“Oh. I guess maybe you are setting the right example.”
Dave Hardin’s comment here about a LSoS former cook, fake SF, and congressional candidate reminded me of one of the funniest things that I ever saw in the military. So I thought I’d relate it here.
At Fort Bragg years ago, the XVIII Airborne Corps at one time had a formal IG Inspection – and no, I’m not talking about what later came to be called an “IG assistance visit”. This was a freaking formal, unannounced, full-blown no-notice inspection.
I understand the change to a different form of IG inspection (the IG assistance visit) happened during the early 1980s. However, my unit was one of the ones tagged for the formal hoo-hah before the change occurred. Lucky us. (smile)
Under the old-style IG inspection procedure, a unit would be called at 0500 and would be notified it was having an IG inspection that day. You might hear a rumor that your unit was a “possible” beforehand, but the date was almost never known. Or you might get completely blindsided. That depended on how good your higher HQ was at working the “BRAGG RUMINT” pipeline.
After notification, the unit would recall its personnel, get gear and records laid out for inspection. Everything had to be ready for inspection by 0900 that same day.
The IG Inspection team – a slew of folks – would then descend on the unit like ravening locusts, looking for whatever they could find wrong. Equipment, personnel, unit area, arms room, operational/maintenance/supply/administrative records – you name it, the team looked at it.
Some of it was kinda over the top. One example: the arms room inspector used a damn dental pick – the kind a dentist uses to probe for cavities – he’d obtained somewhere when inspecting rifles and pistols in order to find traces of carbon.
Good times. (smile)
The formal inspection began with an in-ranks inspection of the unit, in unit formation arranged by MTOE slot number, by the inspection team. Dogtags and ID card out, checked against unit roster – the whole bit. That formal in-ranks inspection was conducted by the head of the IG team and his NCOIC.
The IG Team OIC at the time was a Major (remember, this was the XVIII Airborne Corps IG conducting the inspection). The guy wore an eyepatch; as I recall, he was indeed a Ranger – though not, as I recall, SF. He appeared to have been fairly recently injured (hence the eyepatch and probably the assignment to the IG team). But regardless, he was still a rather imposing, mean looking SOB – especially to a youngster like myself. And from having crossed paths with him elsewhere, I knew he could indeed be a SOB at times.
At the time, my duty assignment put me fairly close to the unit’s Mess Sergeant in the unit formation – but not immediately next to him. During the inspection, out of the corner of my eye I could see the IG Inspection Team OIC talking to our Mess Sergeant – first quietly, then rather angrily. Then suddenly the IG Team OIC stopped talking, went quiet for a second or so, said something quietly to the Mess Sergeant – and moved on to the next soldier in the ranks.
The inspection took a few hours, but was done that afternoon. We did well as I recall – not 100% perfect, but well enough to stay off the Corps (and our Brigade’s) “sh!t list” and out of trouble. No serious problems or issues were found.
After the outbrief, I ran into our Mess Sergeant, SFC Smith (I’ve changed the last name here). He was smoking a cigarette, and chuckling to himself.
A bit of background: SFC Smith was a damned fine Mess Sergeant. He ran a good mess hall, and could – within limits – still do a bit of wheeling and dealing to take care of the troops, food wise (that had become much more difficult in the late 1970s and early 1980s than it had been a few years earlier).
He obviously enjoyed good food, too – like many mess sergeants of the day, he was a touch heavy. Not sloppy-fat heavy, but maybe 5 to 10 pounds over the screening weight for his height.
This was also about the time the Army had started to tighten up on height/weight standards.
Our conversation went something like this (SFC Smith’s words in italics):
. . .
“Hey, Sergeant Smith – what’s so funny?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
“Remember the in-ranks inspection? What happened there still cracks me up every time I think about it?”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that. It looked like the Major was reaming you a new one. What was that all about?”
“Damnedest thing I ever saw. He looked at my ID card and asked me my name. I told him. He looked at my uniform.
Then he asked me how tall I was. So I told him that, too.
Then he asked me, ‘How much do you weigh, Sergeant Smith?’ So I told him.
Then he kinda went off. He told me, ‘That’s more than Army regs say you should. That’s unacceptable. Sergeant, you’re setting a poor example for your soldiers! Sergeant, what is your job?!!”
So I told him, ‘Sir . . . I’m the Mess Sergeant.’
Then the major’s face went blank and he was quiet for a little while. Then he told me, ‘Oh. I guess maybe you are setting the right example.’ And after that, he made a right-face and went to inspect the next guy in line.”
. . .
Personally, IMO the Major had a point. Think about it – would YOU really want to eat at a mess hall that had a skinny Mess Sergeant? (smile)
And, for what it’s worth: as I recall there was no mention of SFC Smith being over his DA screening weight in the IG Inspection Report.
No, I’m not making this up – this actually happened. I was there to see it myself.
Category: Big Army, Pointless blather, Who knows
Barber with a bad hair cut or dentist with bad teeth etc.
Ah yes the good ole days: 1963-65 in the 82nd. If it wasn’t an IG (exactly as you described), it was a CMMI which was equally bad.
My BN CO assigned a trooper to shadow every single IG/CMMI (Command Maintenance Management Inspection) inspector. His job was to make instantaneous on-the-spot corrections to anything found. A technique I followed when we opened a restaurant decades later when the health inspector came in.
Oh, and I forgot, Div/BDE would do “Pre IG’s/CMMI’s” which also sucked.
Yep,Hondo,BTDT a few times in the first 10 years of my service. Those IGs/CMMIs were about the only time anyone ever laid eyes on the Mess Hall Night Baker in the light of day. Other than that he was just a shadowy figure that came and went in the darkness.
I want to say that at Ft. McClellan, the chemical co. I was assigned to didn’t get wrung out too much, but there was an ARTEP (and I’m not sure what that acronym means), where the supply truck I was driving ran out of fuel going into the AA on the second day. Oops. (The on post refueling point closed at 1700 or 1730 the previous Friday so we didn’t get the supply truck refueled.) Yes, I made the after action review that night, as an E-4. Ouch. The company topped off vehicles every Friday after that.
On the other hand, we got a “Satisfactory” on our supply room inspection from battalion later on. That made my sergeant happy as a clam.
Army Training Evaluation Program — if I recall correctly.
I thought it was Army Readiness Training Evaluation Program…
Oh……. I was recalling the Practical Exercise Not Involving Soldiers. hehehehehe
Never forget the horror of POV packets for everybody. Even if the solder did not own a car twenty pages of filling in blanks no car, zero miles on no/car, do not ship my no/car if deployed. I made the mistake of suggesting a single page form that stated the solider hade no pov to my food chain. Apparently that type of initiative was very unacceptable. Yep we killed a lot trees to keep those pov packets in complete uniformity.
Before I went to Vietnam I was assigned to the 14th Armored Cav in Germany. It seems like all we did was prepare for that “IG” inspection that never materialized. At times we wondered if there really was such a thing. Garrison duty in Germany then seemed to be nothing but cleaning and polishing. We had guys that even waxed their friggin M113’s.
Had a big Change of Command while I was assigned to an MLRS unit in Bamberg. We had to provide 2 launchers for the dog and pony show, so our guys lathered them up with baby oil. Looked really sharp. They started out as the green camo pattern but by the time the short road-march to the show was complete, they were desert brown. They damn near had to repaint those launchers to get them green again.
My best buddy (going on 42 years now) was in the 14th from 64-66. 25 years ago when he was getting ready for his retirement back to Missouri, I was setting him up with a Shadow Box and finding a unit crest for the 14th was a real bitch. I ended up taking a photo of it down to a trophy shop and having one made. But that’s what buddies do for each other,right?
A great, good ole military story Hondo. I love them, thanks for taking the time to write it.
So this story is an authenic “No Shitter” and a good one at that.
Apparently the Surg went ok?
Whenever we had an IG at my first unit in Germany, the big problem was a missing deuce and a half. Was on the company books but had not been seen for years. The unit next door had an identical bumper numbered deuce. Their company number ended in 8, ours in 6, so we had a working deal – whenever an IG was announced someone would scurry to their deuce, slap a little paint on to make the 8 a 6, and then when the IG asked for that vehicle we would point and say “there it is, deadlined” for whatever reason. It wasn’t till that company was formally disbanded maybe 10 years later that I heard they eventually tracked through all the records and found that the truck never existed. Except on about 20 IG reports!
The greatest story ever written about IG inspections is called “Alamagoosa” by Eric Frank Russell. In it, a space ship has to come up somehow with it’s “offog” – which no one has any idea about, much less where it is. Russell must have been in the Army.
We were missing a building at Bragg. Turned out they had assigned bldg numbers by an aerial photo and one was assigned to a shop van. Someone signed for that bldg without checking.
OK, SJ, I gotta ask. How in the hell did that one ever get sorted out?
My guess since a building can’t just go missing and no.one wanted to admit they messed up, is someone gen’d up a after action report saying building was demo’d due to structural issues.
Typical Army procedure (at least in the 1980s) would have been to do a Report of Survey – sworn statements, reading people their rights before questioning, etc . . . , for any major item of property lost/damaged/destroyed. I’m guessing it was much the same in the 60s.
That one would have been the proverbial Survey from Hell – if for no other reason than going back thru historical records to see how long the building had been “missing” but reported as present.
And I’d love to have seen the resulting Survey Officer’s report – I bet it would have been freaking hilarious to read for anyone knowing the “real deal”. (smile)
I don’t remember exactly what happened but it was the talk of the Division and you can bet folks reached out and touched every thing they signed for after that…but then Dom Rep happened and that was sweet for making up shortages.
Speaking of Report of Survey from hell: the BN had a bunch of heavy drops streamer in during a Swift Strike III mass jump. Even sweeter was that they went into a deep swamp and some even burned. The Survey Officer said “well I can see why they streamered because no chute would hold all the shit that you guys claim was on the pallets but what I wonder is how the 130’s even got off the ground with that load”. He did opine that listing desks and chairs was pushing the envelope.
Heard about one like that in Germany during either the 60s or 70s. A cargo deuce-and-a-half went off the road and down a mountainside – total loss, along with its contents. (Don’t remember if the crew was able to bail in time.)
Their parent BN apparently was in very good shape, property wise, thereafter. But the guy relating the story to me did say that it was a damn good thing that the approval authority never had someone check the weight/cube of what was on that truck at the time . . . . (smile)
The new term is “FLIPL” (Financial Liability Investigation for Property Loss, which is just crying out for a jingle to the tune of “Flipper”)…but the concept is the same as the old ROS.
(Oh, and the “Survey Officer” is now the “FLO,” and I’m sure there’s a menstruation joke in that somewhere.)
Yep. Changed somewhere around 8-10 years or so ago.
Someone drove it away. LMFAO
I had to sign for the smoke grenade launchers on our two CEVs. Our CEV crews must have played the same game with me, because when turnin time came, we were short one set of smoke grenade launchers. Fortunately, there were a whole ton of M60s at the can point complete with smoke grenade launchers 🙂
Jeeze Ken, the CEV 🙂 Ugliest vehicle I ever worked on. We had to change the barrel on one of those beasts one time. The guns aren’t balanced like the M60’s or the M1’s. All the breach weight is in the back. Thought it was going to kill me getting that barrel out.
According to his write-up in the back of Citizens (a collection ed. by Ringo and Thomsen) he was in the RAF in WWII. Great story.
The USMC version of this was just as ridiculous. Wall locker/junk on the bunk inspection. T-shirts, skivvies and socks folded to exacting specifications (usually stored in zip lock bags ‘for inspection only’)all buttons buttoned trousers hanging the same way etc.
I was asked why I had 6 pair of skivvies displayed. “Because that’s the required amount according to NAVMC2269.31. “Aren’t you wearing 1 pair?” “No sir, I don’t believe in underwear. They contribute to crotch rot when you’re in the field.” I actually SAW the vein throbbing in my platoon sergeant’s forehead.
We used to do all that in the 3AD back in the mid 60s. For some reason our CO thought we were due for an IG/CMMI so we had foot and wall locker, stand by in greens with half the TA 50 laid out on the bunk with the other half laid out on inflated air mattress, every Saturday morning. This went on for a month. There was a definite way to roll socks and underwear and for some reason the CO delighted in unrolling every one of my socks, looking for holes that weren’t there, leaving me to re-roll them. After two inspections I said the hell with it and left the socks the way he left them. The following Saturday he asked me why my socks were unrolled. I told him I knew he was just going to unroll them again, so I saved him the trouble. He gave me a startled look, chuckled, and moved on.
I drilled regularly in four armories during my nine years in the Guard. At all but one armory, there was a sign to the effect of, “Never Trust a Skinny Cook.” All all but one armory, the cooks were a touch over the weight limit, but not too much.
The one armory with the skinny cook was an Infantry battalion command. It was also typical policy for all of the officers and high-ranking NCOs to go OOA (Out of Armory) for their meals. I can actually say, that was the second and third time in my entire military career I ever got food poisoning from a mess hall (the first was BCT with bad fish sticks in Relaxin’ Jackson).
I should probably also say that I transfered out of that unit double-quick after the entire command company failed a COMET. The BC, in all his infinite wisdom, blamed the Supply section for the failure. It was our fault, because we weren’t granted any title-10s to assist with prep and the staff needed to accomplish their “training missions” rather than do maintenance or anything like that.
At my firt Duty Station at Camp Lejuene I had more bullshit Dog and Pony shows, CG, IG and pre-depolyment inspections than the rest of my career combined.
Just something about that place stirred up chickenhit ideas.
There was one Marine there that simply had zero fucks to give when it came to these inspections, and that was Corporal Roderick Orr. He was about 6 foot 7″ and strong as hell. He was also one of the blackest people I met and was mising a front tooth. He was a bit funny looking but he also looked like he could snap you in half. He was a pretty simple guy, and really easy going.
By the way he was a retread. He had gotten out in the late 70s, had a few kids and decided to come back in.
Oh and he had a helluva sense of humor, and knew just how far he could push buttons.
The first big inspection we had that he took part in was a Battalion Commanders dress uniform inspection. Well Cpl Orr wasn’t looking too sharp, the biggest thing was he was wearing the old black real leather shoes. They coud be shined to a high gloss, but since the early 80s Marines simply bout “Corophram” shoes. which had a plastic like coating on them. Corporal Orr really wasn’t the best shoe shiner, so his “broke-dick” shoes stood out.
Our Battalion Commander, Who was a very intellectual fellow asked why Corporal Orr insisted on keeping the old leather shoes instead of buying a set of Clorophrams.
Cpl Orr Looked at the shoes of the Marines to his left and right of him, looked at his shoes, then looked the Battalion Commander dead in the eye and said “Sir, because I’m a member of the Old Corps”. The entire batalion was speechless.
Heh, here’s my leathers vs corfams story.
I was a dirtbag PO3 at the time (like there’s any other type?) I had duty on a Sunday and there was to be a CO’s uniform inspection on Monday. I spent the whole duty day shining up my leather shoes. I’m talking the whole routine: set the shoe polish on fire, use cottonballs to apply the now liquid polish, run the lighter over the applied shoe polish and for a final shine, I used a set of my girlfriends nylons.
You could see your SOUL in the reflection of these shoes.
Come Monday I’m standing in the shop in my whites with my shiny leathers. Everybody in my chain is on my ass for not having corfams. I was told “Well there’s not enough time for you to go get a pair of corfams. Just stand by for heavy rolls after the inspection.”
The Captain is doing his inspection and he’s just doing the high speed up/down look before moving to the next guy. He got to me, did his up/down thing, stepped over to the next guy, frowned and came back to me.
NOW I was worried.
He looks at me, looks down at my shoes, looks back at me and asks “Are those leathers?”
As visions of being drawn and quartered dance through my head I replied “Yes sir, they are leathers.”
He looked over to the guy carrying the clipboard and says “Give him an outstanding” and continues on with the inspection.
Strange, nothing was said about my shoes when I got back to the shop.
As I came in they were phasing out leather shoes and real brass. The up side to corophrams and anodized brass is if you just wipe them down ( and edge dress the shoes) there are hasle free.
The down side is that is you scuff or scratch them they are done.
I had a guy I served with on the Drill Field who still wore leather shoes in 1993. He had a couple pair he rotated and he was an absolute God when it came to shining them. He said they were much more cooler and comfortable to wear, and I think he was correct as he never got his feet tore up during first phase like most DIs did.
I actually had a pair of boots that I did that too when I was flying a desk. It was an unofficial thing to have a pair of pressed and creased BDUs and glass-shined boots. It pissed my CO off because my boots always looked better than his.
And people who use dremmel’s always wonder what the buffer wheel is for…
Ah, back in the day, siting on the steps of the barracks with the spit shine kit. Melting in the hot polish, rubbing with wet cotton balls, touch up with the nylons. The kids now days don’t know what they’re missing with those split leather fuzzy boots.
The Navy has INSURV. The long title for it is the Board of Inspection and Survey. It’s a planned event and a whole INSURV inspection team goes over the ship with a fine tooth comb. One part of the INSURV involves the ship going through a Detect to Engage (DTE) scenario. They have a instrument laden Lear jet buzz the ship to see how well the crew can track and “destroy” inbound air threats.
So, the command I was with at the time assisted the INSURV inspectors in checking out all of the electronics. I was in CIC watching the DTE just out sheer curiosity. Somebody decided to let loose with one of the most silent but deadly farts ever known to man (no, it wasn’t me I would have claimed that one and named it). Lots of people in CIC are coughing and gagging until the air clears up. A couple of minutes later it happens again. This time the INSURV officer pipes up and says “The next time someone busts ass like that, I will tell the plane to return to base and I will fail this portion of the inspection!”
We had a guy do that during the Sergeant Major inspection in BCT. By the end of it, she was trying to inspect each and every troopie as quickly as possible because that shit was lingering.
In the mighty P-3 Orion we actually had to execute a missed approach when on final, as the flight engineer let loose an ass burst so foul the pilots had to go on oxygen. When asked by the tower the reason for the go-around, the Pilot in Command tersely stated “Fumes in the cockpit, no emergency.”
I don’t know how it is outside of the Marine Corps, but for us, whenever chow would arrive we had a tradition. The lower ranks would eat first and I’m positive it wasn’t a morale thing, but rather a make-sure-there-isn’t-anything-wrong-with-the-chow test before important people ate it.
Same in the Army, FatCircles – at least in good units. Might not be the case in p!ss-poor ones
Nope, it’s too make sure Cookie makes enough chow because the CO will likely be the last to eat. Great motivator.
Yes,the CO should eat last. If he eats his chow before the troops have been fed, then he’s a manager,not a leader. Never allow a manager to be the Commander.
Bingo.
Simple difference – managers tell you how to do it / leaders show you how to do it.
Another difference, A leader is willing to order the death of the very thing that he loves, a manager is willing to set a suspense date for Staff Officer input.
On the first day of my first leadership class the DI said: “Good leadership can be distilled to a single sentence: Your troops eat first” never forgot it and you begin to realize that it’s a broader statement than simply a philosophy for the chow line.
Roger that,Sir. In the words of 1LT Dick Winters, “Never put yourself in a position to take anything away from your soldiers”.
Yep, it’s like that in the Army too. The NCOs would be the ones serving the chow too.
Wasn’t just lower ranks. Before I got my stripes, I always made sure that the teams I was assigned to head ate before me. Impressed my section leaders and got me some brownie points.
Even after I got my stripes, I made sure my supply room ate before I did. Even when my troopies came in on Title-10 orders, I’d get a pizza or McLunch for them.
Oh sweet memories, the IG inspections. Rousted early, TA-50, full dress, UGH. No I do not remember them fondly.
They changed them in the 80’s and I think they called them CRIT inspections? The inspecting teams were made up of similar skilled people from other units. So I was detailed as an inspector for a sister unit. Wasn’t a bad time, hell I knew half to folks I was inspecting since we scrounged parts off of each other all the time, plus you knew the next time they might be on the inspecting end.
Folks, I spent 11 years as an 76Y(Organizational Unit Supply Sergeant) in Divisional Mechanized Infantry units at the Company/Battalion/Brigade level. I probably initiated/processed thousands of Statements of Charge/Reports of Survey for lost or damaged equipment. It would take up a book about the size of War and Peace (or a few adult beverages around a campfire) for me to try and relate the circumstances surrounding how troops can manage to tear up the equipment issued to them. Many times it was simply the nature of doing business, but other times it was out and out gross negligence. Other times there was no actual loss of items,simply administrative serial number adjustments to the property books. That being said,always remember the Supply Sergeant is your best friend if you have something worth trading.
In the 82nd, parachutes were gold for barter. I think that a very small amount of stuff made it off post. It was just moved around from unit to unit to cover shortages.
I was missing a jeep trailer when “SSG Todd (S4 NCOIC) came in one day and said, Don’t worry about that tailer LT. I violated the Cardinal rule and asked where he found it. I got a curt, “Don’t ask, sir”.
Commo wire, WD1, was my headache. You could write off some just because but if we were in an FTX with lots of jumps, wire got left. Thus Signal outfits had jeeps prowling the maneuver area looking for wire. It didn’t matter that the wire might be in use. And if they were still short, a concrete step in the back of a 3/4 with wire on it when the truck was weighed helped…the step got lost after the scales and before PDO. A reel of wire (1 mile I think?) had to ring through when turned in. Most of the time the ring through was going through a 2 ft section that was woven into the reel. OK, Geeze off.
Yep,SJ,never ask,if you did get an answer it was from a rookie in training. Ah,yes,the 3/4 Ton M37B1, best vehicle the Army ever made provided you had a spare set of spark plugs in the glove box. Also did you know you could set both the points and plug gaps with your P-38 if necessary? The DR-8 Wire Reel would hold 1/4 of a mile(.4 Klik)of wire when fully wound.
Just a little more on the WD-1 reels. The big,big DR-5 reel would hold 2.5 miles and the RL-159 would hold one(1)mile. That’s probably the one you were speaking of.
Claw: I can’t remember what I had for lunch but I can remember the DR8’s and 159’s…strange how a geezer’s mind works!
That’s all we had in the 82nd. The gathering wire got so bad that the joke was that TA-312’s (there I go again) should be attached to the table because troopers from the 82nd Signal Bn would be reeling in wire down the road even if there was a phone on the end.
P38: anything that thing cannot do?
Yes, it can’t break down. Still have my original issue on the key ring.
yeah, can’t get past TSA – they tried to confiscate he one I’ve carried since Basic one time because it had a “point”. Left security, put it in my carry-on, checked the bag. Have to take it off my keyring every time I fly now
P-38 and P-51.
Yes I’ve broken them before….believe it or not….
Here you go.
1 ea. standard issue $1.99 free shipping
http://www.amazon.com/P-38-Can-Opener-P-51/dp/B0078WMSZ8
WD1. I hated running it, or retrieval. Want to make the new guy mad, ask for his Buck, examine it, check the finely honed edge then cut a piece of WD1.
Yep. Either 3 or 4 of the strands were steel (for tensile strength). The others were tinned copper (conductivity).
Want to see the same guy with a Buck go apesh!t? Borrow it, then act like you’re going to use it to open a c-rat can . . . . (smile)
I had a troopie in my company (11H, E3, 1 ea) who broke a bayonet during a road march. He didn’t just break it, he somehow did the impossible to it. There was a crack, all the way through the blade, from the tip to the guard. According to him, he never even touched it.
When I issued bayonets, I personally drew them, flipped them over, and sheathed them in front of every troopie to show they were getting a good piece of equipment.
Ok Claw…you have me hooked. A cheap Scotch and one last war story.
As a 1LT in the 82nd Signal BN in ’65 I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got tagged to be the S4 (a CPT slot). I thought, great. There was no PBO (Property Book Officer) so the CPT I was replacing as S4 had signed for the BN. I was a dumbass and a supply virgin and signed for the BN because the CPT confessed to shortages and was surveyed. Turned out that was the tip of the iceberg. My shit got weaker when a real PBO was assigned to the BN. Swell. He was a CWO2 supply guy. My shit was weak because he didn’t sign for anything without touching it…right down to the clocks and screwdrivers in a commo van…that had a thousand components.
So the W2 (Mr. King), SSG Todd and I started to get shit squared away. But, as others have said, the goodies floated like fairies between the companies. At wits end, I asked the BN CO to have a full field, junk on the parade ground, layout of all TOE equipment for the entire BN, all at once. The warehouses and motor pools would be empty. Hand receipts would be reissued and signed on the parade ground. LTC Martz agreed. You should have heard the weeping and wailing from the Company CO’s.
This Airborne Signal BN, that was supposedly short stuff, had 3 or 4 S&P loads of excess junk that went all the way back to Normandy and Holland. Once we did this and sent stuff back to the appropriate Company, there were just a few things short: 3ea TS-352 test sets and the DomRep solved that.
Alas, Div HQ came down and saw this at the parade ground and made the rest of the Div do this with equal results.
End Geeze. Over.
SJ, never had to do anything like that on a Battalion level. By the time I became an S-4 NCO all property belonged to Company Commanders and the S-4 Officer/shop was a monitor/staff section. 100% layouts occurred at Change of Command inventories and sequential monthly 10% inventories until Command stint was up. Individual platoon/section inventories were held whenever the Primary Hand Receipt Holders were changing and after major deployments,etc. I guess the closest I ever got to a Battalion level layout was during our M113 APC/Bradley IFV transition (1983) in Germany with the 1st Bn 15th INF at Harvey Barracks in Kitzingen. Lots of tracks and wheels,organizational property/BII/Tool sets,etc, were transferred in and out. Our sister Armor Bn (1/64 AR) in the 2nd Bde,3d ID had already went through their M60 to M1 transition and I had helped out their S-4 NCO as he went through it, and he in turn helped me out as we went through ours. Lots and lots of paperwork and eyeballing everything was the task of the day. I know that supply procedures had been improved/streamlined by the time I started to be a supply sergeant. Actually, the only formal supply training I ever attended was when I went to my ANCOC at Fort Lee after I had made SFC/E7. It had all been on the job experience/training before that as I was a move over from repair parts when the MOSs (76C/76Y) were consolidated when you made SSG. But I guess I must have been a pretty fart smeller as I made the Commandants List upon graduation.(Pat on Back). But, I’ve bored everybody enough with all this,so I’ll finish up with “Phu Bai is all right” and never trust a guy who says “Hey, I can get it for you at wholesale price”.
CLAW: “Phu Bai is all right”? You gotta be shitting me! We had to have crossed paths! I celebrated the remnants of Tet ’68 in that hell hole with the 1/101 (ABN) after we moved there from Song Be, yet another garden spot…. My humble tent was the first one in what would become Camp Eagle.
I was a Door Gunner/Crew Chief in C Co,101st AVN(Black Widows) at Phu Bai from July 71 till we shut the Division down for return to CONUS in Feb 72. A few years later than you,but still a 101 Airborne troop. JRM was also in Phu Bai. Actually, I spent my entire first enlistment in the 101st as after training up with the 1/3 ADA (Towed Vulcan) at Fort Bliss, we unit moved to Fort Campbell in December 72 and I stayed there until reenlistment and PCS to Germany in July74 for my first tour over there.
Bravo Claw!
Thanks to Hondo for starting this thread and Jonn for the forum vehicle for us geezers to geeze now and then.
Over.
SJ I have to ask, the time frame you were in the 82nd, did you end up in the Dom Rep, I was in the 18th ABC and went down their for 9 months, as a medic. another old geezer.
Yep Wild Bill: was in the first echelons. Only spent 3 or 4 months there because I was already on PCS orders. That was a great experience: in the supply area, semis rolled in overnight with all the stuff we had had on requisition for years and ammo was handed out like candy. All those load cards we had labored on for years: 130 Load-masters ignored them completely and went by cube. Signal M37s are REAL heavy…our plane barely got off the runway.
I was at Phu Bai when the Tet started with several bangs on the Grunts side of the base. I think it was HM-361 that Damn near wiped out Helo wise Quang Tri.Busy times during the crease fire. Jioe
This ain’t my story, but my SSG I worked for as a supply clerk told me that when she went to Korea as a supply sergeant, the prior wanted her to sign for an arms room full of weapons sight unseen. I don’t think I would be that dumb (or that easily buffaloed), and she sure wasn’t. Turns out that there were dummy weapons in the place of real ones (one to three, I don’t recall). Heads rolled.
Our armorer strolled out a side door to go smoke one…Returned and found 2 rifles missing. A 2LT was being cute or so he thought and triggered an IG inspection. That 2LT didn’t do that crap again and neither did the armorer, lol. About all I remember of it.
I read the posts from you guys about IG inspections and all the spit and polish. It’s a Army I never experienced. Never shined a boot after AIT. While flying with the Cav had our own formations on the flight line. Didn’t salute unless it was a major or above. Pilots and crew called each other by their last name.
Being a young punk at the time maybe that’s why I made it thru without a hecup.
I still have my original 782 gear ready for inspection. Ahhhh… the Old Corps.
http://hwalls.com/upload/knight_wallpaper2944.jpg
Still have a set of Alice gear from about 1979. It found it’s way into my permanent collection after my first rotation from Germany.
I have a few stories that I could tell,but some of them are fairly lengthy but I’ll give some highlights: The $650.00 putty knife, the Armor Bn on Ft. Carson that ordered a infrared headlight for a M60 tank and got a boat anchor, the young troop who said “Fuck This Pig” and threw his M60 Machine Gun under the tracks of a passing M113 APC, and last of all, a deserter who turned himself in because I sent him a certified letter charging him for his missing TA-50 field gear. All true,no shit stories.
Claw throwing a M60 away. It brings tears to my eyes. Heavy it was, but what a weapon!
That young soldier ended up paying the depreciated full price for that M60. The investigation found gross negligence on his behalf and he had his pay garnished (on a prorated basis) until he ETSed.
CLAW131: hopefully the youngster also got hammered (e.g., lost one or more stripes) for negligent destruction of govt property (UCMJ Art 108) as well.
Hondo, Other punishments were unknown to me. IIRC, the kid was one of those perpetual up,down,up down in rank types anyway and the findings were found to be legally sufficient by JAG and approved by the Brigade Commander.Whether he actually was able to pay it all off by the time he ETSed, I don’t know. I do know that unpaid debts to the government were eventually turned over to the “little old ladies in tennis shoes” at the IRS and they in turn were supposed to garnish any income tax returns until the debt was fully paid. The IRS deal was how the final results of any monetary liability for Deserters was recouped.
Yep. The IRS eventually finds em – and collects – unless they violate Federal law by obtaining another SSN. And I’m pretty sure the unpaid portion of the debt continues to accrue interest while unpaid. (smile)
Just wondering what else happened to the guy. Frankly, I’d be shocked if the guy didn’t get a Field Grade Art15 for that stunt. He damn well deserved one.
Accidents and/or losses happen – they shouldn’t, but they sometimes do. But intentional destruction of equipment is a whole other level of sh!tbaggery.
The 11th Marine Regiment is based out of Pendleton, but 3/11 is at 29 Palms. There are LOTS of good things about being that far from the flag pole but it does kind of foster a red-headed stepchild relationship between higher and lower. 3/11 deployed to Mogadishu as part of 7th Marines, and shortly after returning to 29 Palms from Somalia in 93 the regimental commander made the trip to the high desert to inspect our just returned battalion. While the troops had been home for two months, the gear was coming in in dribs and drabs via sea and was seriously fucked up after half a year in Mogadishu and a couple of months at sea. Totally didn’t make sense, but it didn’t have to and the inspection started in the motorpool with my battery’s 5-tons. On the fourth or fifth vehicle with a smashed in windshield the Regimental Commander asked the driver, “I guess you’ll expect me to believe that your window was smashed in by kids throwing rocks at you in Mogadishu.”
The Lance Corporal looks him dead in the eye and says, “I guess if you don’t believe that, you weren’t fucking there.”
End of inspection, beginning of an epic ass chewing for yours truly.
Gotta tip my hat it to the kid – unless you’re wearing stars, telling a Marine O6 that takes seriously large cojones.
‘Course, one can also argue it shows a serious lack of brains, too. (smile)
Sometimes ya just gotta tell it like it is, and let the chips fall where they may, eh?
I’d buy you a beer for that, in a New York second.
Put A-1 Steak Juice all over that. OUTSTANDING.
As a PO2, I used to be on an inspection team, so when I finally got out of HQ my unit was inspected. I knew the routine and all my records were 4.0
The one thing I got giged for was, get this, my window blinds were not two blocked. I tooked this gig with a smile. BZ to all the great stories.
During a IG inspection,In class winterGreen.The Colenel , looks at my rack and asks if i rate all of rack? Mouth beats Brain,I answer with I expecting 2 or 3 more to come. He then start asking increasing personal questions about my love life. I ask the O-6 why he is asking these questions. His answer is that I look fat. Mouth before brain again. I ask the O-6 if He would to meet in the gym to show me in a boxing how I am. His SM is turning PURPLE. I was expecting a Epic ass chewing or loss of 1 or stripes.After the inpection nothing happen, could it be remember I was General Plane Captain . Maybe he just like my answer to over the line questioning. Joe
During basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in 1974 we were issued two pairs of combat boots. We had to stencil a small white square on the top rear of one pair and were instructed to wear the unstenciled ones on even numbered days and the stenciled ones on odd numbered days to ensure both pair were broken in. The drill sergeants checked this religiously for the first few weeks then slacked off. Near the end of training we were given the order “open ranks, march” and the Drill began inspecting boots, if you were wearing the stenciled ones you were good, if not, it was time for push-ups. I was in the third rank and when he wasn’t looking I checked the back of my right boot, saw the white square and knew I was good. Then the little black cloud of doubt came upon on me and I checked my left boot. No stencil, damn.