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

woodbowl · December 12, 2007, 09:27:03 AM

Naw, ...... I know there has been more fun out there, because I had a pile of it myself in the Army.

This didn't happen to me and I did not participate in it, but one of the funniest and most cruel tricks played on another unit member was when someone decided to pour half of the shampoo out of their shampoo bottle and replace it with nair. They took a shower like normal, shampooed their hair, dried off and went about the day. At first it didn't appear that anything was going to happen, then as the day went on a few hairs here and there started to come out. By the end of the day it had all came off, slick as a button. I'd have been a wild man after blood, if it had happened to me. Pretty funny though when it happens to someone thats been asking for trouble. ;D

Tom · December 12, 2007, 09:58:23 AM

Well, I spent a fair part of my younger life attached to the US Army too. Fun is where you find it. While learning to defend a West Georgia hilltop at Fort Benning, we had set up a battalion perimeter that went form here to there. Our company was stretched in foxholes on a line further than a fellow wanted to walk.

The word was out about the efficiency of the "enemy" The aggressor force was a specially trained training force and they were good.   One night, a platoon of another company was taken out because they weren't taking themselves seriously. When they awoke in their foxholes the following morning, most of them had a chalk "X" marked on the back of their helmet. They never saw anybody.

Well, we weren't going to let that happen to use. It got real quiet and we heard that the aggressors were taking some time off. They had a transmission truck behind their lines and were using it to "demoralize" us. Being the young twerps that we were, and bored to tears, a bunch of us made plans for some mayhem. We sneaked to the woods in front of us and, in single file, eased through the woods to the company on our right flank. Opening fire with blanks from M-1's, BAR's and 30 cal. machine guns caused the whole area to light up. We had a real good fire fight, having caught our buddies by surprise and then we sneaked back to our own positions. It was a lot of fun and the racket from the neighboring company went on all the rest of the night, even though there was nobody in the woods.

By early morning we were bored again. Someone came up with the wild idea of attacking the aggressors. We did.   Our platoon formed a skirmisher formation and went through the woods to their camp, about 3/4 of a mile away. They never new what hit them. We raised all kinds of havoc, pulling out tent pins and collapsing tents, yelling, shooting our blanks and then disappeared just as suddenly.

When the sun came up, we were innocently sitting in our foxholes cleaning the dew from our weapons when we noticed that there was an awful lot of "Brass" (Cadre officers) roaming around. We laid low.

As it turns out, one of the fellows, It was rumored that it was a Citadel student named Bugg, had stolen the sound truck in the attack and brought it to our cadre's headquarters tent and parked it.   No body suspected it to be there and the Army was confronted with a several hundred thousand dollar truck being stolen. We never said a word. It was well into the afternoon before they found it.   I'll bet the commanding officer of the aggressor force had some tall explaining to do.

There was a water trailer parked next to the headquarters tent too. It was off limits and we were told that we couldn't drink from it. As it turned out, the aggressors put blue dye in it. It was quite evident who had partaken of that water.   Nobody told on anybody, but there were some blue stains around the base of several trees on the hill.

See?   Even training can be fun. :D

Radar67 · December 12, 2007, 10:01:31 AM

Some may not consider this fun, but some of the grunts out there know what I mean...

While stationed in Germany we spent 285 days out of the year in the field. We had been on one of our many 60 days exercises for almost 40 days. The First Sergeant came by one day and asked if anyone had any "Marks" (German money). Some of us had a few and told him so. He told us he was making a "run" into the metzgeri (Germany Meatmarket) and would pick us up something.

I sent 5 Marks with him and told him to bring me back that much worth of a variety, just what ever they had. Let me tell you, when he came back and handed me a bag full of meat, cheese, and rolls (a large sack, about the size of the old brown paper grocery sacks) my jaw dropped...he said the change was in the bag.

Seeing how I would not be able to eat no where near all that food, I shared with the guys who didn't have any Marks. We ate on that bag of food for almost 4 days.

Some said it was like heaven on earth...it sure was a welcomed break from our daily ration of MREs. ;) That was the only time we were graced with Top's kindness...seems he forgot to include the CO..... :(

exssnelt · December 12, 2007, 02:25:18 PM

Navy from 92 to 98. Hence the screen name EX=out of/done with, SSN=nuclear sub, ELT=Engineering Laboratory Technician (basically a nuc mechanic that went to chemistry school). I was on 2 boats; USS Gato SSN 594, USS Salt Lake City SSN 716. The captain definitely makes the boat. On Gato the Captain was old school, so "hazing" was overlooked. Some of the guys on the boat would get into water fights with squirt guns back aft, I told them I didn't play those games. Well someone thought I should and sprayed me while I was on watch (I was not amused) - my retaliation: the fire hose. Yeah we played fun with newbees; send 'em to the A-gangers for a "machinist punch" translated - a punch in the arm (by anyone present).

Salt Lake City - not much fun. The old man was trying to make full bird - so he always wanted to be on patrol. My first year on board we were poking holes in the ocean for 10 months.

On the brighter side, the job I have now, everyone is an ex-nuc. You should hear it when we harass some of the "targets" (guys on surface vessels). Some guys have been at this job for so long their first boat was a diesel. The current Navy only has 1 diesel sub, and is a deep submergence research boat. So you can imagine the sea stories, with 26 of us spouting off.

Ah, the good old days.

Slabs · December 12, 2007, 09:14:57 PM

It didn't git to be no more fun!!!

pigman · December 12, 2007, 09:53:32 PM

While I was on my government paid tropical vacation, a new year was about to arrive. I was on guard duty with two other vacationers at a small campground out in the woods. At the stroke of midnight the sky lit up with all colors of hand flares. I even saw a few red star cluster flares shoot out.

I was not prepared for the action and most of the other flares had burnt out before I found and shot off the collection of hand flares in the bunker. :( When the next new year arrived we were warned that anyone shooting off flares would face a court -martial. . At the stroke of midnight the fireworks started. I was prepared this time and started shooting off the dozen flares I had collected. 8) The next morning nothing was said about the new years celebration, I guess they decided they could not court-martial everyone. I wanted to stay for the next new years, but a person can only stay on vacation for so long and I had get back to work. ;)