Enlisted Military Ranks as one of the worst jobs

Discussion in 'Warfare / Military' started by Nightmare515, May 2, 2017.

  1. APACHERAT

    APACHERAT Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    How many Marine Force Recon earned the CAR (Combat Action Ribbon) while in Vietnam ? Not many, only those who ****ed up in the bush and found themselves in a fire fight.

    Force Recon is a snoop and poop unit (Intelligence - gathering missions) and avoided actual contact with the enemy.

    The criteria for the CAR was dumbed down during the Iraq and Afghan wars when Force Recon were complaining they weren't meeting the criteria of earning the CRA that you had to be in an actual fire fight when the enemy was actually shooting at you trying to kill you and you were shooting back trying to kill him before he killed you.

    The CRA was comparable to the Army's ICB (Combat Infantryman Badge) but in the Army only a grunt could earn the CIB while in the Marine Corps any Marine with any non 0300 MOS was able to earn the CAR. You just had to have been in a real fire fight. So even POG's, cannon cockers defending their fire base, REMF's met the criteria for earning the CRA.

    Force Recon should never be confused with Recon Battalion who would actually seek out the enemy and engage the enemy to discover their strength and if they are any good then withdrawing to report what they learned.

    But I remember many 1st Marine Recon Battalion Marines who were bitching that 1st Recon Bat. was being used as a regular rifle battalion in Vietnam.

    You had the same complaints from soldiers in the air cav who were complaining (during the war and after the war) that Army field commanders were using the air cav as regular infantry when the whole purpose and mission of the air cav was that it was suppose to be used like mounted horse cavalry like being able to move quickly by helicopters and setting up a blocking force for the regular infantry.
     
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  2. Liberty4Ransom

    Liberty4Ransom Banned

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    Yep, nothing made me despise smokers more than that.
     
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  3. ArmySoldier

    ArmySoldier Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    You didn't smoke? :shock: everyone I know smokes lol

    I quit though. Yea I hated the cigbutt policing mornings. Always did that after we were rowdy the night before
     
  4. Liberty4Ransom

    Liberty4Ransom Banned

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    I was a Copenhagen man until Iraq, then it didn't matter what nicotine I consumed. Even the shitty Haj cigs.
     
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  5. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    I was surprised by how many people smoked in the military -- close to 90% I would guess.

    I had/have always been an athlete my whole life and never touched the stuff.

    But others even college grads seemed to be non-athletes and as such smokers and they were struggling with the P/T tests especially running.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2017
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  6. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    They make E-cigarettes now and that gives a nicotine rush without the tar.
     
  7. Liberty4Ransom

    Liberty4Ransom Banned

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    Always funny watching folks hack up a lung after a Monday morning run. What wasn't fun was smelling everyone sweating out all the booze.
     
  8. APACHERAT

    APACHERAT Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I despised paint brushes to this day.

    "If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't move, pick it up. If you can't pick it up, paint it"
     
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  9. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    My first C/O wanted us all to go to the club or a bar and drink together on Friday evenings for team building. He would give you a rash of sh!t if you did not show up.

    But we had a couple of alcoholics too in the officer/NCO group and he had no clue he was making their lives worse.

    One SSgt would get plastered every time he even saw a bottle.

    This C/O made major while the SSgt got discharged involuntarily for alcoholism.

    He was a talented and good humored SSgt.

    I did not consider the bar teambuilding smart.

    I was glad when that C/O rotated out.

    The one who replaced him did not drink at all. But by then the SSgt was gone already.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2017
  10. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    I despise black leather combat boots to this day.

    The jungle boots (half fabric) were cooler and more comfortable. And there is less leather on them to spit shine.

    I also despise M-16's and AR-15's to this day as well. Those cheap plastic toys are not what I consider a battle rifle or even a decent carbine.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2017
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  11. Ole Ole

    Ole Ole Banned

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    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    WTF.

    :applause: :applause: :applause:

    It's about ground war.

    :eekeyes:
     
  12. APACHERAT

    APACHERAT Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I didn't start smoking until I was in the Corps.

    During boot camp the smoking lamp was lit after morning, noon and evening chow in the back of the mess hall, one smoke.

    I didn't smoke.

    Until the rifle range when we were encouraged to smoke being told that smoking a cigarette before going on the fire line would relax you and you would shooit better.

    I was game and would smoke on the range.

    After the rifle range I didn't smoke anymore until ITR. Ate a lot of C-rats during ITR and every C-rat box included a small cigarette pack with four cigarettes. Soon I was buying packages of cigarettes at the PX. While in-country you bought them by the carton at $1.10 per carton.

    Now that web first aid pouch that attached at the back of your web belt was perfectly designed for carrying one pack of smokes.

    During boot camp every recruit was required to purchase a rifle cleaning kit and a Zippo lighter and a can of Zippo lighter fluid.

    I think the reason for being required to purchase a Zippo lighter was for having an excuse why you had a can of lighter fluid in your foot locker. Marine regulations forbids using such chemicals like lighter fluid to clean your rifle. But lighter fluid is the best at removing grease and oil from a rifle. I still use it today when cleaning my personal weapons.

    Now every recruit platoon during boot camp had it's "house mouse" who usually was the smallest maggot in the platoon and every DI seemed to smoke and each DI had his "Private Zippo" who would light the DI's cigarettes.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2017
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  13. Ole Ole

    Ole Ole Banned

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    But I did smoke and snus traditional in Norway and Sweden. I feel you too.
     
  14. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    Steel wool and white gas are the best items for cleaning any gun (revolver, pistol, carbine, rifle, etc.).

    They were both illegal in the USMC for rifle cleaning. I never figured out why though.

    I carry a butane lighter with me everywhere I go, even though I don't smoke.

    And also a compact mini flashlight in LED.

    I mostly use the lighter for burning off threads from clothing and gear.

    For backpacking a lighter can save your life.

    A compact pocket flashlight can get you out of any building if the power goes out. And it helps to read fine print in dimly lighted places too.

    When I was in the military we had big honking flashlights. But now you can get an LED flashlight the size of your thumb which is brighter than a spotlight. These modern micro lights are perfect for tactical pistol tactics at night. They light up the whole world like noon day.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2017
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  15. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    In boot camp I would define the maggots as anyone who is new (which would be all of us at first) or else anybody who was not coming around to the program and/or could not carry their own weight in the various duties there. Everybody normally got squared away by about halfway through the program. Those who did not were NPQ'ed - not physically (or mentally) qualified. Of course anyone could DOR (drop on request) as well. Our group ended up with 50% graduating from what we started with. Everyone who graduated was bonded pretty well with everyone else.
     
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  16. APACHERAT

    APACHERAT Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I suppose the German army just like the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army's Special Forces didn't get the word from President Obama back in 2012 that bayonets and horses are obsolete on the battlefields today.

    All of the world navies are still searching for this ship that "goes underwater" that Obama talked about.

    [​IMG]

     
  17. ArmySoldier

    ArmySoldier Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    We weren't allowed tobacco in basic. It was contraband.
     
  18. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    Afghanistan is ironically one of the first places since pre-WW1 that horses are useful for military ops.
     
  19. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    We weren't allowed alcohol.

    But virtually everyone including the D/I's and the prior-experienced smoked.

    It was like a religion.
     
  20. ArmySoldier

    ArmySoldier Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    They are also used as sexual partners in Al Qaeda. Fun fact
     
  21. ArmySoldier

    ArmySoldier Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Yea our DSs smoked. We were really jealous.
     
  22. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    Those are called goat fokkers now.

    We used to call them rag's.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2017
  23. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    Our classroom instructors (all captains) would open a can of beer and drink it -- to torture us around 4 pm. It was somewhat humorous.

    There was luckily a Federal holiday (on July 4th) about halfway through our program and we got a long weekend of liberty and most went into town and rented a room in groups and got plastered drinking then. It was great !!
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2017
  24. APACHERAT

    APACHERAT Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    During boot camp we were referred as being maggots, puke, ****-suckers, green pieces of amphibious ****, girls, just about every word in the book except for Marine.

    The first time you were referred to as a Marine was on graduation day from boot camp.
     
  25. yiostheoy

    yiostheoy Well-Known Member

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    They called us worms. That was for about the first half of the program.

    If you screwed up you were a dirt bag or a scum bucket.

    One NCO who particularly hated all of us called us college-nerds. He probably was not cut out for this. All the other NCO's were fairly fraternal starting half way through the program when all or most of the scum buckets were gone by then.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2017
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