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War Stories

Went to basic @ Ft. Ord. We were kept down in a holding area while the recruits/draftees got to company strength. We were assigned bunks and told to sleep head to feet. One troop had his head to the wall and the next was to the open area, I forgot what disease there were trying to prevent. One night a few of the troops were in a crap game in the corner. All of a sudden the CQ was heard approaching and all the players jumped for their bunks. Small change was rolling everywhere. The overhead came on and the CQ came in the bay. The players were all trying to appear asleep.

The CQ said. “What’s going on in here?” All he heard was snoring. He stepped into the corridor and came back with a broom and a dust-pan, swept up all the loose change and exited after extinguishing the overhead......
 
Blanket Party time in college Rotc.

On a weekend training at Ft. Dix we did our first and only company blanket party in the old WW II barracks we were in.

whitehall5.jpg


It was 2nd semester in spring of year one -- 1962-63 -- frosh and this snowflake cadet got temporary squad leader cause his father was a colonel. Nobody liked or respected the **** to begin with of course. Worse yet he was my squad leader despite my having been cadet LTC BN cmdr in Junior Rotc in high school and as such had done training of new frosh cadets early on in 1st semester to include him.

Besides nobody liking the cadet my classmate cadets were basically unanimous that I deserved temp squad leader instead -- there was also the factor of anybody but him. So just before lights out on the hot Saturday night a classmate Cadet Mullin who had been in my 1st semester customs and courtesies course approached me to say Cadet Schaeffer was going to get a blanket party and asked if I wanted in. I was taken for a moment then I said sure, you bet. My first blanket party ha.

So Cadet Mullin (no cadet pretty much anywhere has a first name ha unless it's Cadet ha) said he'd wake me at the time, which he did do. Nobody of course had any problem falling asleep when your head hit the pillow so I went out like a light. Next thing Cadet Mullin was shaking me and whispering super low to be quiet and let's go. On my feet I saw shadows of a bunch of cadets closing stealthily on Shaeffer's top bunk across from mine. We were shoulder to shoulder all around when somebody threw the first haymaker. We all pounded away really hard.

Shaeffer suddenly squirmed and twisted side to side but never made even a gasp much less cry out. We shot fast back to our bunks and that was that. We got back to campus Sunday 10 pm or so and Monday morning Schaffer withdrew from the program. A self selection sort of thingy among cadets is what it was and remains I'm sure. It's the Army and the military after all so it's the norm anywhere in it. Everybody knows blanket party.
 
Mycroft said:
More pathetic than humorous...

Gulf War...in the middle of nowhere Saudi Arabia. This was were we set up after getting our trucks and equipment at the port. We had a female Company Commander (nothing against female leaders...it's just this particular one) and she didn't want to issue anyone ammunition.

Now...imagine the two entrances to our AO (Area of Operations)...serpentine...that means you can't drive straight through, but have to slow down drastically and wind back and forth to get in...and the guard post is a bunker with an M60 on a tripod mount, the three guards have M16's...and nobody has ammunition. Hell, there weren't even any rocks around to throw if someone decided to enter and fire us up.

The Acting 1st SGT...an E7...didn't like the Commander's position and complained to the Battalion CSM. We ended up losing that Commander and the Acting 1st SGT...got a new Captain out of Battalion and an E8 1st SGT. And everyone got ammo.

It turns out that female Captain had heard stories from 'Nam about soldiers fragging their Officers and thought that might happen to her. We never found out what happened to her or that E7.
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I'd like to hear from the lady captain cause there are two sides to every coin.

Given that's nigh impossible however it looks like you get a freebee to say anything you'd want or like to say.

Your speaking of course as a right wing reactionary.
 
Tangmo said:
I'd like to hear from the lady captain cause there are two sides to every coin.

Given that's nigh impossible however it looks like you get a freebee to say anything you'd want or like to say.

Your speaking of course as a right wing reactionary.
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There was nothing political about the situation. It was a war.
 
Mycroft said:
There was nothing political about the situation. It was a war.
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Fragging and shooting someone with an M60 or an M16 are two different things.

Who in the hell would put people on security with no ammunition in a feckin war zone? Even stateside if we were on duty we were armed and weapons were loaded. Always. Stateside and in Vietnam we had ammunition even off duty. Why would you not? And how in the hell would your CO make certain no one had any rounds?
 
Risky Thicket said:
Fragging and shooting someone with an M60 or an M16 are two different things.

Who in the hell would put people on security with no ammunition in a feckin war zone? Even stateside if we were on duty we were armed and weapons were loaded. Always. Stateside and in Vietnam we had ammunition even off duty. Why would you not? And how in the hell would your CO make certain no one had any rounds?
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When our team arrived in Grenada, we had been issued 1911's at Bragg but no ammo. It took over a week before someone finally scrounged some up for us. Our CWO came up somewhere with a shoebox with a bunch of loose rounds of various lot numbers and age. There was enough that we each had like 4 rounds. It wasn't until a couple weeks after that we actually got some new, fresh ammo in quantity enough to have a couple mags full.

Now granted it wasn't a high intensity conflict; but still, why give us the guns but no ammo?
 
Risky Thicket said:
Fragging and shooting someone with an M60 or an M16 are two different things.

Who in the hell would put people on security with no ammunition in a feckin war zone? Even stateside if we were on duty we were armed and weapons were loaded. Always. Stateside and in Vietnam we had ammunition even off duty. Why would you not? And how in the hell would your CO make certain no one had any rounds?
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All ammo was secured. There was no ability to get it...at least, until later.

But yeah. It was really stupid.
 
Somalia, again.

Once in Mogadishu we were on the south end of the airfield. Next to our ammo dump was the Army ASP.

Each nation had their own areas of containment along the perimeter of the airfield. Near our ammo dumps were the Saudis. The Saudis rather than truck their trash to the burn pits would simply dump it over the wall. The Swedish medical unit voiced their concern about spreading disease and asked the Saudis to quit doing so. This led to a "food" riot by the Somalis once they realized the Saudis were no longer dumping over the wall.

The Somalis broke through the fences and were headed towards the ammo dumps. About 80% women and kids, 20% men.

We were on our way back from maintenance main side. A hand full of us in a Hummer. We were the only thing between the crowd and the ammo dumps. We dismounted, formed a line and stood blocking the advance. The crowd paused, then started picking up rocks and stones. I did not relish the thought of being stoned at the time. I was already on the receiving end of a couple of stones in the days prior. Our CWO picked out a man in the crowd and said "You are number 1" forming the number 1 with his hand. I leveled my weapon at another man in the crowd. Each of the others did the same.

The men saw this, spun around and started imploring the crowd to back up. Vehemently. Loudly.

To this day I thank God that the crowd backed off.
 
Rexedgar said:
What I am after are humorous, service related anecdotes. I know there are many members who have heard shots fired in anger; I have not. I served from 1972-1975, the last two years as a radio operator/section chief in the 3/4 ADA attached to the 82nd ABN Div.


I did basic at Ft. Ord, now a park or something, and AIT was at the Southeastern Signal School, at Ft. Gordon, near Augusta, GA. While at Gordon, I drew guard duty and was assigned a post at one of the motor pools on post. I was issued a primitive club with a wrist cord. It gets cold in GA in February! I found a hut inside the wire and tried to keep warm. I was relieved at the appropriate time and that was that.

Later that year I was stationed at Ft. Bragg; again, I drew guard duty. This time my post was the main PX. This time i was issued a pump shotgun and three rounds of ammunition. We were dealing with a different threat here. Anyhow there were no incidents and i was relieved on time.

The differences in the issued weapons was a stark reminder of the different threat levels.
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I was in the 1/68 ADA co B 1st Cav at Fart Hood Texass....
 
Tangmo said:
I'd like to hear from the lady captain cause there are two sides to every coin.

Given that's nigh impossible however it looks like you get a freebee to say anything you'd want or like to say.

Your speaking of course as a right wing reactionary.
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Nice job politicizing the thread.
 
Mycroft said:
There was nothing political about the situation. It was a war.
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Either way you're fighting Clausewitz who said famously war is diplomacy by other means.

Fragging officers and nco isn't war either, it's murder btw. It's military mutiny and it's rebellion against constituted authority. It's giving aid and/or comfort to the enemy. SA wasn't Vietnam for sure yet VN did occur and some of its vets were still around to include retreads.

My bottom line remains that I'd like to hear from the lady captain who isn't here to defend herself against a notorious right wing reactionary. I'll say it till I'm hoarse, there are two sides to every coin.
 
The Military Has A Toxic Leadership Problem

The Military Has A Toxic Leadership Problem
Carl ForslingAugust 23, 2017 at 09:24 AM

Recently, the term “toxic leadership” has broken into mainstream culture. Where it used to mainly occupy wardrooms, ready rooms, and professional journals, it’s now entered the lexicon of pop psychology and management consultants. The military, to its credit, has devoted much time and energy to the study of leadership, probably much more than the civilian world. It has been trying to address the toxic leadership problem for years, with little success.


The problem the military faces is that it seems to be stuck relieving commanders after they fail, instead of figuring out how those people got to be in charge in the first place. Way too often, there’s just a high-profile relief of some kind. For example, Lt. Col. Armando Gonzalez was relieved of command of Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 “after an investigation determined he had created a toxic work environment and allegedly made racist, sexist and other unacceptable comments about personnel who worked for him,” Marine Corps Times reported in November 2016. His firing ended his reign of toxicity, but how did he did so far in his career in the first place? Like this and other cases, the toxic leader is gone, and the service goes on thinking the problem has been solved. Until the next one. To end this cycle, the military has to start fixing the problem before they become commanding officers, not after.
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http://https://taskandpurpose.com/military-toxic-leadership-problem
 
Rexedgar said:
What I am after are humorous, service related anecdotes. I know there are many members who have heard shots fired in anger; I have not. I served from 1972-1975, the last two years as a radio operator/section chief in the 3/4 ADA attached to the 82nd ABN Div.


I did basic at Ft. Ord, now a park or something, and AIT was at the Southeastern Signal School, at Ft. Gordon, near Augusta, GA. While at Gordon, I drew guard duty and was assigned a post at one of the motor pools on post. I was issued a primitive club with a wrist cord. It gets cold in GA in February! I found a hut inside the wire and tried to keep warm. I was relieved at the appropriate time and that was that.

Later that year I was stationed at Ft. Bragg; again, I drew guard duty. This time my post was the main PX. This time i was issued a pump shotgun and three rounds of ammunition. We were dealing with a different threat here. Anyhow there were no incidents and i was relieved on time.

The differences in the issued weapons was a stark reminder of the different threat levels.
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You said you were a parachute rigger.
 
Tangmo said:
Either way you're fighting Clausewitz who said famously war is diplomacy by other means.

Fragging officers and nco isn't war either, it's murder btw. It's military mutiny and it's rebellion against constituted authority. It's giving aid and/or comfort to the enemy. SA wasn't Vietnam for sure yet VN did occur and some of its vets were still around to include retreads.

My bottom line remains that I'd like to hear from the lady captain who isn't here to defend herself against a notorious right wing reactionary. I'll say it till I'm hoarse, there are two sides to every coin.
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sigh...

I'm not a right wing reactionary. Dial back the hyperbole, eh?

But hey...if her story means that much to you, knock your self out. There can't be THAT many female Captains in the Gulf War. Hell, I'll even narrow it down for you...I was in a support unit. That'll eliminate all of the combat arms units. Get busy.
 
Mycroft said:
sigh...

I'm not a right wing reactionary. Dial back the hyperbole, eh?

But hey...if her story means that much to you, knock your self out. There can't be THAT many female Captains in the Gulf War. Hell, I'll even narrow it down for you...I was in a support unit. That'll eliminate all of the combat arms units. Get busy.
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Let it go. Or he will Tangmo this thread.
 
Mycroft said:
sigh...

I'm not a right wing reactionary. Dial back the hyperbole, eh?

But hey...if her story means that much to you, knock your self out. There can't be THAT many female Captains in the Gulf War. Hell, I'll even narrow it down for you...I was in a support unit. That'll eliminate all of the combat arms units. Get busy.
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Stand at ease.

You either don't know you come across as a right wing reactionary or you're just flat out denying it. If you're denying it then you'd be fearful of our knowing you're a Putin-Trump Rower which we've known for a long time. This is despite your never using Putin's name in your posts.

Concerning the lady captain who was your cpy cmdr in SA, I simply pointed out we don't have her account. All we have is your story which is your point of view. Now you presume further to make a giant leap, ie, that I'd also care to search her down which is absurd, assinine sic and ridiculous. My point is instead to note there are indeed two sides to every coin and all we have in your story only is the tails of it.

Your story that focuses on a single matter -- a non issuing of ammo to the support cpy behind the lines -- has the capt shipped out, the E-7 acting 1st SGT shipped out, a new cpy cmdr assigned and a new acting 1SGT in place who was of a higher rank than his acting predecessor, ie, E-8, all of this major shuffling of command after the BN SGM was contacted about the ammo by the E-7 acting 1SGT. Given the BN SMG is not the command authority in this, and that a senior officer colonel or ltc would be the command authority, that's who I'd want to talk with, to include the (lady) capt. of course.

Indeed, I'd wager a year's pay the colonel's write up via the BN adjutant to the personnel files and to the BN Order Book blows your take away into to the desert winds and across the vast and barren sands. I do not contest the changes you presented in your post that are based in your limited perspective on site, however, the who else, the what and the why of it are sorely absent. Necessarily so I'm afraid.
 
apdst said:
Pretty sure you did. I wonder if anyone else recalls that.
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I’ve been here three years, almost. Should be easy for you to find. You are alway calling someone a liar, put up!



Only packing I have done is after ETS, when I was involved in skydiving. I’ll wait......
 
I got a story about a rigger. Her company was deciding on a motto. Joe got together and decided to use the phrase they use everyday, "**** it, it'll open". The brass said no and made it "always sure".
 
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