Krazy boot camp stories

[jdwboy]

Back in the day (June/July '67) at Ft. Dix, we had a guy in basic, from Georgia if memory serves, that was a NG(national guard) doing his basic. Besides being naturally slow (mentally) he was a farm boy who was FIT.

The drill sgts would get after him and have him do push-up, sit-ups, etc. and this kid (I think maybe he was a year or 2 older than my 20) could do as many push-ups as you told him without breaking a sweat. I once saw him do 200 (the DI gave him 20 but he said he forgot to count) in like 5 minutes (couldn't wear a watch so while a parade rest I'm not really sure).

Anyway the sgts. finally cut him some slack because no matter what they had him do he'd do twice as many twice as fast.

[Sustinemus]

I was 19 in BCT. We had one guy who was 28.
We called him "Grandpa".

[Hawk]

I never pulled KP during the entire time I was on active duty. During mess a day maintenance phase, I had the luxury of going to Conditioning Platoon.

[wrwindsor]

In Basic, I never pulled KP (don't think that was a thing in the Army at Ft. Leonard Wood in 1987) and I managed to dodge guard duty weekend.

I got licensed to be a truck driver (pick-ups and drop-offs) for the guard duty weekend but somehow muffed the vehicle inspection the day before and the DI said "screwit, I'll drive the truck."

Since the rotation schedule was already set, I just got some extra rack time. I knew enough about the system to make myself invisible after I was cut loose from driving the truck.

[Hawk]

I had guard duty during rife range part of Boot. I had to guard the pistol range. Man that was pretty lonely duty and looking out over the water and seeing all the lights on the mainland didn't exactly help either.

A Captain came around. I challenged him as I was supposed to do. He didn't say ho he was, and I mistakenly though he was the OD. He asked me how to find the entrance to one of the bldgs. I told him and got my butt reamed for it. They loved to screw with the recruits......LOL

I learned my lesson though. During guard duty while our Company was forming for ITR, I guarded the EM club. Now the Recon guys were paid $50 if they could get your dog tags and $100 if they could get you ID. I didn't take any chances..... A Lt. Colonel came around and came up toward me. I challenged him. Said he was the OD. Not the OD I saw at guard mount. Said OD not recognized, place your ID on the ground, back up three paces, and spread eagle M...F....! He complied. Called the guard shack and was told that the OD got sick and went to sick bay and that the Lt. Col was his replacement until they could get someone else to be the OD. I apologized to the Lt. Col and while he was obviously really pissed. He congratulated me for a job well done.

Later I would be one of the guards in the Armory. Since it was war time, we were told that if someone climbs on the fence to tell the to get down and call the MPs. if they got one leg over the fence, to shoot them. If the fall on the outside, call the Mps. If they fall on the inside, shoot them again and call the Mps. Nobody gets in the armory alive. Or at least they wouldn't leave that way.

[Sustinemus]

I was a camper all my life and a survival-hiker when a teenager - always very comfortable in the woods. When I was first stationed in Alaska and temporarily assigned to the 172nd Inf replacement company, they sent us to "Snowhawk Fledgling Training" where they taught us about cold weather gear, staying warm, the local flora and fauna, etc.

As part of that training, they took us out in the woods for a night or two of acclimation (this was in January) and cold weather survival. I thought it was great! Nice warm bunny boots and parka, nice warm GI mountain bag, and nice evergreen forest full of soft fir branches and plenty of firewood hanging on the trees.

I proceeded to build my little shelter and stack up a supply of wood for my little fire, then heated and ate my C-rats, while watching some of the "bro's from the block" shucking and jiving and shivering and whining about the cold. As I watched, a couple of them were trying to build a fire by holding a Bic lighter to the side of a wet stick about 2 inches in diameter. Those poor kids didn't have a clue; probably never been in the woods in winter in their life.

Eventually they came over asking to warm up by my little fire and I told them, "Better yet, let me show you how to build your own," and proceeded to do so. A couple of them just said, "Sheeeeeiiit, man!" But one of them was into it and I helped him while the others hung out by my fire. He was grateful for the lesson and picked it up quick. I showed him how to use his C-rat box to start it and how to get dry wood and we built him a nice little fire. Most of the others were just glad to have "their" own fire when we were done.

As I remember it, he went ahead and built another one on his own to show them how, but they weren't much interested.

For me, this was a great lesson in how it isn't your background, but your ATTITUDE that will make you or break you.

[Jim11B20]

Survival of the fittest, or in this case, the most interested.