I'm curious to see if they'll be grandfathering in members with existing tattoos. Also, same message board mentioned that AETC (Air Education Training Command) has banned Energy Drinks from dorm refrigerators. What the fuck?
Never, ever underestimate the stupidity of the Air Force. On many occasions we've shook our heads at them, as they continue to run the branch like a business-one that doesn't make any money, rarely pleases the customer, and is destined for bankruptcy. Somehow, somewhere, there is an Air Force officer convinced that keeping out guys with tattoos on their arms will somehow improve their ranks...and therefore their mission success. Laughable.
I am guessing you are fairly new to chocs but if you are considering transferring to ARA there are a few tricks to make sure things go swiftly and smoothly. The two corps you just listed are 2 of the 3 most difficult to get any kind of information on. I was a sig up until December last year. I have a fair bit of experience with the spooks and sigint if you want to combine the two. Shoot me a PM if you want and I will help you out with some of the specifics.
Does anyone even remember this is Pearl Harbor day? I just visited CNN's website and there's not a single word about Pearl Harbor. There is however an article about people offering their thoughts on John Lennon. Shameful.
Foxnews.com has a little story about some WW2 guys returning to Pearl Harbor, but that's about it. No Big remembrance or anything. Shame is right.
What happened at Pearl Harbor? For that matter what happened on September 11 2001? People don't give a fuck about shit that happened this decade much less something from last century. Shameful doesn't seem like a strong enough word.
I ran across an old friend on the internet today. He's a singer/songwriter and still chasing his dream. Apparently he's still playing music and wrote a pretty awesome song about veterans: http://www.youtube.com/v/Z_kRJyuQLCM&co ... US&feature The damn thing brought tears to my eyes, but maybe that's because it was a familiar voice from the past. Somehow I doubt that's the case. It's a powerful song.
I've always wanted to know how drill instructors really operate, the kind of shit they say, how they punish you and what for, and anything else of interest. I watch movies, I read books, but I'm always looking for more. I reckon the heavy-hitters on this board could shell out a couple good stories, and I'd love to hear them. I'll bet I'm not the only one. If anyone would care to indulge me when they have the time, I'd be most grateful.
Calisthenics. Lots of them. Until your uniform looks like you just crawled out of a pool. Infractions include, but are not limited to: -Not making your rack in time -not getting to General Quarters in time -uniform not up to par -not knowing General Orders -Boots not shiny enough -Not getting thing X cleaned in time -my personal favorite: not doing a damn thing wrong, but someone else did something stupid and everyone has to suffer. ...and of course, anything that's just generally stupid. Mouthing off to anyone, sneaking food back to your compartment/barracks (remember the infamous jelly doughnut scene in Full Metal Jacket? Yea we had the pleasure of recreating that scene because some idiot brought a nutrigrain bar back with him.)
I have been in the Marine Corps now for three years. I went through East Coast bootcamp on Parris Island, SC in August of 2006. I have been to the Middle East twice now and have seen some crazy shit in my short time in the Corps, but I still remember everything about my three months spent on that island. I can still remember all three of my Drill Instructors names and if I were to see one of them today, I would still be scared. I was recruited from the same recruiting office as this guy named Smith (name changed) and we went to the island together. This kid was, in every sense of the word, a fucking idiot. Smith was always getting shit wrong. We would be told to do one thing, Smith did another. He always looked ridiculious in his uniform, never screamed loud enough, never ran fast enough, and just never really seemed to understand what was happening. We had to take a first aid class one day in which we had to give CPR to a 140 pound dummy and Smith found a way to fuck that up and was the only person in the platoon to do so. The Drill Instructors had a field day with this, and started making Smith carry the dummy around all day every day. They made him name it, pt with it, clean with it, dress it up in uniforms, and he even had to sound off for it any time he was spoken to by a Drill Instructor. It was fucking hilarious to see and hear. We were punished pretty harshly, not nearly as bad as it was in the old Corps, but we got fucked with our fair share. I can tell hilarious bootcamp stories all day.
Throughout OCS, we dealt with this shit every day. I guess I am part of the new corps, but as AIC said, we got yelled at for every little thing including the following: -Saying the word 'I' -Not being loud enough -Looking any direction except forward -'Eyeballing' the SI's -Not reporting correctly -Picking up a pen when told to (me, plus I was assigned a 300 word essay to write, every other letter was capitalized and in red ink) -Any myraid of things you could think of that were wrong...or even right, it really didn't matter, their whole job is to fck with your mind, body, and soul. And some of the things they said were hilarious now that I look back on them. They called some of the rackmates 'cellies' and ragged on them for sleeping on top and bottom. Called some of the candidates uglier than their own mothers. And some things that I probably shouldn't mention for fear little kids around the world will cry.
I always enjoyed the creative ways they insulted us: Privates- "Good morning, Drill Sergeant!" D.S.- "Good morning, asshole babies!" D.S.- "Shut your fucking cock holsters!" D.S.- "Have you looked in the mirror lately, Private? You couldn't get laid in a whorehouse with a fist full of fifties." D.S.- "Hey Private,[insert yes or no question here]?" Private- "No." D.S.- "No? No, what? No, motherfucker? No, fuckin' asshole? No, guy who fucks my mother?" Private- "No, Drill Sergeant." D.S.- "That's better, now get down and beat your face, test tube." D.S.- "Private, if you walk in front of my formation again, I will rip your fucking head off and hide it from you!" D.S. (after walking by us and farting while we're standing at attention)- "Holy shit, that's gonna itch when it dries out... You fuckers just wait till graduation day. You'll all be standing there at attention in your Class A's, in front of your families, all proud and shit. Then I'm gonna walk by and shit all over you." D.S.- "Private, that's as wrong as two boys fucking on the church lawn on Sunday morning." Private- "But Drill Sergeant..." D.S.(in a whiny, mocking voice)- "But Drill Sergeant, I'm a little faggot, bla bla bla, SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" D.S. (during a locker inspection)- "That your girlfriend, Private?" Private- "Yes, Drill Sergeant." D.S.- "The fuck it is. That picture came with the frame. Did you buy that so the other Privates wouldn't think you're a faggot?" Private- "No Drill Sergeant, that really is my girlfriend." D.S.- "Shut the fuck up, you're gayer than a day in May. You ain't foolin' nobody, Private. I wish I could remember half of the shit like this that I heard in basic. It was ten years ago, and to this day I wish I would've wrote it all down. Some of the things they would come up with were comedy gold.
I'm Swedish, and therefore in the Swedish Armed Forces, so I don't know if I have anything to offer that people on this board will be interested in. That said, I thought I'd throw my two cents in, so here are the credentials- Served a year as a Forward Observer, Mechanized Infantry, reached the rank of Sergeant (OR-5) - worth noting is that the rank system differs in Sweden a little, and my understanding is that you need more years of service in the US Military to reach that rank. I am currently a Cadet (Officer Candidate?), training to become a 2LT. Of course, if anyone is interested, feel free to ask. I may have misunderstood your question, but the practice of being hard on soldiers, especially during Basic*, helps move along the FIRO cycle incredibly well. Basically, what they do and say is done in order to give the soldier a leader, and authority figure, as well as forcing the group together. Doing this gives the soldiers something in common, but also forces the soldier to adapt to the routines that will serve to help them and make them more effective later on. I simplified very much, but that's the basic concept. What they then say or do to punish becomes irrelevant - as long as it is not too easy or hard on the soldiers. I can only speak for myself, but when I stood in formation on my first day I needed someone to scream at me and tell me what to do, and how fast to do it- I just didn't realise it at the time. Though my impression is that in the US military, your officers or NCOs will use extreme personal insults and the like, which for me implies that there are other reasons - moulding the soldiers into someone who will brush off insults, and want to stay even when it gets tough? We don't have that over here, so I can't answer, anyone care to explain? *Or for that matter, any time when there is a new group or setting - it's all about group dynamics.
I followed a few hundred pages of the old God Bless the Military threads, but did not contribute much. I'll be graduating from college next year and I'm interested in enlisting. I'm looking into Army 35M, and I was hoping to ask some questions to anyone who has held this MOS or worked alongside those who have.
Why not instead of enlisting, let your education help you and go OCS and commission as an officer? More money in that route.
This may have been true ten years ago but it is no longer. Along the way I think someone figured out that calling the Joe who might be watching your back overseas a "Fag" is counterproductive. I'd call my privates dumbass, idiot, dipshit etc if they fucked up stupidly but generally it's best to just call them by their last name or rank. The Army is a professional organization and as such NCOs and officers are expected to provide a good example. Basic, RIP, Ranger School etc are obviously their own little universe but generally we expect our soldiers to act like men, so my approach was always to treat them as such. I've been screamed and cursed at and called a variety of different, wonderful names but to my recollection the gay thing was never brought up.
You might not believe this but my PL from Afghanistan is trying to resign his commission for the purpose of enlisting. Crazy bastard told me he doesn't like the political aspect of being an officer.
Yea i have heard of a couple of people doing that, however if I was fresh out of college I would think I would at least explore the OCS route before deciding to enlist.