Tag Archives: military

Restarting Basic Training

Nationality: American
Age: 26
Occupation: Actor
Residence: Torrance, CA
Performance Date: April 23, 2013
Primary Language: English

“‘Don’t think just because you went though a ceremony and got your little certificate and your, uh, your pins—denoting your rank and everything—that, that you’re all done. That we’re equals. Your character reflects on us up until you leave sight of everyone at this base. It reflects upon you until you get, uh, your new billet. It reflects on, it reflects upon us—you and us—up until the end of your career. In other words, if you fuck up in such a way as to make people think ‘How’s this person, how could this person ever be in the military?’ they will send you back to bootcamp.’

“Their example—they don’t have any special nickname for him—but what happened was as soon as he graduated, he shook hands with all of his company commanders, and he got up on the bus, and the bus was leaving the gate. You know, it was just passing the gate, and the company commanders were watching the bus go by, and this guy, opened the window, stuck his hand out: [makes middle finger gesture] and did this to everyone on the base as he was leaving. They stopped the bus, and he had to repeat the entire eight weeks of basic training.”

 

The informant learned it from company commander on the day of his graduation (the beginning is the commander’s speech)  from the Coast Guard basic training. At the time, the informant was so elated that he made it though everything that he didn’t take it personally. He said he had seen other people in his group screw up (often badly), but he and his fellows and company commanders had gotten close so he held no malice toward his superiors.

When he was told this story, he recalled thinking to himself, “wow” saying they should kick him out permanently because “he’s the kind of guy that’s just going to grit his teeth and wait patiently until he no longer has to be put through this ordeal that is basic training, and then be like, ‘fuck you all!’”

Whether this legend is true or not, it allows the commanding officers in the Coast Guard to get their point across without unnecessary disciplining of misbehaving troops. By using a singular party (who may even be fictional) as a harsh example from which the recruits need to learn from, commanding officers can maintain the good behavior of a larger mass that identifies—at least partially—with the offending character. The commanding officers, thus, essentially make an example of one of the recruits’ own peers.

Don’t Ever Stuff a Gun in Your Pants

Nationality: American
Age: 26
Occupation: Actor
Residence: Torrance, CA
Performance Date: April 23, 2013
Primary Language: English

“Don’t ever stuff a gun in your pants”

 

The informant learned of this proverb from military officers and his peers during basic training for the Coast Guard when he was about 19 years old. He learned that this saying came about when safeties were common in guns (when you pull back a hammer before shooting). Now double-safeties are commonly built into guns that force disable you from pulling back a hammer without pulling the trigger so if it’s dropped of stuffed somewhere, it won’t go off.

While in training, the informant said he was trained with 9mm, which officers told him, was to help him and his peers get a fell for how to use a gun. When you graduate to become a full member of the military, they will issue a different gun with a double-safety to protect from accidental discharges (and because they are more accurate and efficient). He mentioned that the Harry Potter saying: never put your wand in your pocket is a direct reference to this proverb

Humor in this instance is a good tool to help people remember safety information. Personally, I’m unaware of the workings of guns, but this proverb is helpful in reminding listeners of the mechanics of certain types of firearms.

The Silver Salute

Nationality: United States
Age: 85
Occupation: Major General (retired)
Residence: Melbourne, Florida
Performance Date: 4/18/13
Primary Language: English

The informant is a military veteran who served for thirty seven years. He retired a two star major general, a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Silver Star Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart Medal with oak leaf cluster. He is a Master Parachutist and served in the 503rd Parachute Infantry and the 187th Regimental Combat Team.

The overview of the tradition is that when you are first commissioned and graduate from whatever training or academy you attend, the first enlisted man to salute you must be payed a dollar–usually a silver dollar.

“Informant: Well, there’s one, uh, for example. When you are first commissioned, you give a, uh…the first salute that you receive, you give that individual that salutes you a dollar. Usually a silver dollar.

Interviewer: And why is that exactly?

Informant: Uh…nobody knows

Interviewer: (Laughter) Just a tradition?

Informant: Right. Well, in fact, some officers would, uh, stand by the side of the road as the newly commissioned would be leaving and he would…he would salute every one of em’ and make them get out of their cars and pay him a dollar. I had to set him straight so  traffic could keep moving”

Although the informant claims not to know the reason or origin of this tradition, it seems to fit Arnold Van Gennep’s theory of rites of passage being a source of tradition. Before being commissioned, these men did all of the saluting and were never saluted back by their higher-ranking officers. After making to second lieutenant, they have crossed the liminal point to where they have now earned the respect of being saluted by enlisted men. The paying of the dollar is a reciprocal sign of respect which commemorates the first time being saluted by an enlisted member. By going through the process of paying the saluter instead of just returning the salute, the moment is made more memorable and meaningful.

ID10-Tag

Nationality: Jamaican
Age: 28
Residence: Long Beach, California
Performance Date: 04/21/12
Primary Language: English

My informant was in the United States marine core from 2002 to 2006. He was deployed to Fallujah Iraq for a total of 14 months (two 7-month tours). He also spent time in Bagdad, Ireland, Germany, Kuwait, and various other Iraqi cities, but the majority of his time was spent in Fallujah.

My informant told me that in the marines, there are numerous initiations that jr. marines go through to be enculturated. Essentially, to be brought into the fold.

“Traditionally we just fuck with them… a lot. As much as we can. But it’s important. Regardless of how we actually do this or how we get it done, you want to make sure that the people you’re working with are capable of acting in such a way that it’s not entirely selfish, because in the marine core, especially when you’re in a combat environment, you want to make sure that individuals are going to act in such a way that is going to benefit the group and your fellow marines. It goes beyond bonding on an individual basis but also on an institutional basis because if you’re talking about, ya know, I’m going to do what’s best to make sure my fellow marine stays alive, you’re also going to what’s best for your fellow solider, fellow sailor, fellow airman, and we did a lot of collaborating with other branches. Whatever is best for your fellow service member.

Usually when you have a new individual you want to make sure they understand the hierarchy that’s in place. So, one thing that we did that I can remember specifically is, we had ID10-tags which are—if there’s a piece of equipment that you’re responsible for repairing, you’d put a tag on it and it’s a yellow tag and it has information about whatever the name and description is of that piece of equipment whatever the malfunction is, the date that you noticed this, the serial number, and things of that nature. And that was a yellow tag, but we called it an ID10-tag but, semantically, it’s an idiot tag, because if you break it down it’s ID, 10 is I-O, and tag if you use the T, just the acronym, it’s i-d-i-o-t. So you’re an idiot if you believe what I’m saying is what this ID10-tag phenomenon is all about. So you would say something like, “can you get me an ID10-tag for this rifle” and you would have this new marine go to another marine and say, ya know, “Sargent Lynch told me that I need an ID10-tag for this M-16, it’s misfiring and it has a problem and I need an ID10-tag to put on it”, and they would play along. So someone tells you that you need an ID10-tag and you go and find it and ask the people that you consider to be the authority on this subject and they just play right on along. You don’t find it until someone is nice enough to tell you that you’re being fucked with, or they don’t tell you and later on you find out that you were being fucked with, but eventually you find out you were being fucked with. One way or another you find out.”

My informant went on to explain that this ritual goes far beyond just messing with one’s fellow marines. It is also a way of testing a jr. marine’s character. This wild goose chase for the ID10-tag is a way to see if a jr. marine will go through the proper channels to solve an issue. It is also a way to see how dedicated they are to solving a problem, even one that may seem (or is quite literally) impossible.

“If that means you go and speak to so and so and that person doesn’t know the answer, then you speak to so and so.”

I asked my informant what happened when this was done to him and unfortunately for those pranking him, he saw it coming a mile away.

“I was used to being pranked, and I was used to being tricked. So when I was told that there was an ID10-tag, I immediately saw the connection, and I saw from an acronym connection that it said idiot. So when they said I need an ID10-tag, I went outside, busted open a pack of Marlboro somethings, spent about 10 minutes sitting around and went back in and said, “I can’t find these tags”. Knowing that I was being fucked with, I figured I’d just take a cigarette break and then just come back in and report my failure—inability to locate this magical ID10-tag. I didn’t realize they were trying to test my character. I thought they were just trying to fuck with me because I was the new guy.”

Rule-Breaking Custom in the U.S. Army during World War II

Nationality: Jewish-American
Age: 86
Occupation: Retired Engineer
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 25, 2012
Primary Language: English

At the end of World War II, U.S. troops in Europe had little to do and were generally restless.  To entertain themselves, soldiers would take leave without permission and—more interestingly—challenge each other to take leave without permission. Here are some examples of this military tradition, from my informant’s wartime experiences:

“During the journey, some of the soldiers came down with Scarlet Fever, so all of the men who had been on our ship were quarantined. After a week or more in quarantine, some of the guys began to get restless.  They noticed that it was possible to sneak out by crawling across the road on one’s belly between the guards when they were marching in opposite directions.  About a dozen of us sneaked out together to explore the countryside.  The Allies had heavily bombed Le Havre to create a diversion from the main D-day landing to the North. Given the resulting ill feeling of the locals towards Americans at that moment, our excursion wasn’t very sensible.  The guys practiced firing their pistols, and after a few hours we sneaked back into camp.  The only other noteworthy event during this period was that one of the idiots in the camp fired off a pistol, making a small hole in the tent about a foot above my head.

“We finally arrived in Namur [in Belgium] and were taken to the kaserne (a barracks surrounded by a 10- or 12-foot high brick wall). During the first few days at the kaserne, only soldiers who had arrived earlier were granted passes to go into town.  There was, however, a section of the wall that was blocked from view by other buildings in the kaserne.  By having one person climb onto another’s shoulders, and a third scramble over the two of them, it was possible to form a chain and scale the wall.  The third guy climbed on top of the wall, assisted the second to get up, and then lowered him by the ankles so that the last could be pulled up.  It was difficult and painful, especially for the man on the bottom.  We went into town and had a great time drinking beer, but somehow it was more difficult to climb back into the kaserne.  We managed to accomplish it without anyone getting hurt.

“The next time that I got a pass [to take leave], Foti had forgotten to get on the request list, and did not have a pass.  There was only a single guard who stood opposite the entrance to the main gate.  I noticed that some of the men would just wave their pass at the guard and say that they were going to turn it in at the orderly room, and that he let them go by without checking.  I convinced Foti that he should come out with me and that we would do the same thing.  When we came back at about 2 AM, I waved my pass at the guard, but he lowered his carbine and said: ‘Soldiers—You’ll turn in your passes here.’  So, I handed him my pass, and told him: ‘That’s his pass—I’ll look for mine.’  To give Foti time to get back to the barracks and into bed, I proceeded to leisurely go through every pocket in my overcoat, jacket, and pants, and then turned over every piece of paper in my wallet four times.  The guard finally started to lose patience with me, demanded my dog tags, and took down my name and Army serial number.  He said: ‘We’ll find out whether or not you had a pass’ and he let me go.  At the next morning’s roll call, with about 1,000 men standing at attention, the Colonel called out my name and told me to march front and center; I did so and saluted him.  He shouted at me: ‘NO ONE MAKES A MONKEY OUT OF MY M.P.’S.  I’M GOING TO COURT MARTIAL YOU IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO!’  The following day we were ordered to move to Germany, and the Colonel told me that he was going to let me off.

“I suppose that my involvement in these escapades reflected annoyance at the seemingly arbitrary regimentation and restrictions of the Army.  In retrospect, resentment and boredom overcame common sense; it’s fortunate that no one was harmed by any of this.”

Analysis: Aside from providing the soldiers an outlet with which to escape from their boredom, this tradition forces soldiers to demonstrate their guts, thereby reaffirming their manliness. By taking leave without permission, soldiers could prove themselves to the group and gain acceptance through the process. Especially in a high-risk, wartime environment, it seems reasonable that young men would search for ways in which to establish themselves as courageous amongst their peers. Thus, this practice reflects the pressurized situation of war.

Similarly, in Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried, which is based upon the author’s experience of fighting in the Vietnam War, the soldiers’ behavior to one another often tends to be characterized by false bravado—the men endeavor to mask their fears so that they can appear braver than they feel in actuality. For instance, Tim O’Brien portrays a soldier named Curt Lemon, who initiates such dangerous games as “pass the smoke grenade” as he endeavors to exhibit a total lack of fear. (Tragically, he steps upon a mine while playing one of these games, and in this way meets his end.)

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1990. Print.