Military Service

[bookworm_020]

Have to wonder about the commitment of Singapore's army.....

http://www.smh.com.au/world/soldiers...405-1d2ah.html

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

Originally Posted by Growler

He flew Buffaloes, and lived to retire? Pretty damned impressive.

I checked my greatuncle's service record today and I was mistaken. He flew most of his career Curtis P-36 Hawk not Brewster Buffalo. He gained all his air victories in Curtis P-36 in Lentolaivue 32 (No. 32 Fighter Squadron).

Buffalo seems to have quite bad reputation in general but in Finland they served well. Finnish fighter ace Ilmari Juutilainen scored 34 of his 94 confirmed air victories in Brewster Buffalo.

[ETR3(SS)]

US Navy 02-06

Served aboard the USS Kentucky Gold Crew. Came to the boat as an undesignated seaman and then picked up Radioman while onboard. I joined as an E-1 and was up for E-5 by the time I got out but never made it.

Oh and I would disagree that the Coast Guard and Navy have any similarities. We actually went out in water deeper than our ankles.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Growler

He flew Buffaloes, and lived to retire? Pretty damned impressive.

The Finns loved their modified brewsters and set a quite impressive kill/loss ratio against Soviet planes.
Have a look at the "Finland" part of this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_F2A_Buffalo

[flatsixes]

USN 1976-1983

Here's my ship:



No ice cream machine (unlike, say, the USS Kentucky ) , but then real sailors get their treats in port.

[Krauter]

More Stories!

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Krauter

More Stories!

As you wish. So this one time, I was delivering mail to one of the infantry platoons were were supposed to support. We were in camp Fallujah, so there was no danger involved, or so I thought. Anyways, I walk into the platoon barracks and the crazy infantry ****ers are having a competition to see who can ejaculate the farthest. No kidding. As if that wasn't enough, they got mad at me for interrupting to deliver mail. Like I'm the one who is doing something wrong!

Then this other time, I was returning from a late-night supply run. I had to swing by the mess to fill my truck with provisions for the line companies that were in the field. Pretty standard. As I'm returning the truck to the motor pool, I drive by a port-a-potty that has like twenty soldiers and even a few officers lined up by it. I didn't think much of it at the time. I just figured the other portable toilets were in poor condition, not at all unusual. The next day, I find out that 15 Marines were subjected to non-judicial punishment. The reason? Paying for oral sex on a military base. I never found out what happened to the girl.

You asked for stories, and I delivered. I've got better ones if you want to hear them.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

As I'm returning the truck to the motor pool, I drive by a port-a-potty that has like twenty soldiers and even a few officers lined up by it. I didn't think much of it at the time. I just figured the other portable toilets were in poor condition, not at all unusual. The next day, I find out that 15 Marines were subjected to non-judicial punishment. The reason? Paying for oral sex on a military base. I never found out what happened to the girl.

You asked for stories, and I delivered. I've got better ones if you want to hear them.

Yep, more please!

I've been away for long times, and I've been to many sh!tholes, but never, ever would I even consider being 20th in that queue!

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Yep, more please!

I've been away for long times, and I've been to many sh!tholes, but never, ever would I even consider being 20th in that queue!

Somehow, it happens.

Okay, now for a new war story. I think I'll tell you about the time I almost got my ****ing feet blown off by mines. As I mentioned in the previous post, I was part an MTVR platoon attached to 2nd Battalion/ 2nd Marines and all that stuff. For some bizarre reason, 2/2 chose to use us as mechanized infantry. Not that we were at all suited or trained for the task, and it was incredibly stupid to leave our unguarded vehicles that don't require keys behind, but that's what the brass wanted, so we did it.

So we're on a foot patrol, away from our vehicles that we're supposed to be responsible for. We have combat engineers with metal-detectors that we are supposed to support. We're looking for weapons caches, but we know that the area is mined.

Guess what happens next. Our platoon commander puts me, the only remaining M-249 machine-gunner, ahead of the combat engineers. "Cover them", he says. I tried respectfully explaining to him that this was an incredibly stupid idea, as I could easily protect the combat engineers from behind, whereas they could not protect me from mines from behind. I tried explaining that since I was the only person in the whole ****ing platoon with an automatic weapon, it might be wise to use me in support rather than a pointman in a mined area. All to no avail.

So I'm walking ahead of the combat engineers, looking for threats, pointing my weapon at any movement, doing my job, when the freaking metal detectors start going off. We had already passed over mines that would have blown me all to hell had the insurgents known how to make mines properly.

I've never forgiven my platoon commander for that. He never liked me very much because I had a habit of calling him out when he made stupid decisions, but I can't shake the impression that he purposely put me in such a ridiculous position. I hate that arrogant bastard almost as much as I hate the dumbass decisions he made that actually got people killed.

edit- removed "purposely put me in such a ridiculous position on purpose".

[Growler]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Somehow, it happens.

Okay, now for a new war story. I think I'll tell you about the time I almost got my ****ing feet blown off by mines. As I mentioned in the previous post, I was part an MTVR platoon attached to 2nd Battalion/ 2nd Marines and all that stuff. For some bizarre reason, 2/2 chose to use us as mechanized infantry. Not that we were at all suited or trained for the task, and it was incredibly stupid to leave our unguarded vehicles that don't require keys behind, but that's what the brass wanted, so we did it.

So we're on a foot patrol, away from our vehicles that we're supposed to be responsible for. We have combat engineers with metal-detectors that we are supposed to support. We're looking for weapons caches, but we know that the area is mined.

Guess what happens next. Our platoon commander puts me, the only remaining M-249 machine-gunner, ahead of the combat engineers. "Cover them", he says. I tried respectfully explaining to him that this was an incredibly stupid idea, as I could easily protect the combat engineers from behind, whereas they could not protect me from mines from behind. I tried explaining that since I was the only person in the whole ****ing platoon with an automatic weapon, it might be wise to use me in support rather than a pointman in a mined area. All to no avail.

So I'm walking ahead of the combat engineers, looking for threats, pointing my weapon at any movement, doing my job, when the freaking metal detectors start going off. We had already passed over mines that would have blown me all to hell had the insurgents known how to make mines properly.

I've never forgiven my platoon commander for that. He never liked me very much because I had a habit of calling him out when he made stupid decisions, but I can't shake the impression that he purposely put me in such a ridiculous position on purpose. I hate that arrogant bastard almost as much as I hate the dumbass decisions he made that actually got people killed.

Was he a ROTC Nazi or an Annapolis grad? Either way... just plain lucky, man.

Glad you're still talking to us - the alternative just ain't worth thinking about.

[August]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Somehow, it happens.

Okay, now for a new war story. I think I'll tell you about the time I almost got my ****ing feet blown off by mines. As I mentioned in the previous post, I was part an MTVR platoon attached to 2nd Battalion/ 2nd Marines and all that stuff. For some bizarre reason, 2/2 chose to use us as mechanized infantry. Not that we were at all suited or trained for the task, and it was incredibly stupid to leave our unguarded vehicles that don't require keys behind, but that's what the brass wanted, so we did it.

So we're on a foot patrol, away from our vehicles that we're supposed to be responsible for. We have combat engineers with metal-detectors that we are supposed to support. We're looking for weapons caches, but we know that the area is mined.

Guess what happens next. Our platoon commander puts me, the only remaining M-249 machine-gunner, ahead of the combat engineers. "Cover them", he says. I tried respectfully explaining to him that this was an incredibly stupid idea, as I could easily protect the combat engineers from behind, whereas they could not protect me from mines from behind. I tried explaining that since I was the only person in the whole ****ing platoon with an automatic weapon, it might be wise to use me in support rather than a pointman in a mined area. All to no avail.

So I'm walking ahead of the combat engineers, looking for threats, pointing my weapon at any movement, doing my job, when the freaking metal detectors start going off. We had already passed over mines that would have blown me all to hell had the insurgents known how to make mines properly.

I've never forgiven my platoon commander for that. He never liked me very much because I had a habit of calling him out when he made stupid decisions, but I can't shake the impression that he purposely put me in such a ridiculous position on purpose. I hate that arrogant bastard almost as much as I hate the dumbass decisions he made that actually got people killed.

Write a tell all book. Name names.

[Ducimus]

I could share some stories, but contrary to what Platapus would say, most of my "battles" involved heavy equpiment, metal forms, arc wielders, hammers, sheet metal, lumber, concrete, skill saws, other misc power tools, and the like. Not nearly as interesting.

And UnderseaLcpl 's commander sounds like one of those know it all butter bar's with an attitude that can best be described as a "Captain America" (no reference to the modder on this forum who goes by that user handle intended)

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

I could share some stories, but contrary to what Platapus would say, most of my "battles" involved heavy equpiment, metal forms, arc wielders, hammers, sheet metal, lumber, concrete, skill saws, other misc power tools, and the like. Not nearly as interesting.

Ok, then I will do it for you!

When I was in EOD, one time I was working with this heavy equipment operator civilian who was about 400 years old. He was combat construction troop in Viet Nam so he had some pretty good stories of which some of them might have been true. ... like this one

Back then he was a bulldozer operator and his job was to scrap up expedient fire camps for Special Forces.

The normal routine would be for SF to deploy to the area and clear the area of bad guys, then they would set up a perimeter in the brush. Then my guy and his dozer would be airlifted to the camp location, he would scrap a berm. When he was done, the Helo would pick him and his dozer up and the SF would fall back in to the new fire camp. Normally he would never see the SF troops.

Well there he was no Shi...He said this was a true story.

He was transported to the camp site one day and he scraped the berm. When he radioed that he was done and ready for a pick up, he was told that the area had not been secured and that no helo could be sent until the SF cleared the area. Since he normally did not see the SF troops he did not know anything had gone wrong. Gulp!

Evidently the mission to emplace the SF was canceled, but no one coordinated with the construction people so he had been spending the last few hours scraping berms completely alone in enemy territory.

WTF

The only reason he was not killed was because either there were no bad guys in the area (unlikely) or the bad guys, knowing our procedure assumed that the bush was full of SF so the baddies kept their heads down.

The Army did not want to send in a Helo until the SF could make the area safe. Evidently those helos are more important than a D-5 and its operator. The eventually they sent in a helo to extract him but not the dozer, but for many hours he was really alone out there.

Yikes! Knowing what I do know about the military, I can totally believe this story.

In aside, he told me the real reason they did not pick up his dozer was that he threatened to drive it through the HQ building. I don't believe that part.

[Ducimus]

In aside, he told me the real reason they did not pick up his dozer was that he threatened to drive it through the HQ building. I don't believe that part.

Ha. I can't count the number of times I threatened to drive a D9 Dozer through base finance for screwing up my travel vouchers.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Was in the Militia for a short period, Armored Division.

Stories, remember playing war games at CFB Gagetown:Here, part of my role was calling in Sit. Reps on the radio. This one time while out of our jeep and moving through a wooded area I forgot I had the headphones on and was barking out stuff to our crew leader pretty much giving up our position.

Needless to say it did not go over well ......

Edit: Also my Great-grandfather fought and died in WWI, Belgium is his resting place.