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  1. #1

    Default Do you have a funny or weird story about how you got assigned in the military?

    Ok here is mine. I was in Newport RI in the summer of 1974 in dental officer indoctrination. Which was somewhat unnecessary as I had 7 years of Army ROTC and had interservice transferred to the navy. My dad mailed me my ACDU orders which had come to my house and they said the 3rd Marine Division at Naha. I asked the CDR who was teaching the class about it I was thinking "Naha, California" had a ring to it. He laughed his ass off and informed me I was headed to Okinawa "...out with the troopies." My assumption was I was sent to the Marines because I was an ex-Army 2Lt. Okinawa and the Cambodia and Vietnam evacuations and the making of many great USMC friends came and went and my next assignment was to be "Navy Jax" in Florida, normally considered a plum. But I liked shooting so I wrote the detailer Captain Wilkie and asked for Camp Pendleton. He agreed, writing me back and recalling we had met at Admiral Vaughn's home in Dallas when he had come out to meet the Navy seniors at Baylor Dental.

    He reminded me that I had brought a collection of 1/1200 waterline ships and displayed them. He wrote: "When I saw those ships I knew you were the right man for the 3rd MarDiv!"

    Go figure.

  2. #2

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    Ok nobody is jumping in on this so I will add a story my uncle James G. Taylor, M.D., liked to tell. He graduated from medical school and was assigned in 1942 to San Antonio Army Aviation Cadet Center as one of "a half dozen wet behind the ears doctors who met the troop trains." He told the story about the burn victim whose eyelids were replaced by his Colonel utilizing the man's foreskin. But that's not the funny part.

    When the war ended on VJ Day he was serving at San Marcos Army Airfirkd and when the hospital was closed the admin master sergeant remarked, "You know, Dr. Taylor, you've been the best doctor we had here. That's why we kept you on here instead of sending you overseas."

    Officers must never forget that the senior nco's actually run the Army, or at least did back in the days before computers.
    Last edited by Griff Murphey; 08-08-2017 at 12:53.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    What can we say, Griff . . . it's the military. As a naval reservist I was trained as a Radioman. I went on active duty as a "designated striker", indicating that upon achieving NCO status I'd be a fully qualified Radioman. When I went on active duty and reported to my ship, a PO2 in the Personnel Office glibly said "We don't need Radiomen - how fast can you type?" I honestly responded "About 13 words per minute." He said "fine, you're a Quartermaster. Report to Navigation." When I got to the division, the LPO - a good ole boy from North Carolina - put me on notice that there were three things in this world he couldn't stand . . . "damned yankees, college boys, and hippies", and he had me pegged as all three. True to his word, I got every TAD assignment that came along until he was transferred out. Hmmmm . . . it's not just a job, it's an adventure!
    "They've took the fun out of running the race. You never see a campfire anywhere. There's never any time for visiting." - Joe Redington Sr., 1997

  4. #4

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    ��If you think you're good enough to get on the team - a proud new future can be yooours!!��

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Oceanside, Ca
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    I enlisted in the US Army Security Agency. When I arrived at the training center at Ft. Devens, Mass., the CO of the school, Col Lewis Millet (MOH), met with us the first week. As part of his "welcoming speech", he urged us to do our best in training, cautioning us that if we failed to make the grade, well.....the army was currently experiencing a shortage of cooks.

    Only later did I learn that he made the whole thing up. Seems the Colonel had quite a sense of humor.
    "No man's life, liberty, or property is safe, while Congress is in session." Mark Twain

  6. Default

    When I was drafted on the lottery I had been going to college taking criminology courses, but wasn't the best of students. When I was interviewed at reception station I requested Air Defense Missiles, because I thought there was a good chance of being stationed on the west or east coast. The "career counselor" asked what I had been doing and when I told him studying criminology he said he thought I would have requested military police. At the end of the interview I said perhaps put down MP as a second choice, to which he replied he already had. After I graduated from military police AIT I had a chance to see the work sheet the career counselor had been working on. As I had requested he had recorded 16F as my requested MOS, and had written in 95B in the box marked RECOMMENDED MOS. I also found out that the GT score for MP school was higher than for officer candidates, so the Army didn't send everyone that requested MP to the course.

  7. #7
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    Texas native exiled to Oz for past indescretions to numerous to mention.
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    Well not strictly an assignment story, but I was already in Viet Nam when I got a letter from my father, which was unusual. He considered that to be Mother's job. Anyway, the envelope only contained a newspaper clipping showing the results of the draft lottery for my age group.

    My number was eight.

    Dad had scribbled "HA-HA your Father" on the clipping, and that was it.

    When I got home I asked him what was so funny about that and he just laughed.
    "There it is"
    LOAD AND BE READY!

  8. #8
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    Aug 2009
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    Southern Ohio
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    Got to tell this about our son. Back at the turn of the century he was in the 1/504 ABN at Bragg and he had not written or called for 3 weeks, Mom was getting worried. Use to have a poster on this forum who was at Bragg, a Col. in JAG. I PM him and asked him to check up on our son, he said the unit was out in the field but was going to chopper out anyway. That evening we got an irate call from our wayward son wanting to know why I had got a JAG Col. involved. His Company Commander and First Sgt. was also involved now as well. Seems when JAG comes around people have a way of getting "concerned" about things. His CO gave orders for our son to call NOW! I told him I had another friend I could have contacted as well...a Major General!
    Sam

  9. #9
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    Aug 2009
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    Cleveland Ohio
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    One saturday a good friend and I went to the local bowling alley on base for a pitcher of beer and their first class chilli. Halfway though lunch two girls came in and sat down two rows over in a booth. My friend was one that always managed to say something to the ladies that would fluster them. He gets up from our booth and tells me to watch this. He walks over to the girls, says hello. They say hello back. My friend tells the one on the right, does your mother know your drinking beer? She fires back: This is mother. With that, he walked back kind of sheepishly. He finally met his match.
    Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading.
    Author unkown.

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Oceanside, Ca
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    Got to tell this about our son. Back at the turn of the century......

    My Grandfather enlisted in the Corps in 1900. He was 15. About 2 years in, he gets called to the Company office. The CO shows him a telegram from the Commandant, wanting to know why my Grandfather is not sending money home to support his mother. Seems "someone" in his mother's house wrote the Commandant. Grandpa told his CO that his mother did not speak, read, or write in English. Further, his mother owned and ran two apartment houses in Washington, DC and was not hurting for money. Grandpa suspected the letter had been written by his youngest brother......who was living off Momma.
    "No man's life, liberty, or property is safe, while Congress is in session." Mark Twain

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