Cell Phone + Basic Training

Good luck to you.

I remember the day the Lt.Col. called down to our battery and ordered me and the XO up to HQ. I thought I was in trouble.

In truth however the two of them (my XO and the Lt.Col.) pinned silver bars on me.

It was one of those moments I will never forget and it felt good to get promoted.

 

I miss military cooperation.

I do not like civilian backstabbing either.

 

We were allowed one Playboy or Hustler magazine each.

That way we would not turn qu e e r like the Navy is.

 

That's very nice.

 

It's funny, how whenever the Platoon Sergeant would talk about Susie Rotten-Crotch back in the world it sounded just like Christine Marie Brown my X. Right down to her purdy pink panties and fingerbanging her every chance possible.

 

In Basic, nowadays (they say it's a rumor, but I can tell you it's not), they put saltpeter in the eggs so you don't get a stiffy.

Maybe not at all training sites, but no one in our platoon ever got a massive rager the whole time we were in training.

 

T.M.I.

 

I heard the same thing and it was a topic of conversation in our Basic Training platoon. We never got to the bottom of it but evidence suggests they did something like that.

 

A classic Navy joke:

Q: How can you tell if your shipmate is gay?

A: His dick tastes like sh&%.

 

There were no cell phones when I served, and those that boloed got sent to the hospital...

 

Yea it was weird...because when I left OSUT and went home, it took me like a week to get back to normal.

 

A cursory Google search finds a lot of Marine selfies from combat zones. I assume not much during actual combat, but then actual combat takes up a very small amount of a soldier’s tour.

It just doesn’t strike me as “wussifying” to have a cell phone.

Now, there are other good reasons to take away cell phones during training — part of the psychological break from being a civilian to being a soldier. But it’s not like having a cellphone in your possession makes the training easier. I certainly don’t think trainees — the smart ones, anyway — would be on their phones during the rare times they’re allowed to sleep. I was ROTC, so didn’t go through regular basic, but even I learned to sleep wherever and whenever I could — even mostly standing up.

 

It makes the psychological aspect easier as you can connect with the outside world instantly as opposed to writing a letter and waiting for it. You can see videos, watch comedy shows on netflix, or whatever else a cell phone offers.

As for selfies in combat? Those that allow their soldiers (or marines or whomever) to take their personal phones are violating OPSEC.

One way to take pictures or videos without risking your personal information (like a cell phone) is a Go Pro camera. Many soldiers use these and are allowed outside the wire.

 

Are you still in the service? You should go into your portal and read the OPSEC LDS. Allowing a soldier to bring a phone outside the wire is a serious problem. Too much on a soldier's phone can jeopardize a mission if their phone is lost.

If you want more information on the dangers of allowing anyone to bring their personal phone into combat, I'm happy to direct message you.

 

Yep, agreed.

ROTC advanced camp was the closest I got to actual basic, and I recognize it isn’t that close. Didn’t get a lot of sleep, but also got treated a lot better than new recruits. And didn’t have our stuff taken away —just had to keep it in the locker and not use it.

Officer basic (at Knox, AOBC) was more intense, but it was about learning the equipment and tactics, not about the psychological stuff. So outside of the field exercises it was like community college, but with a lot of jogging....

 

No, resigned my commission in 2000 when my first child was born, after several years in the IRR. My wife didn’t want me getting called up and sent somewhere. I told her that was deeply unlikely, but there was also no reason not to resign.

The OpSec bit makes sense. Didn’t have cell phones when I was in, so never had to think about it.

 

Thank you for your service.

Nowadays, there are apps like Snap Chat, or Instagram, where locations (GPS locations) are publicly shown. They can also be easily hacked. If you're taking troops into combat, and one of your guys loses their personal phone (maybe it's locked, maybe not), then OPSEC failed and the mission and people's lives are in danger (whether physical, or through hacking).

 

Or......

You might have Geraldo Rivera embedded with a Marine rifle company in Iraq during the opening stages of the Iraq war and while broadcasting live all over the world gives away the Marines position.

The Marine Corps kicked Geraldo Rivera out of Iraq and escorted him to the Kuwaiti border.

 

If I'm not mistaken, didn't Brian Williams fly Rivera out of Iraq on an Ah64?

 

I don't remember, all remember Rivera was de-embedded and kicked out of Iraq.

 

Is it true he both flew the bird and was door gunner?