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What did you do for original fun when you were in service? What branch?

Started by woodbowl, December 04, 2007, 06:58:08 PM

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woodbowl

I didn't see it as meaness or anything, just a bunch of us boys having some good old fashoned fun.

I was in the Army from 75 to 78, stationed at FT Euistis Va. When I was in basic training in Ft Jackson S.C. we had one guy in our platoon that always caused the whole platoon to do extra pushups all through the day. He wouldn't listen, just kept smarting off to make the drill sgt. even madder. One night while he was fast asleep. a dozen of us gathered around his bunk and slowly pulled the sheet around to be gathered. The shower had been running  HOT  for several minutes. When we got the signal, the sheet was gathered and dragged to the shower. He didn't stay fast asleep for long.  ::)  After that, we didn't have to do extra pushups anymore.   :D

Our sergeant was bad about ripping the buttons off our fatigue shirts if we didn't keep them buttoned. After sewing buttons back on a few times, someone got the idea to sew them on with dental floss and not button them. Sure enough he grabbed the button and gave it a jerk, then another jerk.... several jerks later with sore fingers, he cussed and yelled, button your pocket!   8)
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

Radar67

Things are a little more serious under the present circumstances, but I used to like getting the officers with something.

One in particular I remember in Germany, I had a lieutenant as the commander on my Bradley (I say mine because I signed for it and was overall responsible if it came up missing or destroyed). We were conducting swim operations one day and the driver and I were working our butts off getting everything ready. "Louie" was no where to be found. Just as we were about to finish up, here he comes. He asks if there is anything he can do to help. Without missing a beat, I told him the Company Commander had borrowed my pintle hook propeller because his driver forgot to bring his, and I needed him to run around the lake to the exit point and get it back when the CO came out of the water.

Off he goes at a full sprint cause we were second in line for the entry. It was about 300 yards around to the other side of the lake. The driver and I pulled out the binoculars to watch the show. (See, there is no such thing as a pintle hook propeller). We watched him ask the CO for the prop and promptly got to watch him do a gazillion pushups for being an idiot.  :D :D

I got a talking to by the CO, but you could tell he was slightly amused.  ;)
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

Fraxinus

I was in the Marines from '70 to '72 and in the Army National Guard from '79 to '92.   Those two organizations are VERY different from each other but I enjoyed them both.  The National Guard was much more informal, as you might expect, because we pretty much all knew each other from "outside" anyway.  There were lots of brothers, cousins (I had a cousin in my  unit) and even fathers and sons.  We were an artillery firing battery.
About the most memorable thing that I can remember happening when we were at Annual Training at Fort Drum, NY one year was the Gunnery Sergeant and one of the gun chiefs streaking along the gun line.  We used to take one 5-ton ammo truck to camp every year with nothing but beer in it.  I'm not a drinker myself, but I'm here to tell you that those boys could flat out drink beer.
Those days are long gone and it's probably just as well.
Grandchildren, Bluegrass music, old tractors, trees and sawmills.  It don't get no better'n that!

submarinesailor

Don't get me started about the things we would do on board the boats, particularly after being under for about 60 days.

Ok, now you have gone and done it.  One of the favors was to send the "fresh meat" to the torpedo room looking for some clear polyestermite.  Well, the phone call always got to the room before they did, so the room watch was ready.

"No, we don't have any clear, but how about going down into the bilge and checked those cans to be sure".  Now the TR bilge was always full of oily, nasty water and fresh meat would almost always fall down in it.  After he came up for the bilge the room watch would tell him to go to aux machinery room #1 (AMR1) and ask the "A" gangers if they had some.  No, they would have black polyestermite.  But the AMR2 lower level might have some.  Next, came the engine room upper level and finally the ER lower level.  Boy, you have never seen some many colors of polyestermite.

More to come-------

Bruce

oakiemac

I was on a submarine in the navy from '84 to '90. As you can imagine it was deadly boring under water on patrol so we would do numerous things to amuse ourselves.

One time there was a black cook who always shaved his head completely bald and shined it up with oil. For some reason he was always the butt of many a joke but the best one that I can remember was when he was fast asleep in his rack some jokesters pulled the curtain back and took white out and painted a  big figure 8 on his bald head. He went around the whole day as an eight ball and never new it. :D

Another time one of the newer officers came back to the engineering spaces when we were "field daying" a navy term the means cleaning. Well everyone is in a foul mood during these mandatory times so when this officer came back and made a smart comment half joking but we were in no mood for it, two of us grabbed duct tape and taped him from head to toe like a giant mummy. We cut a slit by his feet so he could hobble back to the wardroom. His buddys cut him loose but he hadn't learned his lesson yet and he came back for more. We were more then happy to oblige him with another round of tape.
A few years later we got a different captian and I almost got court martialed for doing the same thing to an E4. They called it hazing. I just called it an old fashioned taping, what ever happened to the Navy's sense of humor?
Mobile Demension sawmill, Bobcat 873 loader, 3 dry kilns and a long "to do" list.

submarinesailor

oakie,

So you had to be a "nuc" or an "a" ganger.  You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Bruce

oakiemac

Mobile Demension sawmill, Bobcat 873 loader, 3 dry kilns and a long "to do" list.

theorm

Hey Okiemac,

Count me in too, that makes it two nukes to one coner. Bruce will probably try a snappy comeback. That's ok, some of my best friends were coners. Seriously, brothers in arms have an instant reporte. The old been there, done that.

Sea stories, where do we start? The steam suit caper!
A steam suit is a heavy duty fire suit including boots, gloves and hood. It comes in one size, super huge. It has a silvery out layer. It is fed with with an air hose for breathing, cooling and pressurization. For Halloween we assembled it and plugged in the air. It would stand there empy looking like the Goodyear blimp. We left it there all day.

The next day we put Tiny in it. Tiny is 6'4" and 330#. The suit actually fit. Everyone was used to the suit standing there like a manequin. Tiny would wait for a victim to come in range and attack. We didn't mind cleaning up the spilled cups of coffee.

:D :D :D :D :D
Theo
The essence of loyalty is reciprocity.

submarinesailor

Theo and Oakie,

I was a true coner, but for some reason most of my friends were nucs, of all shapes and sizes.  Most of my checkouts were by the nucs.  After 35 years I still talk with one of the nuc IC.

Theo - it's funny how each boat I was on had a "Tiny".

Bruce

Faron

I am surprised they would allow, or could persuade, for that matter, a 6' 4" 330 lb man to go in one of those things. :o  I am not near that size, but I am pretty sure it would take four or five guys that size to keep me in one long enough to leave the dock. :D
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

isawlogs


  Was never in the army or navy or anything close to it ... but I was in isolated work camps many times . One was in James bay .  There where no personal cars or pick-ups there , all where companie vehicules . Now one of these was one of many inspectors that where around making sure every thing was to there likings  ::) For some reason he would always have that pick-up parked exactly where we would have to be with our crane to put some steel up ....  or be too dam close for comfort . One day being in a rush and not fisically seeing him ... we sortof got the truck out of the way ...  ;D   I had to have the spreader beams on the crane to put up a panel ,that was ascembled on the ground   .  Now having the spreader beams on the crane made it real easy , We got some nice long heavy duty nylon chockers out and put um under the pick-up and lifted that sucker up onto a steel storage container .  We left it there for a week or so ... till da big boss come around and asked us if it would be possible to give it back .  :D :D

          need to ask a what is question ....    a  "  nuc  "
                                                                 a  "  a  "
                                                                 a  " coner  "
                                                                 a " ganger "
  Or is this a secret boat people thing ....  :P ;D ???
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Meat

Navy.

Part of an H-46 crew that spent alot of time with the Marines flying search and rescue.  My favorite is when we would fly to the beach and pick up the grunts.  We would get the Marines all loaded up, and then act like we were having problems.  We'd grab one of the motivated Sargeants and tell them we need them to push while we pop the clutch (no clutch in a helo).  Out they would all go and line up behind the pylons.  We would let them push us for a good 50 yards yelling faster, faster, and then finally reach up and throw the switch for the APU (little engine that helps light the big engines) and let it roar. 

When that thing lit off it is quite loud...you could look back and see them all high-fiveing each other.  Never had the heart to tell them we were joking...just a stick of motivated Marines making it happen.  They would probably head back to the boat and tell their buddies how they saved the day for the Navy helo by pushing it to pop the clutch...until some crusty Gunny heard.  ;D
Good stuff.

submarinesailor

Mercel,

A "nuc" is someone who has been trained to operate, maintain and repair the nuclear power systems on the boats (submarines are called boats, not ships)

An "A" ganger is a non-nuclear machinist mate who takes care of all the other mechanical equipment on board the boats.  This includes the "bombs" in AMR1, the Oxygen generators.

A "coner" is weapons specialist.  My job over the years as a coner was to work on the Polaris, Poseidon and Trident missiles and ALL there support equipment.  We  also did all the handling chores.

A "ganger" is a member of a division: 
M Division – Machinist Mates working on the power plant.
E Division – Electricians Mates working on the electrical system from generation to distribution.
MT Division – Missile Tech working on the missiles and there support equipment.

Yes, it was/is a very different world.

JV

I was in the army back in the mid 60's in the Signal Corps (communications) as a radio relay operator in mobile rigs.  We had one guy who was a regular prankster.  One night I had enough and got my revenge.  The guy could sleep through anything.  I covered him with almost a full can of shaving cream and pulled the cover back over him.  That stuff is tough to get off after it drys for 6 or 7 hours.  Pretty quiet after that.  When I came back from overseas, I was stationed in an armor unit.  Tankers and gun bunnies are a different breed.
I went to work for the Air Force back in the 80's and things hadn't changed, as kids will be kids.  What one couldn't think of another could.
John

'05 Wood-mizer LT40HDG28-RA, Lucas 613 Swing Mill, Stihl 170, 260 Pro, 660, 084 w/56" Alaskan Mill, 041 w/Lewis Winch, Case 970 w/Farmi Winch, Case 850 Crawler Loader, Case 90XT Skidloader, Logrite tools

Fraxinus

Quote from: Meat on December 05, 2007, 02:18:07 PM
Navy.

Part of an H-46 crew that spent alot of time with the Marines flying search and rescue.  My favorite is when we would fly to the beach and pick up the grunts.  We would get the Marines all loaded up, and then act like we were having problems.  We'd grab one of the motivated Sargeants and tell them we need them to push while we pop the clutch (no clutch in a helo).  Out they would all go and line up behind the pylons.  We would let them push us for a good 50 yards yelling faster, faster, and then finally reach up and throw the switch for the APU (little engine that helps light the big engines) and let it roar. 

When that thing lit off it is quite loud...you could look back and see them all high-fiveing each other.  Never had the heart to tell them we were joking...just a stick of motivated Marines making it happen.  They would probably head back to the boat and tell their buddies how they saved the day for the Navy helo by pushing it to pop the clutch...until some crusty Gunny heard.  ;D
Good stuff.

ROFL!!! 
We had a couple tricks we'd pull on a green guy when we'd go out to the field.  The most famous one was to send somebody for "firing line".  It took some guys all day to figure out they had been had after getting the runaround everywhere they went.  Another thing we'd send them for would be "bubble grease" and "grid squares".  I think there was one guy that never did figure it out all the time he was in.  He'd fall for the same trick every year. :D :D
We also had an old saddle that somebody brought in and there would be a big buildup as to who was going to "ride the tube", IOW, sit on the barrel of the howitzer in that saddle when the gun was fired.  We actually had a couple guys believing it was going to happen.
Grandchildren, Bluegrass music, old tractors, trees and sawmills.  It don't get no better'n that!

oakiemac

I'll have to correct subsailor. A coner is anyone who lived in the forward part of the boat ie anyone who was not a nuc. At least that was the way it was on the old pig that I was on. We even had one valve that we called the mason-dixon valve since it seperated the forward (coners) part of the boat from the engineering areas.
Mobile Demension sawmill, Bobcat 873 loader, 3 dry kilns and a long "to do" list.

DouginUtah


Submarinesailor;

QuoteMy job over the years as a coner was to work on the Polaris, Poseidon and Trident missiles.

My job twenty+ years ago was actually to build (Quality/ winding) those missiles. It is very likely that my stamp and initials (HDS) are in some of the M&IR books that are with those motors. I never imagined that some day I would know a person who was working with the end product.  8)
-Doug
When you hang around with good people, good things happen. -Darrell Waltrip

There is no need to say 'unleaded regular gas'. It's all unleaded. Just say 'regular gas'. It's not the 70s anymore. (At least that's what my wife tells me.)

---

theorm

We considered 'coners' to be anyone who worked in the front half of the boat, the 'nosecone'. Excepting the officers, which we lowly enlisted swine called the O-div.

"Enlisted men are slow and stupid, but sly and cunning, and bear considerable watching."

1865 Army officers manual

Some things never change.

Theo  8)
The essence of loyalty is reciprocity.

theorm

Like DouginUtah, I found that one of my co-workers made the seawater valves for subs. THANK YOU big time for doing a fantastic job. It is always a good idea to keep the water out of the people tank.

The rest of you guys will figure out the lingo.

Practical jokes should be 'no harm, no foul', unless it is really funny.
The boat's punster was eating a hard boiled egg. The boat's practical joker got a fresh egg and cracked over the punster's head. As the runny stuff was migrating over the ears and down his collar, the joker asked," It's a YOLK, get it?"

Did I mention that the showers were secured for the next 3 days...

Theo   :D :D :D
The essence of loyalty is reciprocity.

oakiemac

There's more bubble heads on this forum then I would of ever thought.
Mobile Demension sawmill, Bobcat 873 loader, 3 dry kilns and a long "to do" list.

badpenny

   My first ship in the Navy was a "gator freighter" , USS Tulare LKA 112, amphibious cargo ship. When deployed to South East Asia in the late '60's and early '70's, we carried a complement of Marines . Gullible little tadpoles and pollywogs they were, and most had never seen a seabat, so we "caught" one in cargo hold 5, and put it in a box on the fantail, with a small hole near the deck for viewing. This required getting down on hands and knees to see, and resulted in a swat to the posterior with a broom. After the first Marine had been "had", he spent most of two days getting his buddies to take a look at what he had seen.
   A question for any sailors out there, how many are shellbacks? Golden shellback here, lat 0 º long 180 º July 1973
Hope and Change, my foot,  It's time for Action and Results!

Tom

As a Ping Jockey on a Tin Can, we didn't get out much.  There was the usual trip to get a rubber storm flag or some relative bearing grease but that always gets old quickly when the division is so small.  We did have a pull toy, as did some of the other divisions.  Ours was a Duck whose head went from side to side when you pulled it down the deck.  Yes, the firemen had a fire truck.  It was a treat to be the one selected to "guard" the duck for the day.

When in port our entertainment was the the Geedunk on Main base. They had pizza and hamburgers and pin ball machines that we could beat and the Flicks were next door where we could spend the afternoon for 10¢.

When we tired of that, we would head for the big ships for a tour.  I still remember my amazement to see a jeep pulling an 8 or 10 foot rope mop on the hanger deck.

We would visit other ships to sample their food too.  Man! the guys on the carrier and the tender ate like kings.  'Course we did pretty good ourselves, but that was because we had probably the best cook in the Destroyer fleet.  I ate in the open mess on a sewer pipe in Key West too.  That wasn't too bad.

The bulk of us in Fox didn't "drink like a sailor" and made it a point to take long hikes when in a foreign port.  That was entertainment that I'm glad I took part.  Some of the guys would hit the strip and spend all their time drinking and then their shipboard time sleeping it off.  They never saw a thing.

Taking pictures was great fun too.  I've lost a lot of them, but had pictures of all of our cruises.  Y'all have seen some of them.

I also had my shark rod on board and would take it out in some of the ports and try to catch a shark.  The ship had poles that could be checked out too.  The "Old Man" would leave Norfolk and run a power run to Miami and then perform an economy run from there to Key West.  We made that trip fairly often to train Sonar students at the Sonar School down there.   When the ship slowed down, the Captain put a chair on the aft of the O-1 level and we broke out the fishing poles and trolled.  The cook would clean the fish and serve them in the next meal or two.

We did a lot of Racing too. There was hardly a week would go by that some Captain on a modern turbine DE would want to take us on.  We were one of the few Fletcher Cans left on the East Coast and were fast. They soon found that we could blow them away, given a little time to build up steam.

Swimming in the middle of the ocean is fun too.  The water is super clear and looks like it is black.  You realize that it isn't when you flip a quarter in there and can watch it reflect sunlight as it flips down to the depths.  I don't know how far down you can follow it, but it seems like forever.

Chasing rain showers for a fresh water wash down is fun too. ... and you've never been exhilarated until you have dodged "Greenies" on the main deck.  It makes your heart pound harder than running to the after head, naked, in the dead of winter in Norfolk, with ice hanging on the lines and covering the deck.



theorm

WATERSLUGS. It sounds like something out of the seabat category. It is exercising the torpedo firing mechanism without a weapon in the tube. It is a noisy combination of air blasts, valves popping and pistons stroking. It was my first week on the boat and I was in the torpedo room changing light bulbs. I was standing by the WRT tank and all they told me was, "Don't jump."  I didn't have a chance to ask why I would jump when they shot the waterslug. Didn't move a muscle, NOT.

Theo   :o :D :o :D :o
The essence of loyalty is reciprocity.

submarinesailor

Theo,

You know they shot the water slug just because a nuc was in the room, a fresh meat nuc.

One of the hardest and busiest times for me was one patrol when the 1st class torpedo man went AWOL.  We only had 2 weapons CPOs onboard, so I wound up running both the missile compartment and the torpedo room. 

I remember the boxing smoker we had underway one time.  Everything was find as long as the guys were in the middle weight and under.  But, when the bigger boys went that it----well the back of the mess decks just wasn't big enough.  One young man got about 15 stitches in the top of his head.  He bobbed right into one of the lighting fixtures.  The shipper brought it to a stop real quick after that.

Bruce

pigman

It seems that execept for woodbowl, who started this this thread, the only ones in the service that had "original fun"  were Navy guys. :P  Maybe the people in the other branches had fun, but it was just not original. ;D
Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

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