Author Archives: Jacob Treat

Don’t F**k with Camel Spiders

Informant Background:

This Informant is a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps with numerous tours under his belt. He’s currently a MECEP in the USC Naval battalion. He’s married with a kid on the way.

Informant’s Story:

“Dude, camel spiders are f**king terrifying. Like, I’ve been shot at and had sh** explode around me, but I have never been more stressed than finding a camel spider. These things arent like normal spiders. They f**king chase you and have mouths. Not little pincer things, f**king mouths. Anyways, the folklore element thing with these things is how they got their name. There are three origins that I’ve heard from both marines and interpreters. One is that they can run as fast as a camel, which I can attest to cause those f***kers run. Another one is that they can jump as high as a camel. I’ve never seen this, but I know they can jump. The last one is that they can suck a camel dry. Again, I haven’t seen this, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to.”

Analyses:

As it turns out, Camel spiders are arachnids but not actually spiders at all. They dont jump, they dont chase people, and they dont completely devour camels. The camel spider gets its name from the true fact that it does eat camel stomachs, but generally dead ones. Camel spiders were fairly unknown until the U.S invaded Iraq and were forced to coexist with these eight legged creatures. Thanks to the nature of soldiers and marines to exaggerate, along with the animal’s grotesque features, the camel spider has received the reputation of being quite the monster. Other myths include that they scream, have deadly venom, and chew on soldiers in their sleep. None of these are true.

Military weddings

Informant Background:

This Informant is a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps with numerous tours under his belt. He’s currently a MECEP in the USC Naval battalion. He’s married with a kid on the way.

 

Informant’s Story:

“When me and my wife got married, we had a normal military wedding. Its like a normal wedding except I wear my Dress Uniform and  there’s a weapons arch at the end. Officers have a saber arch, and enlisted guys like me have a rifle arch. The guys doing the arch are generally your friends. So you wait there for them to do the arch, then you walk through, stop and take a picture. After that you keep going through but they stop you before you leave and giver your wife a swat on the butt and say ‘welcome the Marine Corps Ma’am,’ or whatever branch your in. After that its just like the rest of a normal wedding. Just pictures & sh**.”

Analyses:

This wedding ceremony is preformed by most, if not all, members of the military. The arch is incredibly symbolic. It symbolizes a liminal point in which the non-military spouse transfers over to becoming a military spouse after they walk through the arch. The arch also symbolizes military life. The weapons represent the protection and support of the U.S military and are held by the military members friends. The stop and subsequent swat symbolizes the many obstacles and hardships that the couple will have to endure as the military life is not for the faint of heart. The wedding is planned like any other wedding ceremony and doesnt not require any special permission to make it an “official” military marriage, as long as the military customs are followed.

Don’t Bring Apricots on a Tank

Informant Background:

This Informant is a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps with numerous tours under his belt. He’s currently a MECEP in the USC Naval battalion. He’s married with a kid on the way.

 

Informant’s Story:

“I never really rode on any AMTRAACS [armored transport] or tanks or anything, but I’ve heard from around the corps that you should never bring any apricots in the vehicle with you. Apparently if you do the tank or whatever will inevitably break down. I don’t know where the hell you’d be getting apricots from in the middle of Afghanistan or why you would bring them in a tanks, but it’s definitely a thing.”

Analyses:

This superstition started WWII. This is because every time a tank broke down, apricot rations were always on board.  This would make sense as rations were generally distributed evenly among armor crews, and statistically if a tank were to break down, you would most likely find the orange fruit. Ever since then, tankers and APC crews have been deathly afraid of apricot. A modern take on this has transformed apricots in to “Charms” candy. Like apricots in WWII, charms today would be fairly evenly distributed between all rations and would likely be present in the event of a mechanical malfunction.

Tapping a mag on your helmet

Informant Background:

This Informant is a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps with numerous tours under his belt. He’s currently a MECEP in the USC Naval battalion. He’s married with a kid on the way.

Informant’s Story:

“You know that scene in “Apocalypse Now” where the dudes are going in the helicopters to attack that one village and the pilots play “Ride of the Valkyries”? well in that scene one of the dudes taps a mag against his helmet. That’s supposed to mean good luck. I don’t really know why. I’ve seen a couple guys do it down range [on deployment] but I never really did it.”

Analyses:

This is a common practice among riflemen in the military. This practice has been used in many different military movies such as “Apocalypses Now” or “Jarhead”. This action is said to be lucky primarily because the action “settles the rounds” evening them out so they don’t jam easily. In the military things can get very bad very quick, therefore anytime something goes right (such as a rifle firing without jamming) it is considered lucky. Most soldiers know that this action is just settling the rounds, but many like to think of it as being lucky, especially in an environment where survival is largely contingent on luck.

Dont Ring the bell in Bars

Informant Background:

The informant is a Junior at USC in the Naval ROTC program. he considers himself the typical college boy and often enjoys attending the numerous parties around campus.

 

Informants story:

“Something you’ll see in bars is this bell. Like, one of those bells with the thing attached to the string that you swing back and forth to make it sound. They can be big or small, doesn’t matter. What matters about these bells is that you don’t ring them. The reason for this is because that means you’re buying the whole bar a round. I almost did that at a pub when I was little before my dad caught me before I did. He would have had to pay for like, 50 people.”

 

Analyses:

Bars are always to do whatever they can to acquire as much money as possible. This is often accomplished through gimmicks and tricks. As people drink more and more they are likely to make less informed decisions, especially when it comes to throwing money around. An easy way for the generous drunk to spread his wealth is to have an easy to use instrument to announce his generosity. Though the bell can be used to help drunks out of their hard earned cash, they are also there for people who actually have reason to be generous. In case of events that cause for celebration, such as a marriage or promotion, the bell is readily available to add a little excitement to the scene and to let people feel the same joy as the generous donor.