A Trip Down Memory Lane
Occasionally, it’s a good idea to take a brief trip down memory lane, especially in the company of friends.
So here’s your platform and your audience. The question to answer is: What was your best experience in the military? What was the best thing that happened to you?
Bar’s open. Knock yourselves out.
Category: Open thread
Around The Horn cruise on CVA64, 1962. Pulled SP Duty in Acapulco. The ship spent several days there so they put us up in the Acapulco Hilton. Liberty every night.
Nap of the earth flying(riding)in a Chinook was pretty cool. Either that or spending 16 months outside the wire in Iraq and not getting killed.
That latter part sounds extremely satisfying….although I liked riding in Hueys back in the 70s myself…something fun about riding with the doors off and just experiencing the sounds and motion.
I was surprised on my first CA in the Viet of the Nam, that men sat on the floor with their legs hanging out the open doors. Pretty soon, I was doing it like it was nothing, It was always interesting, especially in a 30 degree banked turn. But that was nothing compared to sitting on the floor of a loach (LOH) with an M-60 in my lap, hunting alligators on a river Northwest of Da Nang.
Actually, weren’t they crocodiles?
I’m not sure, the helo crew called them “alligators” when they invited me to go on the hunt. When they showed up on my helipad, I thought I was going on a VR (visual recon).
I’m not sure, the helo crew called them “alligators” when they invited me to go on the hunt. When they showed up on my helipad, I thought I was going on a VR (visual recon).
Possibly the best thing that ever happened to me was being asked (as a personal favor during one of our early morning coffee drinking/Bullshit sessions) by a Brigade Commander Full Bull Colonel to narrate his out-going Change of Command, because (and I quote):
“My Adjutant talks like he has a mouthful of rocks.”
This was for the 1st Brigade, 4th Inf Div, June 1990.
And I must say, I nailed the narration right down to the exact second that they completed their vehicular review of troops on the parade grounds.
Yeah, my speaking voice is that good./smile
“My Adjutant talks like he has a mouthful of rocks.” 1990
“My Adjutant talks like he has a mouthful of dicks.” 1970
““My Adjutant doesn’t enunciate clearly.” 2010
Sounds about right.
We’re all going to Hell in a handbasket with this PC crap./smile
“My Adjutant needs to be replaced by another AI.” 2030
On my reporting into the 3rd Bn/12th Inf as my first assignment in the Viet of the Nam, the battalion adjutant informed me the battalion commander was insane and referred to him as “El Supremo.” And by God, he was right. There was a rumor in the battalion that there was a fund of about $3,000 that would go to the man who killed him. My medic pointed his M-16 at his helo one day when he was giving me grief on the radio, but I jerked the muzzle down as there was an innocent LOH pilot flying him around. He was a world class dick. We all wanted to party when he was relieved of command, but all the line companies were in the bush. I imagine his staff likely partied hard.
Best thing ever is to graduate from whatever mandatory training/schooling you were required to endure, and then getting the heck out of dodge after the graduation ceremony you really did not want to attend in the first place. I was able to get out of the graduation ceremony for Infantry OSUT by volunteering for the training battalion laundry detail, but was forced to attend the graduation ceremonies for all my subsequent training and schools, to include PNCOC, ROTC advance camp, OBC, OAC, CAS3, CGSC, and JFSC. The best feeling in the world is to leave the training/school and knowing that you will never have to do it again because you have checked off that box on your career ladder…
What I Learn At CAS3:
How to play better Volleyball.
What I learned at CAS3:
I was a terrible volleyball player…
What is CAS3?
Combined Arms Services Staff School (CAS3). It was created in the 1980s by TRADOC as a staff school for senior Captain O-3s to teach them combined arms doctrines before they are promoted to Major O-4s. CAS3 was eliminated in the early 2000s (I think) when TRADOC reorganized the OAC and CGSC syllabuses so that CAS3 material was covered in those courses instead of in a separate CAS3 course…
Sounds gay
Along those lines, as a reservist many of the NCO classes for the USAF were optional. We could take them in-residence or by correspondence. I took my Airman Leadership School correspondence since it was a month long in-residence course and I just wanted the stripe (it’s required for E5).
I didn’t study one bit. Didn’t even crack the book open. Everyone said you don’t need to and I generally test well, so I thought I’d wing it. Just before going in, one of my E6 buddies said, “Just remember ‘esprit de corps’.” Alrighty then.
I kid you not, at least a third of the questions had that as the answer. I aced it the first time out. Got the stripe a few months later.
So, Ex: What was YOUR best experience when you were in the Navy?
See below. For me, it was funnier than watching a cat chase its own tail.
In 1998 I received my DD-214 at Fort Bragg and watched the division review that day from the bleachers in civilian cloths.
I knew that was coming. Top two answers: Not being killed (SGT K) and ETs’ing.
It felt like own division retirement ceremony.
To add on to Cav’s comment “Not being killed…”
NOT receiving a Purple Heart.
Ditto. Though I did watch the bullets come through the floor of the Huey I was riding in once. There were two bullet holes in the canvass seat where my ass was parked a couple of minutes before we flew over the bad guys at about 100 feet AGL. Luckily for me, after I looked out the front of the bird to see where we were going to land, I stepped back and sat in the middle of the seat instead of where I had been sitting, near the left door gunner.
Best thing in the military? My wife, hands down. 37 years so far, in spite of R/A, her initial job as a club mgr (their hours are ridiculous,) 2 kid, and now she’s riding into the corral on end stage renal failure. Marine brat and none better. 3 times she coded in the hospital this summer. Dr’s said she had very little chance, she wrote a msg, couldn’t talk with the vent, it said, “I’ll make it home!” and she has. Now that’s got everything in 2nd place. Except the guy who spent 16 months outside the wire. Guess he’s got the man riding shotgun for him.
I’m glad she made it home, the older I get the more I realize all we have are the memories and shared experiences with others…our stuff really doesn’t matter without those other things…
Nobody remembers your stuff, unless that’s all you were. People remember moments, and moments matter.
“Nobody remembers your stuff, unless that’s all you were. People remember moments, and moments matter.”
Nice. Very nice.
USAF E-5: Mine is a similar best experience. My fiancée gave me two years of support (the last year being in combat in Nam) with tapes, letters, and care packages. That day coming off the airplane into her arms was glorious.
Now 47 years as my bride and as her health falters, it is my turn to give her the loving support.
47 yrs here too. Remember exactly what she looked like when she picked me up at airport. Her hair is shorter now.
My prayers for your beautiful wife. and all of your family at this tough stage of the game.
I firmly believe it will all work out in the long run and that our time may be limited here, it is followed by a time that is everything wonderful we hope for.
If ALL will come to Jesus, then those special people will be with you for eternity! Doesn’t get any better than that!
An African Pastor had an encounter with God and was told, “Jesus’ return for the rapture of his people is IMMINENT” An Oregon Trooper pulled behind a woman parked on the side of the road just staring, the trooper asked her what was wrong and she said “you wouldn’t believe me”, he said maybe I would, you picked up a hitchhiker, he said “Jesus is coming VERY SOON” and when you looked at him, he disappeared! She said “how did you know”, he said, “You are the fourth one to tell me that today”! Get ready folks,
The opportunity to serve with some of the finest people I will ever know; B co 1-21 IN during OIF 1-2, and HHC/C co 1-21 IN for the second half of the surge.
Also, the, um, ‘intoxicating experience’ of being an Instructor at C co 2-29 IN with SAWO.
Gimlets, Pioneers!
If someone on the fence about joining the military wanders in here, do it.
‘Band of Brothers’ will go from just a phrase to part of who you are and that is a priceless fact.
Being one of the first OCs at the NTC and then running the live fire exercise. Being at Irwin sucked swamp water but I learned more about infantry than any school and made life long friends. When you hang out with guys 24/7 for 14 days at a time that happens.
Was that in Bravo Pass?
Once the Army broke a basic rule and I had not only a great battalion commander but also a fabulous Sergeant Major. Thank you, MAJ Yount and SGM McKenna for showing me how it is done right and for possibly the best two years of my life.
Well, I had quite a number of reasonably memorable times in uniform – some of which were good, and others of which weren’t.
But if I had to pick the highlight, it would be the year I was deployed and playing for keeps. All in all, it really was the best year of my career.
Lee indeed said it best: “It is well that war is so terrible. Otherwise, we would grow too fond of it.”
My best time was when Ensign Clapper transferred me from the boiler room to the engineering parts room! Outstanding lol 😉
Some things that stick out.
Being in Germany when the wall came down. Those were heady days.
Liberating a large city from the Iranian backed militia. It didn’t last but it felt good at the time. Then Obama simply gave it all back to them.
I’ll never forget my first jump.
Climbing aboard the freedom bird and clearing the airspace of Vietnam
Remembering how quiet it was in the bird until the pilot came on and said “We are now in international waters.”
Then all Hell broke loose.
12 Feb 72 – On a Continental Airlines/”Proud Bird with a Golden Tail.” Left DaNang about 1000 hours, arrived at SEATAC about the same time, same day./smile
Good to hear from ya. It’s been a while.
For me that happened on 27 Sep 71 at Cam Ranh Bay. They didn’t out process from Da Nang at that time, even though I was there for the last five months of the fifteen months of my tour.
Same thing Cam Ranh Bay DEC 70. Dead silence on rotation and climb out.
Then the annoucement.
I’ll bet the pilot could feel it in yoke.
Claw…….been busy remodeling my house. I need a little more space for the “little chickadee” smile
Glad to hear the romance is advancing.
Mule update?
I remember flying out of Tan Son Nhut. The entire plane erupted in spontaneous applause as soon as the wheels lifted from the tarmac.
I could recall more than a few best experiences in the Army during my 21 years of service.
But, what comes to mind first, are the people that I had the honor of serving with.
There are seven of us that have served together at one time or another. We have been called the “Band Of Brothers” because of how close we are.
Two are in their 50’s, three are in their 60’s and two are just over 70. There are five E-7’s and two are E-9’s…..all retired Army.
Except for one individual who lives a few states away, we all get together every other month at someones house. Three of us have lunch together, one day a week every week for almost seven years now.
I truly have been blessed. I couldn’t have asked for better individuals than these six brothers. Yeah, there is the good natured ragging and giving each other scheiße, but in good times and harsh, we are always there for each other.
Yeah, getting awards, medals, completing different types of training, promotions, getting back home alive, etc. are all memorable military moments, but those brothers & sisters I served with, come in first place every time.
Best thing that ever happened to me was when, six months after I made E-5/PH2, the queen bitch who was our recruit company commander because she was taller than everyone else, showed up at the Naval Photo Center at NAS Anacostia** and was still, after 2++ years, an HN (E-3).
She saw my no-longer-new crow and just stared at me. I just said ‘Hi, Deakins. How’s it hanging?’ abd stifled my giggles until she was out of sight.
**NAS Anacostia is now Joint Force Bolling. I don’t think they have the shooting range there any more.
Like your story, Ex. Reminds me of what I always shared with subordinates:
Always treat and show respect for those Soldiers you lead and mentor. The Army is not forever. Who knows, oneday, after retirement or ETSing, you may end up working for that Soldier in the civilian sector.
Or to rephrase, “The toes you step on today may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. “
Best experience was the buddies I made. Best thing that happened to me was staying in touch with them over the past 30 years.
Oh… and an AAM. 🙂
Without question meeting and marrying my soulmate (Mrs. Dustoff) while stationed in Korea (Republic Of One Ea.) 32 years later, I reflect at times, about helping a few folks on the helicopter get to the hospital in one piece, but nothing gives a better feeling than remembering when a young GI that met a young secretary, who at first really didn’t care for me.
She still doesn’t, she just married you to get even! LOL 😉
The best part of my military service was being a “double mustang.” I was an NCO and commissioned officer in both the US Air Force and US Army Reserve. I had a uniquely unusual 21 year blue\green career and still have blue and green friends all these years later.
Hummm can’t keep a job heh? 😉
Clearly great friendships, and bonds you can’t explain to civilians. Understanding that there were men who shared none of your DNA that became closer than your own family in many of the ways that matter most.
The second big moment was when my CO at the time asked me to consider changing my MOS from 11B to 11C and learning to operate the plotting board…then realizing that my numbers were going to be what was used to drop rounds. When my math was good and the rounds went where they were supposed to I realized the CO had more confidence in me than I had in myself, it made me understand there’s nothing wrong with being confident in your strengths and using them to advance your life.
Serving in the Navy and a little later on in the ARNGUS was great but it took awhile for me to grow up while on board the OKIE 3. Best was in 1964 right after Op Steel Pike, we pulled into La Pallice France for Liberty call and I wound up entering a doorway with a red light above the door in La Rochelle, France. Nuff said.
Some of best experiences include:
While in Garrison, eating at the Messhall/DFAC. Favorite at breakfadt was SOS with real chipped beef, not ground beef with eggs to order. Favorite at dinner was Chopped Suey. Favorite overall was the Thanksgiving meal, with ice sculptures provided by the Army cooks.
While in the Field, having Hot rations brought to us in Mermite cans to include the coffee. Really boost the morale after consuming C-Rats or MREs.
Attending “Right Arm Night” or “Bring Your Boss Night” at NCO/Officers Clubs.
Going TDY to places I lived while being an Army Brat.
Catching a few Zzzzsss in our Army issued sleeping bags when being deployed or training in a cold environment.
I’ve got a copy of the official Army recipe for Creamed Meat (SOS) and maybe will publish it one of these days in the “Thursdays Are For Cooking” posting.
You know it’s the real deal when the recipe calls for “25 pounds of Meat Carcass” to make 100 each, six-ounce servings./smile
Please do! Found a 1930s recipe for SOS and tried to make it, but somehow, it just did not taste the same.
Chuckling on your comment “You know it’s the real deal when…” When you post, think it will be mathematically fun to break the recipe to smaller portions.
“Creamed Meat”??? That sounds soooo gross compare to SOS.😉
Thank You, Claw!
AnotherPat, here’s a S.O.S. recipe I had posted awhile back on Tah. It’s USMC style S.O.S. While I can’t say Dave Hardin would like it (although he does like gravy, so I heard), I will vouch for it.
S.O.S. Recipe – U.S.M.C Style
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. extra lean burger/ground chuck
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup fresh chopped onion
2 tbsp. flour
2 tsp. Soy Sauce
1 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1-2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups milk
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Brown meat, add butter & stir
2. Add onions & cook until translucent
3. Add flour, stir & cook 2-3 minutes
4. Add garlic, soy sauce & Worcestershire
5. Mix throughly
6. Add milk & stir until it thickens
7. Serve on a shingle (toast) or biscuits
Let me know if you like it.
Skyjumper:
Thank You!
Definitely will try your recipe…have printed it…just need to go the Commissary to get the ground beef. It sounds delicious.
Never made SOS with garlic, soy sauce, so this is going to interesting to taste.
Thank you again for sharing. 🍽
Glad to help a fellow “dickweed”. (smile)
Pat, the three different recipes I have (that can be served on a shingle) are from TM 10-412/AFM 146-3, published 14 Nov 1950.
A little more “modern” than a recipe from the 30’s./smile
Looking forward to seeing and trying the Army’s SOS recipe you have, Claw, if you do post it on Thursday’s Cooking.
Thank you, again…!
BTW, Claw…found the 1944 version of TM 10-412 on the web…interesting!
https://archive.org/stream/TM10-412#page/n31/mode/2up
And this could be another Cookbook for Ex-PH2:
https://archive.org/stream/TM10-412#page/n5/mode/2up
I’ll bet I can find a copy of that some place if I look hard enough.
Pat, the recipes posted in the 1950 edition are exactly the same ones as posted in the 1944 edition.
The recipes (1944) are No.’s 299, 300, and 303.
In the 1950 edition they are K-75, K-76 and K-78.
Who would have thought that the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rule applied./smile
Good news for Sparks. There are at least a half dozen recipes for Ham & MFer’s in that TM if you take the time to look.
Hell, there’s even a recipe for (Yum, Yum?) Scalloped Lima Beans./smile
Claw:
“Scallopped Lima Beans”..🤣
What is interesting in reading the TM is remembering that in 1944, civilians had ration cards for flour, butter, meat, etc. so that the troops could be well fed. I have a Cookbook from that era that has recipes where items were substituted because of the ration.
Speaking about old Army manuals…I have a pdf of the US Army Manual for Executions from 1947 on my phone. It’s an interesting read and includes blueprints for building the gallows.
https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/procedure_dec-1947.pdf
See the provisions for the band, if one is used, on page 6.
I also like the provision that, in time of war, no band and however many it takes to shoot the SOB is fine.
My favorite part is the band “playing a lively air” after the sentence is carried out.
“playing a lively air” = “Another one bites the dust”?
No, Wait… Too soon?/smile
I hope you do post it, Claw, because I went to the trouble of getting sausage for sausage gravy & biscuits for the evening of the Mid-term elections.
I am looking for to that.
SOS in the Navy was great, I liked it a lot, most didn’t, but you know, I haven’t had anything even close since I got out?
F-16 incentive ride.
The pookie.
coffee spew!!!!
International pookie.
Local recycled barracks pookie
Not even with your dick and The SARC pushing!
I once heard about a gal named Suck-em-Silly Sally, who wa an inveterate barracks whore, but she was so skanky no one would hit it.
The steam and cream just outside the gate.
If I hadn’t served, I have little doubt that I would never have found TAH; if I never found TAH, I would never have read this, from charles w, who has, with the following words, achieved immortality:
“They took away our staplers in Macho Grande. Not to mention our move to the basement. To this day I have a drinking problem.”
“They took away our staplers in Macho Grande. Not to mention our move to the basement…”
Milton! 😉
https://youtu.be/m-XXPkFEdjY
CQ while the Battalion was at JOTC…my NCO sleeping in his room…in walks a “friend” from one of the bars downtown with another “friend”. They wanted to keep company the person who got stuck pulling CQ. Played strip poker with them until the sun came up. No one said anything about being out of uniform, got thanked by my NCO for letting him sleep!
Playing tag with the Soviets in the Sea of Okhotsk in January.
Refueling a Battleship.
Completing the Jungle Warfare Course at Ft. Sherman.
Chasing a landing U-2 at night.
Simulating an 8kt surface burst at WSMR.
Helping out post Katrina/Rita.
And doing it with some of the best people anywhere!
47 years ago meeting an Army SP4 who became my wife. She got out, I stayed in, and now we’re retired and living in Florida. Words can’t describe knowing you’ve found the ‘right’ person with whom to spend your life.
“Words can’t describe knowing you’ve found the ‘right’ person with whom to spend your life.”
Amen, HMC Ret.👍
When I drove out of Drum in November of 1994, I was stone cold sober. Don’t remember anything until Binghampton. That’s how euphoric that shit was.
I would be remiss without mentioning Lt. Col. Roh, CPT Maxham, and Top Bannon.
We were lucky to have them.
Still miss you, Madsen.
I can tell you my most humbling military experience.
After three week of SERE school (Level C – where they get to beat you), in January, we (the class) thought we had it pretty rough.
Right after graduation, we were seated in a room with about half a dozen of real POWs from Vietnam and Korea.
Total silence for their two hours of telling their stories. We were all honored to have them sign our Graduation certificates and it is one of my most cherished military possessions.
And walking out of that room – so proud and blessed to be an American. And no school ever seemed too hard after that…
And PS.
I got yelled at for “defacing” my SERE Graduation Certificate when I turned in a copy for my official records.
Roger that S-1 Staff Sgt!!! Won’t happen again!
That’s awesome.
The best job I had in the Army was serving as an LRRP (Ranger) company commander. All my men were volunteers, except for the REMFs, such as the clerks and supply people. It afforded me a great deal of time in aircraft, including the OV-10 Bronco. Got to rappel out of Hueys and fly on the end of the 120 foot ropes of the Maguire and STABO rigs. But being an ODA commander on Flintlock IV, in southern Germany for almost a month while being hunted by the 3rd ID and German authorities was classic, cuz I got to put all that SF stuff I learned into practice.
Doing my job well.
rgr769,
CAS3 = Combined Arms and Services Staff School. Required for promotion to Major/O4. Supposed to be the Staff equivalent of Ranger School. As a graduate of both… um, no.
They make you play volleyball there. What more can I say?
Part of the reason I resigned my RA commission, I knew I was going to be a staff officer for most of the next 6 to 10 years if I stayed in.
As you know there was no time for recreational activities at Ranger School, including volleyball, unless you want to call that night hike up the Licklog Expressway or climbing Yonah Mountain recreation.
Sho ’nuff.
The closest thing to a recreational activity was putting in a squad sized ambush on the Appalachian Trail during the Mountain phase. We watched hikers go by, completely unawares, and then the human training aids walked by to get slaughtered.
When I graduated from Ranger School, I got a diploma and the highly coveted Ranger Tab; upon graduating from CAS3, I got a diploma and a CAS3 Coffee cup.
Tells you everything you need to know.
As a former “human training aid” I must say that was one of the most interesting and enjoyable experiences I had in the army.
I even enjoyed Dahlonega in January, although I preferred Eglin AFB in the fall. The Benning part sucked, as it was only a day/night trip. If they had offered me a slot as permanent party at Aux. Field 16 I might have reenlisted (That’s how crazy I am).
Didn’t learn as much as you did, and I certainly had it easier, but I learned more than I expected and didn’t have to put up with the regular garrison BS.
Bones…You got a CAS3 coffee cup?
Combat Historian had a CAS3 Graduation ceremony?
Am jealous.Don’t remember receiving either of those. Probably because I was in one of the first classes. 😉
Most what I remember of CAS3 was learning about Pert Diagrams in conjunction with writing Staff estimates in order to win battles against the USSR.
Most of the time, however,the emphasis was on our class winning the Volleyball Trophy against other classes.
🏐🤾♀️🤾♂️Bump, Set, Spike!
The main thing I remembered about CAS3 (besides the volleyball) was their obsession that we continuously and properly use the staff decision matrix in our staff planning and estimates…
Does the Army still have CAS3? Painful experience. I went in January of ’85. Miserable weather and painful instruction. I didn’t help my situation by non-stop entertaining the ladies in Leavenworth and Kansas City.
TRADOC apparently did away with CAS3 in the early 2000s, and its syllabus was folded into the curriculums of the OAC and CGSC that preceded and followed it. Probably had something to do with post-9/11 GWOT OPTEMPO…
Ranger School sucked ass.
That needs to be on a recruiting poster, as well as similar ground level phraseology for other specialties, i.e. Marine Recon:Cold, Wet, Sandy and Pissed Off!
Might weed out the tab/badge hunters. 🙂
Yes, I remember my second time up Yonah, doing “lower Mountaineering”. First sunny day of 1996 (previous rotation was cloudy, cold, with light rain). Had a clear view of the lake below (rumored to be a nudist camp). After I finished my free climb I just sat there and basked in the sun… RI says to me Ranger Johnson what are you doing?! I replied “just enjoying the view Sergeant Smith”… he looked back at what I was looking at and said “well, carry on Ranger Johnson… carry on!” He remembered what the last cycle was like too! Blizzard during squad patrols.
Company and larger formation runs where everyone is hungover and puking.
People trip and you have a pile of assholes and elbows. The trick is to avoid them.
I came across Airborne Cadences on the interwebz last week. Great memories even if they did not include the politically incorrect versions from the 60’s.
“What was the best thing that happened to you?”
Dropped out of college to join the Army.
I am not trying to be funny nor sarcastic.
No regrets either.
My experience mirrors yours, except replace the word “dropped” with “kicked”.
And I’d do it again.
Enlisting before getting drafted, being discharged without being awarded the “I forgot to duck Medal”. Some the rest; have the statute of limitations expired?
Grabbing our wetsuits and running to the sea wall at MCAS Iwakuni during a typhoon 1983. All four of us (young Marines) had a war club of saki and lashed ourselves to the stantures that used to moor Imperial Japanese battleships. Getting rip snorting drunk while the waves washed over us!
Respectfully,
Jeff
Ex-PH2:
Thank you for holding down the fort today.
Great topics.
I’ve geezed on this before. Mine was my first duty assignment in the 82nd Airborne. Brand new 2LT from The Citadel and 2 days after graduation I’m at Bragg in the midst of Officers and NCOs that were hardcore: they had been there and done that. Saw several Jump Wings with mustard stains on them. My manhood shriveled that first 0530 PT formation that I was supposed to lead. Getting shot at in DOMREP or VN was a cake walk compared to that.
Those Officers (God Bless COL Lennart (Swede) Nelson) and, esp, the NCO’s (esp SMAJ Jimmerson and SFC John Todd) taught me well. I hope my service reflected well on them.
After 20 active then 18 civil service doing the exact same thing, being accepted as an Army warrant officer has to rank high on the list. But you know, my first good conduct medal, each promotion, each medal or award, getting a flight in a T-33 as airman of the quarter, making MSgt, etc. etc. But #1 was at a few days after my 17th birthday realizing Uncle will give me three hots and a cot, money for my pocket, clothes on my back and I loved what I was doing, not to mention the Air Police School TI taking us to Mexico to get laid ranks high up there as well.
Best decision I ever made was joining the USAF.
I came across a couple of of bits of literature in college which sum up my experiences in the military. The first is from “Tale of Two Cities”, the second from Wordsworth. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, ” Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very Heaven!” Two of my favorite experiences involve riding in Hueys. One late afternoon, when the sun was just low enough to still give plenty of light but no direct sunlight, we were getting extracted from the side of a mountain. The PZ was an old bomb crater which was covered in green grass. As I looked back from the helicopter I could see the green grass and two clouds of red and yellow smoke in the crater (it was a very large crater) from smoke grenades. The colors were so vivid I still regret not having a camera. Another time we were detailed to provide security for an engineer mine-sweeping team. We would get up and head to the LZ before dawn, when the sky was so bright you had to squint when you looked up but at ground level it was pitch black. The Huey would pick us up, the air still cool from the night but humid, and with the wind from the helicopter it felt like there was a thin layer of ice on exposed skin, but still warm inside. Shortly after sunrise we would get dropped off at our rendezvous with the engineers. We then proceeded to sweep our portion of Rt.1 (aka “The Street Without Joy”), minesweeping team followed by a dump truck with our M-60, and the rest of us walking behind the truck and in the paddies to the sides of the road. No rucksacks, just weapons & ammo, flak vest. After a brisk walk of five miles or so we ended at a bridge being guarded by another unit, where we ate breakfast. Occasionally we did another stretch of road and ended up in Hai Lang, a small market town south of… Read more »
My best ‘moment’ was when I sat next to Joey Heatherton on a huey flight from Saigon to Cu Chi in 1967. She had her thigh pressed tightly against mine (I’m sure she knew that). A great moment!
My best duty was A/2/17 out of Quang Tri (1970). Every day I strapped a Cobra to my ass and went to war.
She was married to a guy in my unit for a while, and entertained us frequently. Mostly she just showed up and acted like a spouse. Well, she tried to, and seemed to really enjoy it.
It’s hard to figure out what was the best thing that ever happened to me in my career… Was it the time when I came home from Tech School just before Christmas of ’94 and I walked in the door and said two words to my younger brother who had completed Army Basic and AIT 3 months prior? Those 2 words were, “I understand.” He replied, “Yep, now you do.” The story behind that is that I said “I understand” when he told me some of his stories from Basic. He looked at me and said, “Not to be a dick, but no, you don’t.” Was it my swearing-in when I enlisted in the Air Guard in 2005 after a really long break in service? Was it coming home from Iraq in 2009? Was it graduating from Army Basic in 2011? Maybe everything that happened in association with my commissioning in 2012…my class was commissioned in our ACU’s and my wife slugged me but good when she put on my 2LT rank. I got my first salute from one of the senior NCO’s from my old Air Guard unit and also had my section leader from that unit there that day (he had retired a couple years prior). Maybe it was the Patriot Guard escorting me for the last 5 miles to my house when I came home in ’09…and then running into those same folks 3 years later when they were having a picnic in a county park and I happened to be ruck marching by. Or how about when I came home from Afghanistan and saw my wife for the first time in months? There’s lots more, I can’t pick one and I think that the best is still yet to come. I can tell you the worst day I had in uniform…that was about 3 weeks before I was set to come home from Iraq and I found out that my younger brother (from the story above) had passed away. I found out the news and was told to go see the First Sergeant, who started filling… Read more »
Love the stories guys. I made some great friends and got to go places I’d have never gone of my own accord and glad I saw.
The best part for me was how my service has brought me closer to my dad and grandpa, before he passed.
Dad didn’t talk much about his RVN service other than to say that Big Army had taken him kicking and screaming. A few stories here and there. Once I put on the uniform, he started opening up. I’ve now heard a little too much. Didn’t need to know all kinds of details about the prostitutes…
Grandpa was the same. WWII infantryman. Very rarely talked about the war or the army. I heard a little more from him after joining up. Always wanted to sit down and have him tell me the whole story, but he passed before I got the opportunity.
Suggest this thread be a “living” sticky one. I’ve enjoyed reading these so much and there are a lot of stories out there. This would serve as a place to brag a little amongst comrades in arms. I just wrote in a dairy entry for my eyes only that no family member ever asked what I did. Albeit, they’d be bored if the did because I never did anything out of the ordinary….by Army standards which are high.
Good Idea!
There is no single greatest moment, but a lot of great moments all adding up to absolutely wonderful memories. Lots of them wouldn’t be so great were it not for all the others.
Most fun was an exercise in Alpena MI, maybe 1984. Was ramp tramp for a bunch of C-130s playing games with a bunch of helicopters and assorted fighters, with ground troops playing concurrent games in the woods and who knows where all. Several countries involved and every branch of the US military.
Will never forget dropping to my knees and then rolling in the grass upon landing in Germany en route home following DS/DS/DS. Then the very best omelet ever. OK, it probably wasn’t all that good, but it tasted great served in a solid building with a cup of joe from a big urn.
Strangest experience may have been a training thing going on in FL when a hurricane decided to visit. We really should have been evacuated but spent the night in a desalinization station instead. Kinda had to giggle just a bit at the absurdity of it all. Who knew there even was a building anywhere on the planet for training folks how to make large quantities of potable water? And here we were studying it in great detail. As a hurricane raged all around us.
Hmm. Is it significant that each of these stories involves tents? Not sure what that means…
It clearly means your most harried USAF experiences were in tents. 😉
Might have to say it outloud if the pun isn’t immediately obvious.
February 1989, Gulf of Thailand.
Two day surface transit before hitting Pattaya for a few days.
Anyone who has been on a boat will tell you being a nub is not fun. You are lower than whale shit, and until you’ve qualified, EVERYONE who is will let you know it.
Had just got off midwatch and asked to do a, “Lookout U/I”, which is basically an excuse to go up for a breath of fresh air if not too busy. Fortunately, was granted.
Got some pointers, learned a couple things about navigation (nukes don’t do nav) but most importantly, got to watch the sunrise while a pod of dolphins played chase on the bow at 0600 on a glass sea.
That’s probably the closest I’ve come to total bliss outside my family and loved ones.
Don’t know about best or not but 2 that stand out are first just how GREEN everything was when I got back from Iraq to KS in the summer! Like it was a slight bit of sensory overload or my eyes had been deprived of that color and finally were recharging! Another was on rail detail for unloading the BCT vehicles at 29 Palms so they could get to NTC. I thought the train stuff was interesting and the unit that made us breakfast each day from the MKTs were the best cooks ever, or seemed like it at the time. Iirrc they were a reserve unit on their drill or something and many of them worked in restaurants for their day jobs. Damn good chow.
I had a few Great times, but the one that sticks the most up front was with my son. He wanted to use my old Army Trunk (Foot Locker) to cart some gear up north. We went down to the sheds and pulled out the best of them and opened it up to see what was still sitting hidden in side. Spent the next 5 hours talking and dragging out stuff I had hidden away 43 years ago. A Vietnamese Doll in traditional dress in a plastic case, Many dong and bar chits, Webbing still loaded with bandagers unused and a dam can of foot powder, mozzie repellent that didn’t work. A medical kit with suspect drugs, pills, hypodermic’s and vials of some suspect drugs. cam shirts, pants and boots still with that dam red dust on them. Photo album with many photos of old mates and placers I never want to see again, Patchers we had made in Vungs, as well as many other items I collected for some reason or other. My son and I ended up packing it away, and he decided he would he would use some other container to get his gear packed in. He was on his way to Infantry School in Singleton to tramp in my old foot steps. Sort of made me proud.
I admire Australia’s respect for its military and the easy access it provides to all sorts of military records. It was years ago that I first visited some of those online records when researching distant cousins who were both killed in WW I. But for a platoon, Australia’s military role in Vietnam ended in January 1973. Online records list everyone who served there, including Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Civilians who served are included. It’s really an excellent resource. Any idea why neither Taylor, Kenneth T nor Taylor, Ken T isn’t listed?
He must have served in the NVA if he has all those Dong bills of currency of the old North 🇻🇳 Vietnam. From the content of his posts, I knew he had some commie in him.
I must admit I have one ea. Dong bill, but it came with the personal effects of an NVA soldier who was KIA. I still have it somewhere, but anyone who says he has many Dong currency bills from his tour in the Viet of the Nam, didn’t serve on our side or he is a phony pony, as apparently is the case with this Aussie douche.
I found out that you can buy anything, including dong currency, at any rare coin dealer shop. I bought a couple of them, plus an ancient oil lamp from the Middle East, one of those little lamps that looks like a cream pitcher, only smaller.
Just came back to this post to see if your question had been answered. More than 24 hours have elapsed and not a peep.
Crickets? I’m with you on this one, Cav. Is it possible that a poser from down under has attempted to infiltrate the ranks of the miscreant dickweeds at TAH?
Still not a peep, Claw. I’m sure he has a perfectly good explanation for his lack of response and sudden disappearance.
After disappearing for a few weeks, he returned. He was here a couple of times the past few days. For some reason, despite my repeatedly referencing the question above, he has not responded. I even offered to refresh his memory in the event he forgot the question. Not a peep.
I’ve tossed this around in my think-bone for the longest time. My favorite moments could have been had by anyone else. Right place and time or something.
The moments where I felt like I made an impact are few but quality to me is more than quantity.
The day I was a brand new Journeyman Avionics Tech (hence Pointyhead)and saw in person a C-17 I had repaired a flight control computer on taking off and maintaining was the 3rd most amazing thing I had ever felt.
The other things I’d rather not share right now as words fail me.