Any vets in the forum?
- Thread starter benpipesmoking
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Army - 13 years all together. 4 active duty ('88-'92), 4 IRR, 5 National Guard (14 months active duty after 9/11). Infantry - Airborne, Air Assault, Desert Warfare (Ft. Irwin), Jungle School (JOTC - Ft. Sherman, Panama), U.S. Army Honor Guard (Presidential Escort), Ft. Myer Virginia.
georged -
That was one of the Missile sites I worked at. Oh the memories!
Thanks, I actually went back to visit the museum a few years ago. My wife accompanied me.
That was one of the Missile sites I worked at. Oh the memories!
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As a footnote, I didn't smoke much in the Navy, the occasional cigar. Was glad I didn't smoke nails, because I don't like them, and also because several senior enlisted guys abused cigarette bumming in a major way. Not sure I could have enjoyed a pipe on the weather decks, though on land it's fun to strategize smoking in the wind. The weather decks aboard ship are like a wind tunnel. Here was the wake-up call on the intercom when I was in the fleet:
Now reveille, reveille. All hands heave out and trice up. The smoking lamp is lighted in all authorized spaces. Now reveille.
Translation: heave out means get out of your bunk; trice up means fold the three-high bunks up against the bulkhead (wall). The smoking lamp just means designated smoking areas; the actual physical lamp was long gone when I was in the Navy. My original job rating is now defunct; radioman is now something like communications and is all computerized, of course. Today's folks wouldn't recognize anything in my radio shack, the teletype machines with rolls of yellow paper, the rows of receivers and transmitters, the code cards, etc.
Also of note, most of my duty stations are defunct. The San Diego boot camp closed about 20 years ago; the USS Gallant was sold to the Taiwan navy; Midway Island is now administrated by the Department of Interior with no Navy presence; Long Beach California minesweeper port is now a giant civilian port for Chinese trade. History marches on.
Now reveille, reveille. All hands heave out and trice up. The smoking lamp is lighted in all authorized spaces. Now reveille.
Translation: heave out means get out of your bunk; trice up means fold the three-high bunks up against the bulkhead (wall). The smoking lamp just means designated smoking areas; the actual physical lamp was long gone when I was in the Navy. My original job rating is now defunct; radioman is now something like communications and is all computerized, of course. Today's folks wouldn't recognize anything in my radio shack, the teletype machines with rolls of yellow paper, the rows of receivers and transmitters, the code cards, etc.
Also of note, most of my duty stations are defunct. The San Diego boot camp closed about 20 years ago; the USS Gallant was sold to the Taiwan navy; Midway Island is now administrated by the Department of Interior with no Navy presence; Long Beach California minesweeper port is now a giant civilian port for Chinese trade. History marches on.
I was annoyed when I learned at basic training that I had to pack my pipes away with my civilian clothing, even more so later when smoking breaks were used as rewards for completing tasks. Cigarettes only.
Later on, during technical training, I had a pipe seized during a dorm inspection. It was thought to be "paraphernalia". After I told the first sergeant I bought the pipe at the base exchange he let me have it back. It was quite a relief to get to my first duty station where I could be myself without lighting up someone's radar screen.
Later on, during technical training, I had a pipe seized during a dorm inspection. It was thought to be "paraphernalia". After I told the first sergeant I bought the pipe at the base exchange he let me have it back. It was quite a relief to get to my first duty station where I could be myself without lighting up someone's radar screen.
I was at a Norfolk Naval Hospital for a while, got a Nurse to buy me a Kaywoodie at the Gee dunk, that's Naval for you guys for PX. Pack of Carter Hall. Late at night I would shuffle off to the Janitors closet and partake. Capitan of the Nurses a woman, would make rounds checking and had a big Silver spoon pokeing out her white coat. Wondered about the spoon, till one day she stopped by my bed and turns to my buddy, he had a groin injury, raised the sheet and passed her hand down, instantly his FLAG went up, she took out the spoon and severely whacked his flag, which went down immediately. Said to him, You're getting better and left. :rofl:
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