Military Stories

[Jasonanddeonna]

For those who have served or are serving, a HUGE "Thank You!"

Throughout the forums, a member will occasionally share a story from his/her time in the military be it funny, encouraging, uplifting, or what have you. I loved hearing these stories from family members and friends growing up and miss them now that they have passed away. In addition, I think this "living oral history" has many benefits both individually and societally. With that being said, I am hoping members willu be willing to share their stories here.

I myself was not able to serve. @AndyinEverson shared a great story in the Knives Forum that prompted this post.

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[Stomper]

Most of my time in was tedious boredom coupled with long hard training, which caused me to develop my cutting humor that so many around here have fallen victim too... the other stuff was, well... it just was.

 

[EPS]

For those who have served or are serving, a HUGE "Thank You!"

Throughout the forums, a member will occasionally share a story from his/her time in the military be it funny, encouraging, uplifting, or what have you. I loved hearing these stories from family members and friends growing up and miss them now that they have passed away. In addition, I think this "living oral history" has many benefits both individually and societally. With that being said, I am hoping members willu be willing to share their stories here.

I myself was not able to serve. @AndyinEverson shared a great story in the Knives Forum that prompted this post.

Lol @AndyinEverson has some good ones.
Funny ones and some that just make you think about it.

Wait till you get on the range with him Shooting muzzleloader.
Lots of time to talk in between shots.
Lol

 

[Jasonanddeonna]

Most of my time in was tedious boredom coupled long hard training, which caused me to develop my cutting humor that so many around here have fallen victim too... the other stuff was, well... it just was.

There's got to be one or two you could share....

 

[Jasonanddeonna]

I do remember one from a friend of mine who served in the Air Force and was stationed at Ramstein around 1987. He was assigned to POL (Petroleum, Oils, and Liquids); as he would say, "an airplane gas station attendant". He said one night there was an emergency situation in which an SR71 needed to make an emergency landing. As he was the crew on duty, he was instructed to take the fuel tanker to a particular hangar where he would the turn the tanker over to a senior officer to drive into the hangar to fuel it after it arrived. He was to wait outside until finished and then return the tanker. He was also instructed, in true military brilliance and form, that when the SR71 landed and taxied to the hangar, he needed to "close his eyes" so he couldn't see anything or it. I asked him if he did and as if I didn't already know, his answer was "F*** No! I wanted to see it!" He also said it was quite something watching it take off.

 

[Heyjoe]

.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

There is a old joke :
Whats the difference between a War Story and a Fairy Tale...?
A Fairy Tale starts with : Once upon a time...
And a War Story starts with : No sh!t , There I was....

When I am more awake , I will try and find another family friendly Army tale for here...
Andy

 

[Joe13]

I know very few that have lots to share that will do so willingly unless it's a very small group and generally alcohol is involved.


Andy is an exception to that.

 

[USMC-03]

So there's was, chest deep in spent brass and grenade pins...

 

[Fishonshawn]

Here's a funny story that happened to me. My company was comprised of 63B ( light wheel mechanic) and 88m (drivers) and a few supply people. We were directly attached to a Cav scout company during our time in Iraq in 2005 and helped them out by running supplies back and forth to the different FOB's they were on. Even though I was a mechanic I spent a lot of time driving between bases running supplies or recovering damaged trucks. Not to mention all the jersey barriers we set up throughout the city every night for the elections over there but that's a whole different story. We were spread pretty thin so everyone was needed for whatever whether it was your "job" title or not.

So a little back story on my First Sergeant...he was a cook for 22yrs before becoming our first Sergeant. The first Sergeant of the Cav Scouts we were attached to was presumably a bad a** and had had multiple deployments. I believe this made our first Sergeant feel inferior. Because of this when we would run supplies between bases our first Sergeant went all the time and often would even be the gunner whether manning a .50 or a 240B. Weird right. I feel like he was always trying to prove himself to all the Cav guys. Anyways we had just dropped off supplies at a small FOB and I'm driving a LMTV and have one of the 88M Sergeant's as my TC and my first Sergeant is of course on the .50 thinking hes the man. So we're rolling along when all of a sudden a loud BOOM echoes through the cab of the truck. Time stopped for me. I was sure an IED or EFP got us. It was so weird. It was seriously like time was frozen as I tried to process what was going on. During that second I realized there was no dirt or debris in the air, everything looked normal...this was a loud loud BOOM and it took a second for sound to come back to me but when it did I heard lots of screaming and yelling. I looked up and my First Sergeants face is covered in blood and hes yelling for me to pull over real quick. It was a real confusing couple of seconds. I pull over and the rest of the convoy stops with me and I hop out. Here's what happened. As we pulled out of the FOB and headed down the highway there, there was some trees that lined the road. One had a branch that hung over the road that barely cleared the top of the truck. My First Sergeant went to duck under the branch as it went over him but when he did he also lowered the A** end of the .50cal. The branch went under the barrel of the .50 and ripped it completely off the mount. It smacked him in the face and then slammed on the top of the cab. That was the BOOM that rocked us. He managed to hang on to the .50 as it slid off the top of the cab and when I pulled over he drug it back on top (for being a cook this guy was ripped and took PT seriously. The fifty is heavy as sh**. How he hung onto it I dont know) we quickly decided to make a detour and stop at a different FOB just a couple miles away so we could square everything away and get him cleaned up and really assess the situation. Anyways he was fine. He had some cuts and bruises but surprisingly nothing broken. He joked with me that he was going to tell his wife I tried to take his head off with the fifty cal and it seemed to be a running joke for a couple weeks between the guys too, even though I was just the driver and it was 100% his own fault. Anyways that's just 1 of my stories that stick out that I'll never forget.

 

[RicInOR]

And a War Story starts with : No sh!t , There I was....
[or, ]
So there I was...In the very first unit I was in while in the Army....

So there's was, chest deep in spent brass and grenade pins...

 

[GOG]

There I was on my forklift surrounded by cargo...

Needless to say, I lived.

Basically a warehouseman in fatigues, not very glamorous or heroic.

 

[Heyjoe]

Plenty heroic, GOG!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

 

[EPS]

There I was on my forklift surrounded by cargo...

Needless to say, I lived.

Basically a warehouseman in fatigues, not very glamorous or heroic.

Somebody has to keep everyone supplied.
With the gear

 

[GOG]

I volunteered for Vietnam three times so I could be more involved, but never received orders so I was in the rear with the gear.
It was worth it and I'd do it again, but I'd join the Marines. Those guys are always into something.

 

[Ura-Ki]

We kept a flight of 4 MH60ks in "Sterile" condition at all times and would periodically have to rotate them out for maintenance and fueling. Part of that also was to turn the rotors under power for a while and then we would rotate them back into sterile condition!
This insures that we have 4 ready birds at all times, and can have them loaded in a C-5 or C-17 in about a hour, and deploy any where in the world we need to go within 24 hours or less!
We pulled the birds out and start going through the load out, making sure the guns and ammo are good, any cleaning is done, all medical supplies are fresh and up to date, and all that! I'm getting ready to sign off and turn over the "Book" when one of the pilots asked me if we had checked the winches ans cycled them, ugg! Not my job, but ok, will go and check them and run them! I crawl under the main and quickly discover there is no safety wires through the cradle bolts! Holy crap, so i jump up and run to to my pilot and tell him, and he gets super upset ( rightly) and we go looking for some ines head to chop off! Was a long day, had to pull that bird off line and swap with another and go through the whole prosess to get the new one sterile and start over!

 

[RicInOR]

It was a dark and stormy night ....

No, actually it was quite pleasant.

August 1990.
The news was full of Kuwait being invaded.
I arrived at my duty station, Yaquina Bay USCG Station / Newport, OR, to find a newly constructed security fence completely surrounding the base. As I am standing there, admiring, amazed, and shocked, I see red and blue lights come on -
"What are you doing there ...."
Remember this is at a time of heightened tensions. No one knew if the Oregon Coast was about to be invaded.
Newport's finest were on duty and out to help protect the base.

Now if you didn't see this security fence it was unbelievable.
All of 2 and 1/2 feet tall. Didn't come up to my waist.

I was looking for a phone or buzzer ... could we bring our civilian cars on base ...

At the time, it was 8 months since i raised my right hand, and I was just 1 month out of basic. Two weeks at America's first Resort - Cape May, NJ. I got in on the Direct Petty Officer program. Being as I worked in a factory doing material handling, I was qualified to be an SK3. (first time I ever shot any handgun was in basic , the M9. Still got the ribbon, with the E.)

I"ll have you know, the OR coast was not invaded during my watch!

 

[Baseacegoku]

We kept a flight of 4 MH60ks in "Sterile" condition at all times and would periodically habe to rotate them out for maintence and fueling. Part of that also was to turn the rotors under power for a while and then we would rotate them back into sterile condition!
This insures that we have 4 ready birds at all times, and can have them loaded in a C-5 or C-17 in about a hour, amd deploy any where in thw world we need to go within 24 hours or less!
We pulled the birds out and start going through the load out, making sure the guns and ammo are good, any cleaning is done, all medical supplies are fresh and up to date, and all that! Im getting ready to sign off and turn ober thr "Book" when ine of the pilots asked me if we had checked the winches ans cycled them, ugg! Not my job, but ok, will go and check them and run them! I crawl under the main and quickly discover there is no safety wires through the cradle bolts! Holy crap, so i jump up amd run to to my pilot and tell him, and he gets super upset ( rightly) and we go looking for some ines head to chop off! Was a long day, had to pull that bird off line and swap with another and go through the whole prosess to get the new one sterile and start over!

what does getting it sterile mean?

 

[Ura-Ki]

what does getting it sterile mean?

Think of it like the F-15s they keep armed, fueled and warm for an interception mission on a 2 min warning! Almost the same exact thing!
Our ready aircraft are kept in a special secure hanger unfueled, armed, loaded and ready to go at all times! The big difference is they are also kept in that condition for extended periods, so they also have all the safeties and engine plugs installed and rotors folded ready to get loaded on a transport and quick deployed when ever/where ever! These are also our top of the line full mission spec birds which we all hate ( because they carry 1800+ pounds of extra equipement we rarely ever use) but none the less, they must kept ready. Sterile basically means they remain clean and unused during the rotation cycles, and the clock is stopped while in ready storage!

 

[AMT]

Was stationed at Kadena AB (Okinawa, Japan) for a while. In my line of work we supported EVERYONE on the base, even the Marine, Army, Navy aircraft when we could.

I was "processed" through the "Habu" side (SR71 folks) to do an inspection on one of the Habu's. Now, as everyone can imagine everything is highly secret and guarded with those things. I had to have an escort with me at all times.

My inspections required me to climb up into the intakes. As I'm up in the first one my escort (who I had numerous times before) asks "how long do you have up there?"

"I figure no less than than 20 minutes this side, then I can go over to the other side."

He says "I gotta go take care of some business, before the business fills my pants. STAY RIGHT HERE AND DON'T GO WANDERING ANYWHERE !!!"

"No prob. I know the routine. As soon as i am done here I'll just pop over to the other side."

"Sounds good!"

Now, these inspections were usually at night. In the middle of the night. No one around but a small handful of people and the security folks who patrolled the outside of the hanger. Very rarely is there anyone but me and the escort in the hanger when I do these inspections.

I finish my inspection and hang out for a few minutes to see if my escort shows back up soon. Well, he doesn't show and we already agreed that I'd pop over to the other side.

As I roll over onto my belly and slide out of the intake, and get both feet on the ground, I turn around and there is an MP with a freaking rifle pointed right at me, no more than about 8-10 feet from me. He yells "FACE DOWN ON THE GROUND. NOW !!!"

I start to take a step to my right, to get out of the fluid that is still in the drip pan, and he levels out the sights right to my head. He yells again "FACE DOWN RIGHT NOW !"

"I'm standing in fluid, I just wanna get out of it, then I'll face down on the dry cement."

"I've never had to shoot anyone yet but I guarantee you'll be my first if you don't FACE DOWN RIGHT NOW."

Sh-t, sh-t, sh-t.... Every time I moved I thought the newbie was gonna pull the trigger. Seriously, given where we were, I didn't have proper badging, no escort and climbing out of the intake, I honestly think that he would have put me down. So, on my belly, in the fluid, I went.

As I am laying there face down he walks behind me and puts the barrel of the gun in my back. He yells, "Where is your escort?"

I lift my head slightly to look at the doorway where my escort went, and the barrel was shoved in the base of my neck, and he cycled a shell out onto the floor. "That's to show you these really are loaded and I will blow your brains out if I have to. If you flinch I will pull the trigger. What are you doing here and where is your escort?"

As I am laying absolutely still, I raised my finger and pointed to the door. I said "He went that way."

Right about that time, my escort comes running around the corner yelling and screaming. The MP still has me down. The escort calmed the MP down, and I was finally able to stand up.

After about 15-20 minutes of getting everything straightened out my escort asks "So, did you finish the inspections?"

"NO!" Then I proceeded to tell him what happened. He asks, "are you gonna finish the other side?"

"I think my skin is starting to burn. I'm going home and changing out of these clothes and taking a shower. I won't be back until tomorrow."

I packed up my equipment and went back to my shop. I unloaded everything and told everyone I was leaving for the rest of the night.

The next morning I was called into the Squadron Commanders office. He wanted a run-down of what happened. I told him and we both laughed about it. He says "I'll bet you never set foot back over there again, will you?"

"Actually, I have to go back over tonight and finish the inspections. This time I'll follow the escort into the bathroom stall if i have to!"

We both laughed and I was dismissed.