ('65-'66).     There I've said it.  Jump on me with both feet but before you do I'll know that it wasn't my choice.  I was trained as a Tank Platoon and a Heavy Weapons Leader and happy as a pig in mud at Ft Hood.

Edited March 11, 2013 by RoadKill

[DaveTN]

I was in Chicago with about 100 others guys joining the Navy in August of 1971. They were reading off names and sending them to boot camp in either Great Lakes or Orlando. When they were done there was me and one other guy left. The guy reading off names ask our names and we told him. He replied “Oh we have a very special place for you two; you are going to San Diego, California.” I said “cool, I’ve always wanted to visit California.” He replied… “It’s August.”

 

One of the other things I remember is how nice everyone was to us. They were helpful at the induction center and helped us get to our flights and answered any questions we had. A Navy bus was waiting on us at the airport at San Diego; even the two Marines on it were nice to us.

 

We arrived at NTC San Diego. Our Company Commander met us at the bus. The party was over.

 

[Guest Deerelver06]

Glad to see a few other guys from Knox. I was there summer of 04 D co 1/46 inf. graduated and went to fort Lenoard wood for ait Asa 88m (truck driver). Then got sent to lovely fort Campbell for 8 years. Did 1 deployment to Iraq and 2 to Afghanistan.

[buck1032]

I'll confess: 

 

No worries, as I am sure there are alot of Navy and Marine folks would like to have a "talk" with me. Not long after my posted story happened, I rotated up to the RTL portion of SERE training. Lets just say that I doubt the "authorized harassment techniques" won me many friends. LOL

[EMB145]

1992-1993, I was a parachute rigger at the airborne school at Ft. Benning, GA. Echo Co. 1/507th. Me and the 1SG absolutely hated each other. I had my reasons, he had his.  I was able to get a state side swap on my time, my dime and I ended up at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, GA.  I loaded up my VW and hit the road.  Life was looking good. (So I thought).  After the standard few days at Ft. Stewart inprocessing, I ended up at Hunter Army Airfield to my new unit. Oh, I got the FNG treatment that weekend and people are feeling me out and testing me as standard procedure requires with any outsiders.

 

I report to the rigger shed the next duty day and the Chief Warrant Officer wanted me in his office. (Standard, welcome to the platoon and all that) So I thought, "Sit right here", CID is on their way from Ft. Stewart to get you. Oh SH*T!  There was an intentional malfunction with a parachute a few days after I left Ft. Benning and since my friendship with the 1SG was well known, everyone interviewed just knew I was the guy that did it. So here I am at a new duty station, I don't know anyone, everyone is told to stay away from me because of the attempted murder investigation. Good times.

 

Polygraph test, handwriting analysis, questioning after questioning.  I did not sleep much, lost weight and my stress meter was pegged for quite a while. They got the guy that did it a few months later, but even after I was cleared of any wrong doing, I was always, "That guy". I spent 2 years there and just recently went back to Savannah for a few days after leaving in Aug 1995. Things have changed down there, but I did not visit Hunter Airfield. I'm still pissed off about that and it was 18 years ago.

[Will H]

Fantastic thread idea.  I will enjoy reading these.

 

1993 Republic of South Korea FTX in the freaking rain.

 

I was helping a friend of mine out of an Avenger (HMMWV with stinger pods on the top) turret.  The Avenger was sitting on the side of a mountain for the exercise.  He hits the ground and we walk off about 5 feet when we hear a noise and turn around just in time to see the Avenger slide sideways out of the position in a cascade of mud and roll down the mountain.  In a classic Hollywood moment he turns slowly to me and says "I'm gonna need a ride."