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I always had a bunch of respect for those guys. Not only did they have to turn douchebags into soldiers they had to work long hours and they got paid squat to do it. Getting in and out of character had to be a real pain too.

My Basic Training drill sergeants were God Like and no one tried anything funny with those guys. My AIT drill sergeants were a little different. Most of mine were old Vietnam vets just waiting out their last days before they retired and most generally had a good sense of humor. I had a 8 month long AIT and my platoons drill sergeant was a little on the rummy side. He had been stationed in Germany for most of his Army career and he took us out to a German restaurant after our final exams. Every time he'd turn around I'd drop a shot of vodka in his beer. To make sure he didnt go out and drive home we helped him out by picking his car up and turning his car sideways between two other cars in the parking lot. I'll never forget when he came out of that restaurant and saw his car and yelled out "Wired, you son of a b!tch . I'll kill you !" Funniest thing Id ever seen.. Next morning we went on a 10 mile run and that hard tack old bastard puked 2 or 3 times while ruunning without skipping a beat.
 
During one of our early morning formations , I noticed that Pvt. Snuffy was missing.
Not seeing him after a quick look in the ranks , I ran upstairs to our barracks.

Opening the door and checking out his empty bunk ... I hear a voice from the back of the bay.
"Close the door was you born in a barn?!"
Having always been a smartazz all my life my witty reply:
"Yeah and whenever I hear a jackazz , I get homesick!"
Out comes our senior Drill Sergeant in all his furious glory.
"Who the fvck said that?!!!!"
Not being suicidal I answer with:
"I don't know Drill Sergeant , but he ran down stairs , I'll go get 'em!"

I beat feet downstairs and fall into my place in the ranks at attention.
Moments later our senior Drill comes down and walks past me.
He then stops , comes back and stares at me for what feels like a lifetime.
He says very softy " Son one day you'll make a fine Sergeant."
And he then moved out smartly.

I tried to live up to that comment when I made Sergeant.
I know I did my best because of those men who were my Drill Sergeants.
Andy
 
On our last day of Basic Training I was passing down the hall, past the senior sergeant's office, where our company's drill sergeants gathered around the desk, looking very kicked back, relaxed and sociable (for drill sergeants). Looking misty eyed (after a swigs of something potent maybe?) my Senior Drill Sergeant calls me over and says: "Huck, what do you think, should basic training be tougher than it is?" Thinking quickly, I immediately answer: "Yes, Sergeant, it should be....after I'm gone."
"Huck, you smart azz, get the hell out of here!"
I retreated down the hall to the sound of laughing sergeants.
 
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In Parris Island? Nope, not a chance.

I remember standing at the gate where the Greyhound bus had dropped the new recruits off. A couple of old green-painted school buses rolled up to the gate to pick us up, and a DI jumped out and started yelling obscenities, something like, "I'm gonna beat the ever-living sh*t out of the last one of you whores who gets on my bus!" Needless to say, we all made haste to get on the bus. On the way in, I remember having thought to myself, "I may have made a mistake joining the Marines." :)
 
The drill sergeant for our barracks came in Dress A's and explained his ribbons: purple heart + oak leaf, silver star, bronze star; CIB. He said I don't care if we're top company for barracks cleanliness - just so long as we're not last. But I do care about your score at the range and the PT test. He drove us like mad, and bolo'd a few guys that weren't trying. I actually thought his head and heart were in the right place, though I was glad to get out of there.

I don't actually recall any particular NCO's at Aberdeen Proving Grounds where I went for AIT. They made sure we all noticed postings of guys that flunked tests: all were reclassified infantry with orders to report to Oakland, CA for deployment overseas.
 
In my AIT they had just started allowing female drill sergeants . One day right after lights out we were BS'ing . Someone says" Hey guys better be quiet . Drill Sergeant Davis is on her way up". Another guy said " If Drill Sergeant Davis comes up here she can suck my d!ck" just as she opened the door. She flipped the lights on and said "Private, I wouldn't give you the satisfaction. Drop!" she dragged that guy outside for 4 hours and rode him hard. Funny thing was a few weeks later she ended up actually having an affair with the guy . Her CID husband found out about it somehow and she got busted down to an E-4 from E-6. The guy took off and we never saw him again. I saw her again in Frankfurt almost 4 years later when we were both E-5's. Wander around long enough in the Army and you always see the same people over again.
 
We had CPOs in boot.

To this day I don't think much of CG boot (late 70s). Most of it, except the classes, was mostly pointless.

It did weed out a few bad eggs, but just as many good eggs dropped due to injuries, and a few due to other issues (bad ankles, knees, etc.) that would have been detected with a better intake exam by docs.

Once out of boot and then into 'A' school, again, still some junior enlisted that had made it through boot but were just kids with bad attitudes. Then once stationed I would say about 20% were still people that the CG would have been better off without, but they kept them anyway.

I am a big advocate of voluntary only service (of any kind) - on the philosophical level because I believe that conscription is involuntary servitude and infringes on our rights. On the practical level because we are much better off with people who actually want to serve than people who are there because they were forced to be there.
 
Drill Sergeants? No. Platoon Sergeants, yep.

[QUOTE="The Heretic, post: 1583840, member: 34166"

and a few due to other issues (bad ankles, knees, etc.) that would have been detected with a better intake exam by docs.[/QUOTE]

Army Indoc, 1971. Hearing test, Specialist told me to take the first booth to the left so I did and took the test. Coming out of the booth I asked him, "If I'd have tried to fail that, would you have known?" And he replied, "You passed when you went to the booth I told you to."

Different perspective. :)
 
Drill Sergeants? No. Platoon Sergeants, yep.

Army Indoc, 1971. Hearing test, Specialist told me to take the first booth to the left so I did and took the test. Coming out of the booth I asked him, "If I'd have tried to fail that, would you have known?" And he replied, "You passed when you went to the booth I told you to."

Different perspective. :)

In '81 I took a phys. exam that I assume was to provide a baseline in order to prove I had no service related disability on exit from the service.

I had to take the hearing test three times. The person administering it (some med rating of some sort) was annoyed because I apparently showed a definitive loss of hearing and he maybe had some kind of directive to minimize any kind of disability.

What can they expect after years of being in close proximity of screaming diesels in the MLBs? Even with hearing protection you will lose hearing. Even on the decks it is noisy.

They needn't have worried - the VA is the last place I would go for any kind of healthcare. This year I bought my own hearing aids even though I might have gotten them for free from the VA.
 
Army Indoc, 1971. Hearing test, Specialist told me to take the first booth to the left so I did and took the test. Coming out of the booth I asked him, "If I'd have tried to fail that, would you have known?" And he replied, "You passed when you went to the booth I told you to." Different perspective. :)

I took Basic at Ft. Lewis in Jan 1971, and your 'hearing test' reminds me of a guy that made it until the second day. He came in with a bunch from Chicago, and within hours everyone knew he only had sight in one eye. He just wanted to see how far he could get with his friends that had been drafted. I asked him how he got past the generic physical at the induction center, and he said 'When they asked me to read the eye chart with my right eye, I put my left hand over my left eye and read the line the guy was pointing at. When the said "now your left eye" I put my right hand over my left eye and read the line again.' He went on to get his head shaved, and an issue of fatigues with maggot tag, before they caught him the second day - when he was examined by an Optometrist.
 
We had a guy who was color blind in Ranger school.
All of us Airborne types jumped into the school ... the guy in question wanted me to hit him when the light changed to green.
I did so .. but always thought:" Geez , Can't ya see the Jumpmaster giving us hand signals , let alone , you are in the middle of the stick...oh well." :rolleyes:

How he got through Jump School while being color blind , he never said.
Andy
 
I was an Infantry Drill Sgt for 3yrs... my given nickname from the troops was "Stomper" (hence my screen name).. I wonder why I never got "punked"? :s0092: o_O


One of my favorite tricks was to eat raw green onions and/or garlic cloves, then get RIGHT in their faces and shout them down while they were at the position of attention... ;) :s0112:
 
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We had a guy who was color blind in Ranger school.
All of us Airborne types jumped into the school ... the guy in question wanted me to hit him when the light changed to green.
I did so .. but always thought:" Geez , Can't ya see the Jumpmaster giving us hand signals , let alone , you are in the middle of the stick...oh well." :rolleyes:

How he got through Jump School while being color blind , he never said.
Andy

Desire, And a lot of help from trusted NCO's........Sarge.
 
I was an Infantry Drill Sgt for 3yrs... my given nickname from the troops was "Stomper" (hence my screen name).. I wonder why I never got "punked"? :s0092: o_O


One of my favorite tricks was the eat raw green onions and/or garlic cloves, then get RIGHT in their faces and shout them down while they were at the position of attention... ;) :s0112:

YOU were that one!

I'm taking this thread off track, but I have to tell you how I got my handle. I was given the handle "maddog" after my first trip to the training range, I was really proud of it because I thought it meant I was a fierce warrior. Turns out it was because, occasionally, when I was young, I used to foam at the corners of my mouth. Whenever I spotted a good looking girl, or smelled a great beer.
 
One of my favorite tricks was the eat raw green onions and/or garlic cloves, then get RIGHT in their faces and shout them down while they were at the position of attention... ;) :s0112:

Got me out of UCMJ action one fine morning after drinking all night. Got my hour of sleep and threw 3 cloves of that good strong european garlic ( nothing like the stuff in the stores here ) in my mouth and chomped it up. I was working gate guard duty and the SOG came by and he damn near gagged from the smell while checking my uniform.
 
One of my favorite tricks was the eat raw green onions and/or garlic cloves, then get RIGHT in their faces and shout them down while they were at the position of attention... ;) :s0112:
Ah, my favorite trick for motivating dentists not to dawdle while they've got my mouth pried open... when your breath makes a fart backfiring out your mouth smell pleasant by comparison, it gives a very strong incentive to get in, get done and get out, ya know?
 

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