Basic Training oops

[Andy]

Reeb, read your post and remembered a story I first heard almost 50 years ago. Yes, I screwed up in basic but aint talking about that. Your story reminded me of my Dad.

My father got in trouble a few times when he was a kid because he had no fear of heights. In 2nd grade, during recess he climbed almost to the top of an 80 foot maple tree on the school grounds, freaked out his teacher. At 11 or 12 he found some painters had left a ladder up against a 2 ? story house, he went up it and played on the slate roof until the owners of the house called the cops. Several more stories like that.

In basic, one the Navy things they had to do back then was put on an old Mae West life jacket and jump from a 20 or 25 foot tower into the water. Dad thought that would be really boring. When his rank was ready to jump, dad didn?t jump, he dove into the water. The way he told the story his feet only got wet a little because the life jacket made him pop right back up to the surface, feet first, of course. He said his shoulders were a little sore but the instructors just totally lost it. They made him jump again and again for the rest of the day. I don?t think that was necessary. He seemed to get the idea that diving with a Mae West on was a bad idea the first time he did it.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[splummer]

My basic platoon was lined up and ready to throw dummie gernades over a berm in front of us. [They would go pop like a cap gun] So they told us to throw. Mine hit the top of the berm, bounced back behind the third guy to my left and went pop. No one ever figured out it was me. [I never did like real gernades after that.]

[phuloi]

Steve:So YOU were that Guy!
I was a slightly(212#)overweight wise-mouthed 17 year old kid.The US Army remedied both of my inefficiencies in 8 weeks.184# kid who wouldn`t say shit if he had a mouthful.Quick study.Me and Drag-ass hill.

[MORTARDUDE]

I didn't have much upper body strength and for some reason could not do the bars where you have to run first and do about 20 or so in a row before you eat. I had to do a lot of extra pull ups. I wasn't good at those either. Finally they just ignored me.

Larry

[SEATJERKER]

...Basic was just that,...

...Wasn't hard for me due to prior JROTC, allowed me to take the "By-pass test", 2 part written along with the PT course, and ship out early for Tech. school, passed both, but following completion of the PT, myself, and another whom I have no idea who he was either were sent to change our uniforms, and report to classroom instruction,...

...We're hauling a$$ back through the maze of dorms, and find what looks like ours, up three flights of stairs, and proceed to knock, and present identification, and you figure after 4-5 days, guys would recognize your face, along with other circumstances prior not needing mentioning,...

....after being "duh, denied, it was "repeat information, and rattled it off again, and getting "i don't see it, i don't see your name, and we give him a louder "ahhh, come on, look again, and he either just leaned on the door, or opened it,, down to bunk 8 I go, and attempt to open up, and things don't look right, not my color laundry bag, and locker key doesn't fit gave me a "oh shit", see, being on either end of an "unauthorized entry" was deep shi+, and I more or less had a couple early encounters with the powers that be, so I just about died when I heard the other guy say, (he was in bunk 40 on the other side of the partition), "HEY, THIS ISN'T MY LOCKER",...

...HERE WE GO, STRIKE THREE, I hear a THUNDERING VOICE, come out of the office, DOOOOORRRRRRRRRMMMMMM GUUAAAAAARRRRDDDD, and I hauled a$$ towards the door, and flew down three flights of stairs without touching any of them, heart thumping, I found my dorm, and changed, slithered back into class, and had sausers for eyes the rest of the day,...

...just dodged that one,...

...Oh yes, doing laundry maks was fun also, I waiting for my 8 day proceesing out inspection, and I start looking at my gear, and realize I had maked my "Blues" incorrectly,...

...I marked my shirts with the black ink on the "CENTER" of the back on the inside instead of the shirt tail, I cringed at the thought of him finding it, "Floyd" hated "anyone" that "by-passed", he failed me intentionly by re inserting t insp. by tags back in a pair gloves on the 5 day, so this is a "red line" insp, now he really wanted my company for the next 7 weeks, and I'm sure he had extra special plans for me, He made me "house mouse" which gave him a slight more fun in harrassing me, I made his bed so tight that quarters stuck to the ceiling when he bounced them,,...

...I remarked them correctly, and he didn't see the mismarks, and away I went, off to "causal" for 2 weeks to build "picnic tables"...

...I really happy that I only had Floyd's aquaintence for 8 days, I do believe he wanted a long term relationship, and that just wasn't in my plans,...

...

[Seascamp]

Ah, the day that will live in infamy, for sure. So there he was standing atop the barracks table and hollering like all hell, the Chief DI in all his glory. Says he, ?One of you stupid SOBs are going to put your leggings on backwards today, it never fails, just one day, just give me one day when all of you idiots follow instructions, hooks to the outside, hooks to the outside, repeat after me, hooks to the outside?. Ah huh, guess who put the legging hooks to the inside that fine morning. Yep, dat was I.
So the Chief had a conniption fit, frothed all over my stupid self and off I went running with my drill Springfield 03 over my head and loudly proclaiming that I was an idiot, I mean real loud. Then the inevitable happened and the legging hooks caught and the Springfield and I went clattering across the grinder; grinder is Navy lingo for drill field, and ended up all messy looking with skinned knees, hands, chin, etc. Then I was accused of being an anarchist trying to destroy the moral of the training company and lastly told that it was very unfortunate that my mother didn?t eat me while my bones were still soft. Not the best day I have ever had, for sure.

Scamp