M14 Forum

jismail · September 7th, 2011, 01:14 PM

I'm sure we all have fond memories of our Basic or AIT Drill Instructors and some of the 'shinanigans' they put us through while under their care - let's here some of them - funny, sad, ultimate BS, egotistical..... no guidelines here, if you had to live through it and think someone else might enjoy hearing about it, then share it!

I'll start this off with on of my 'fond' memories from my basic training at Fort Bliss, TX, back in the Seventies.

We were a fresh group of 'maggots' as our DI loved to refer to us as, and we had just returned to the barracks from morning chow call to discover that every bunk had been flipped over and kicked into a big mess. Every bunk except one... Mine.

As we stood there looking at the carnage, the DI's came into the barracks blowing their whistles and sent us out to the parade grounds and called us into formation.

For the next few minutes, we all stood there at attention while we listened to the DI very colorfully elaborate on our total lack of mastery for the simple task of making up one's bunk. He went on to say how everyone basically sucked and that there was only one recruite that knew how to make a bunk up correctly.

He then called me out by name and made me come up to the front of the formation!

At first I was a bit intimidated to be singled out, but then for the next few statements, he praised me on my abilities and how I was the only one who seemed to be able to do this. Seeing how this was going, I began to feel just a bit proud - and it must have been noticed by the DI because he then turned to me with that "I own your ass and you have to do what ever I say" smirk and then told me to go back to the barracks, disassemble my bunk frame, and bring my bunk, mattress, and all my bedding back out to the parade ground and demonstrate the 'proper' way to make a bunk up for the rest of the group....!

Sheeesh.... Just goes to show the sense of humour that many of the DI's had back in the day....

Who's next? Let's hear some fond memories!

BUDS13 · September 7th, 2011, 04:23 PM

Well, I was in the Navy and we didn't have it as bad as the Marines, but when I first got to San Diego boot camp, I was given a metal bucket and soap (wisk detregent) and a brush.
We had concrete tables to wash our clothes every day.
Now the funny part was...we had to hang them on a clothes line with the crouches facing the M.R.T.D (marine base), then we had a clothes line watch all night to guard them...like those jarheads were going to steal them.
Our company commander said the jarheads loved the navy uniforms because they would put the pants on backwards with the 13 button flap in the back and wear them on liberty. My CC's name was Chief H R Allen from Colorado.

jismail · September 8th, 2011, 12:05 PM

Funny stuff.... Guess there isn't much difference between the services, a DI is still a DI !

Anybody else?

asa sarge · September 8th, 2011, 12:29 PM

My story about boot camp in the Army wasn't so much about the games being played with us, but the theft that went on in our training company from either the DI's themselves or in cahoots with someone in the area. Prior to going out on our extended field training exercise, we were all instructed to strip our bunks and put all sheets, blankets, etc inside our lockers. All EXCEPT the mattress cover. It was "stressed" over and over to LEAVE THEM ON YOUR MATTRESS. Came back from our fun in the woods and the entire barracks had been tossed. Bunks and lockers moved all over the place and EVERY SINGLE MATTRESS COVER WAS GONE! Later during check out, we were all written up and charged for these covers. I got lucky, while in line, the DI was distracted by someone and I made the tossing motion into the bins where we were instructed to put our linens. Far as I was concerned this was out and out bull crap, stealing from us.

Fort "Lost in the woods" summer/fall 1975. Alpha 3 3.

CAVman · September 8th, 2011, 02:01 PM

That last story reminded me of one...
It was at Ft. Bliss in December, 1966.
The 'Brass' notified us that our Basic Training Cycle would be interupted for Christmas Leave! (Probably an Annual Issue, not really Unique but they made it sound like a free trip to Hawaii!)
So, all the Trainees were all excited about getting to go home for Christmas...
But...one of our SSG DI's was clearly NOT excited...
What was the problem, we asked...
He didn't have the $ to go home to his Wife and Kids back at Blah, Alabama, or wherever...
If Only all the guys in the whole training company would just throw a few bucks each in the hat....
Yeah...
One of my buds, Davis... His Dad was career military, and had already told Davis almost to the letter of this 'scam'...
So, Davis and I and two other guys now 'in the know'...pretended to put more than a buck in the pot...but that's all THEY really got from US!
I have no doubt all the $ went for a Party at the NCO the same night the last Trainee Left for Home!
Not All DI's were 'that way'...but there were some for sure!

CAVman in WYoming

jpowen · September 14th, 2011, 07:02 AM

It was 1967 at Ft Benning,Ga. sand hill.One morning we were standing our formation and the DI stopped at me and asked,

did you shave this morning boy? I replied no drill sergeant I shaved last night.

Go get your razor. [Back then all we had were double edge blades ].When I returned he said,now shave.I was 18 at the time and didn`t have a real good complection.I have to say it got easier as I begin to bleed.That was the last time I shaved the night before!

jismail · September 14th, 2011, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpowen

It was 1967 at Ft Benning,Ga. sand hill.One morning we were standing our formation and the DI stopped at me and asked,

did you shave this morning boy? I replied no drill sergeant I shaved last night.

Go get your razor. [Back then all we had were double edge blades ].When I returned he said,now shave.I was 18 at the time and didn`t have a real good complection.I have to say it got easier as I begin to bleed.That was the last time I shaved the night before!

Got caught for the same thing during AIT at Fort Knox. As punishment, the DI gave me and 2 others 'lawn duty' for the weekend and we had to hoe down the gullys surounding the parade grounds with old fashioned sickles! (there is a lot of grass in Fort Knox!!) Being that it was late summer at the time, the heat and humidity was almost unbearable. Needless to say, I shaved every morning after that!

BUDS13 · September 14th, 2011, 12:02 PM

I was 18 when I signed up and I remember my first inspection very well. The JG inspector started on the far end giging for dull shoe's dirty whitehat and so on. I felt good when he got to me because I was squared away. When he got to me the first thing he said was peach fuzz. Now I was a light skinned 18 year old boy with blonde hair

who had never shaved before, so I fell in behind the others runing around the grinder with a 1903 springfield up above my head.
The next morning he looked at my face and said " Damm Son, what the hell happened to your face" It was still bleeding from my first ever shave. Around the grinder I went.LOL

jpowen · September 14th, 2011, 01:10 PM

2nd post on this thread.
still at Ft Benning, the next week standing formation the same DI stops at me.

is that a hole in your fatiques boy? I reply ,no drill sergeant.It was a little thin and would be a hole soon.He took his little finger and kept messing with it until he made a hole.When he got his finger in he pulled realy hard. Tore a hole about a foot long from my knee to my boot.Looked at me [in my face] and said,looks like a hole to me! He was such a dickhead sob.

normannewguy · September 30th, 2011, 05:14 AM

The funniest thing I remember from basic training was a kid we all called Howdy Doody. 17 yrs old bright red red hair freckle face from Oklahoma. I wnet to use the latrine while we were out on the firing range. When I went in Howdy is smoking a cigarette in the latrine, He freaks as he thought I was Drill Sgt, I tell him chill out but they are calling his firing line up to shoot. He tells me thanx and goes to grab his M16. When he does he doesn't have a good grip on it and drops it into the open crapper holes in the latrine. H e looks at me and says can I use your rifle? I'm like hell no. He goes and tells the drills he lost his rifle down the crapper. They freak out and hand him a rake which he manages to recover his rifle. There yelling at him get on the line and he asking can't he plaese wipe it off. They tel him no and push the bore clean and put him up to qualify. He qualifies and after he does we try cleaning the rifle off. Didn't matter what we claened it with the the rifle always smelled like crap. So from that moment on he was the crapshooter

bobbyfairbanks · September 30th, 2011, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by normannewguy

The funniest thing I remember from basic training was a kid we all called Howdy Doody. 17 yrs old bright red red hair freckle face from Oklahoma. I wnet to use the latrine while we were out on the firing range. When I went in Howdy is smoking a cigarette in the latrine, He freaks as he thought I was Drill Sgt, I tell him chill out but they are calling his firing line up to shoot. He tells me thanx and goes to grab his M16. When he does he doesn't have a good grip on it and drops it into the open crapper holes in the latrine. H e looks at me and says can I use your rifle? I'm like hell no. He goes and tells the drills he lost his rifle down the crapper. They freak out and hand him a rake which he manages to recover his rifle. There yelling at him get on the line and he asking can't he plaese wipe it off. They tel him no and push the bore clean and put him up to qualify. He qualifies and after he does we try cleaning the rifle off. Didn't matter what we claened it with the the rifle always smelled like crap . So from that moment on he was the crapshooter

I just threw up a little in my mouth.

asa sarge · September 30th, 2011, 05:45 AM

Aw man, that's gross. (Crapshooter)

However, that brought back a memory of another "sad sack" soldier. We were just finishing up shooting for the day and got called into formation. Can't remember why, but we were trucked back to the barracks in "cattle cars" rather than marching. Got back to the armory to turn in our M16's and we heard the DI's screaming at the top of their lungs at Pvt. "sad sack". He had turned in the bottom half of his rifle. Had been cleaning it at the range and when the call came to fall in, LEFT his upper receiver assembly on the ground. To this day, I can't figure that one out. Guess it takes all types. Course this was summer of 75 and the Army sure wasn't getting the cream of the crop. If it could walk and talk (and not necessarily together), hell if you were semi breathing, they'd take you.