Favorite bootcamp memory?

[JCQuatro]

I went to MCRD San Diago.  We were playing games because we were lagging on the grinder.  Anyways, we were doing rifle drill with our mattress' and recruit Arora (shitbird) was dogging it once again.  Drill Instructor Sgt. Palmquist, the bad dog, came across the barracks and gave dude a over hand right through the mattress.  He fell, hit his head on his bunk and landed on his sea-chest.....The entire platoon laughed out loud.  Good times...  Share some memorys if u like.

[Porquemada]

Army Boot Camp - Ft. Leonard Wood, MO 1986 - Being crammed into "cattle trucks" and carried to the firing ranges because it was "too hot" to march. Good times. Navy Boot Camp - Great Lakes NTC 1987 - After our first liberty near the end of boot camp, one of our recruits had to be picked up in Chicago because a street walking hooker had stolen his money and pants while performing a "service" for him.

[ronmahony]

Went to San Diego also 3034. I've got a lot of em, I actually enjoyed boot camp, after I got used to it. Any how, after we first got out Drill Instructors, we had this one $hit bird, named Comminsky, well he went to the Senior Drill Instructor, Sir, private Comminsky, plt. 3034 requests to speak to SSgt Kennedy, sir, speak freak, Sir pvt comminsky has the crabs sir. shortened it a little, but you know you had to holler that as loud as you could. We got in trouble for laughing but from that day til graduation day, and til the day I die It'll be Pvt Crabinsky

[nlrwildcat1]

They still had the cattle trucks when i went through in 02 but we marched evrywhere we went but they put us on the cattle trucks if we went across the base a ways

[Pigdiana Jones]

LOL Navy bootcamp in Great Lakes Jan 1998(wow it's already been 10 years now)

One of our recruit division commanders aka RDC's(same as DI's) got a really bad cold, his voice went out and he had to whisper to one of the recruits and the recruit yelled out to the rest of us what our instructions were. Well one night we were getting ready to march to dinner and were putting our coats on, and all that, he was talking to the recruit that barks out his orders and while he was talking his voice cracked. The recruit looked at him kind of funny, and the RDC said What's wrong? The recruit says, It was the way your voice cracked Chief. The RDC says well why do you think that is, and the recruit looks at him with a honest and straight face and says Puberty?

OMG the division busted out laughing, and the RDC couldn't help but smile and laugh to himself on that one. It was pretty hilarious. That RDC we had was cool as hell. He busted our butts early on, and after we gained his trust he let us do pretty much whatever we wanted in our free time because he knew we weren't going to do something stupid.

[holman24]

Basic training Ft. Lenordwood 85  Had a black drill seargent that studdered and thought he was a bad a$$ and one in formation he got to thinking he was tough and called out the whole platoon for someone who thought they could whoop him to step forward.  Noone did and he finally pick the biggest guy in the platoon to step up and fight him.  This guy was about 6'8" and about 280 and looked like a corn feed boy from Nebraska.  The guy didn't want to fight and the drill instructor told him if he did that he would wouldn't have to do any work for a week.  So the guy said ok well the drill hit him about 3 times in the head and the guy says is that all you got and knocked the drill out with one punch.  After the drill was brought to he asked if anyone else wanted some and just about everyone step up and then he backed down and wasn't near the a-hole the rest of the time.

[RazorWire™]

Graduating ...

[Brand X Hog Fan]

Snow patrol . . .

I went through Air Force basic in July 81 at, of course, Lackland AFB, Texas. A friend from Florida and I had some of the city boys in our baby flight convinced that there was a top secret detail at night called Snow Patrol. We told them even though it was usually about 100 degrees in the day time, it would get cold and snow at night and some of us would go out and shovel the crap up. Whenever baby flight was pulling our dorm guard, we would convince the guard that we had to get to our briefing and then go down on the patio for a smoke and a coke. I later told our TI about it (long after graduation when I ran into him on a TDY) and he swears he knew we were doing it. He was a great guy, mean as hell, but a great guy. SrA Streetman was his name.

[CusefaninAR]

Lackland AFB, July 1987.  I was on dorm guard for the first morning of our baby flight.  Since they had gotten in at about 1:00 AM, they were already going on little sleep, so when guys from our sister flight came in at 0500 to give them their "wake up call", it was absolutely hilarious.  It is so much funnier when somebody else is on the receiving end.  I still remember the DI telling them, "do whatever you want...just don't touch 'em." 

A close second, listening to guys softly crying in their bunks at night, especially after the first and second days.

[ronmahony]

Thought of another one. When we did Pugil Sticks over the water. Two Platoons on one end of the bridge, two on the other end, at the end there were 3 or 4 of our platoon left and 1 from each other platoon, so we had to fight each other. The guy that started out as 3rd squad leader was a big ol bully that nobody liked, they moved me to squad leader during phase 2, so he didn't like me much, anyway I had to fight him and kicked his butt, it wasn't easy he was big and strong, but slow. Everybody cheered when I knocked him in, it felt like winning the Heisman or something. We got along pretty good after that.

[RazorWeevil]

Graduating ...

I'm with you there.  Went to Lackland AFB back in 2000 & hated every second of it.  Spent 12 weeks there w/ basic & tech school. 

[CusefaninAR]

I'm with you there.  Went to Lackland AFB back in 2000 & hated every second of it.  Spent 12 weeks there w/ basic & tech school. 

oooooooooooo.....sorry to hear that!  I still remember the looks the SP's were giving us as we left out of the dorms because they had to stay for their tech school.  I giggled all the way out.

The weird thing is, 20 years later, you still get hot summer nights where you can still smell the air like you were back at Lackland.  That and those damn huge roaches.  They used to threaten us with Article 108 if we ever got caught killing one.  Like you could.  You lift your boot up and the thing is sitting there laughing at you.

[Razorvet]

This is sad but funny. We had a washout who had serious behavior problems. He was the guy who raised his hand when the drill asked if anyone wanted to go home. He decided to end his misery by wrapping the cord of a big buffer around his neck and throwing it out of the barracks window onto the breezeway below. The entire company was formed up under the breezeway and the drill was pacing and scolding us. The lone soldier up above on extra duty missing from the formation. All of a sudden there was a crash about two feet from the drill. We all rushed from our position to look up to see where the buffer had fallen from. Standing at the window a was private who was about thirty feet up. fortunately for him the cord he had wrapped around his neck was 50 ft long. They never did let him go home. Instead they kept him as a hold over on suicide watch while the Army kept his paycheck long enough to pay for the buffer. It took over a year.

[TexHog188]

Lackland AFB, Ohio dude was given extra detail for fighting.  His detail was to pull grass/weeds from around the drill pad.  He tried to get out of it by letting a few fire ants bite him on the arm.  What he did not realize was that while he was trying to get a few to bite his arm, he was standing on a mound.  Needless to say, this Ohio boy learned real quick why they are called fire ants.  He ended up over at big Willy with dozens of bites on his legs, arms, hands and neck.  We laughed our a$$es off watching him jump around trying to get away from those ants.

[BR]

Agony, Misery & Heartbreak Hills in Ft. Knox KY, like to kick my ass when Boot started, but after a week or so I enjoyed the runs up them.. And it gots hot in the summer in KY.

June 1978

[flynhog]

I never laughed so hard in my life.  Summer of 85 Ft Jackson SC.  There is some program that allows cadets from ROTC and the service academies to spend time around active military units to get some hands on time leading troops before they get their commissions. 

I saw a group of guys in another platoon standing around the smoking area on range road several hundred feet from the ammo point.  Their "assigned" West Piont cadet, named Macky, was trying to instruct them on some issue.  Without meaning to one of the trainees turned around and the barrell of his m-16 hit Macky is the head just below the left eye. Needless to say Macky was pissed!  He bled as rest of us tried to control our laughter.  They pushed Ft Jackson as they laughed until one of the drill sergeants got there to relieve the cadet. 

one of the funniest things ive ever seen.

[hilljack]

Going through Officer Training School at Maxwell, AFB we didn't have too many funny moments but here are the best I can remember.

One of the guys in my flight could not stay awake for anything. Oddly enough he is currently an F-15 backseater.  One day our FTO (flight training officer) left us alone to study or something.  Anyway the dude fell alseep at his desk, so we got the bright idea of slamming the door and calling the room to attention as if the FTO just walked in.  As the door slammed, and we all jump to attention, the dude jumps up totally disoriented with a piece of notebook paper stuck to his forehead.  The look on his face was absolutely priceless; completely terrified.  Luckily someone had a camera and snapped a photo. 

This one is probably a little better....

Anytime we went somewhere, we had to march.  This got to be really fun when we moved around as a flight.  One day, my flight of about 15 was marching from the academic building to the dorms.  Near the chowhall there were two sidewalks that took right hand turns toward the dorms, one was a dead end the other was the correct one.  Anyway as we're marching along, we hear "right turn....harch" into the wrong sidewalk, thus marching us into a fence.  The guy was able to fix the flight and get them going in the right direction and safely back to the dorms.  However, the very next day, same guy, same place, we hear "right turn....."  and everyone starts laughing.  But the laughing didn't stop the guy.  He marched us right back into the fence.  After that, whenever we walked past that particular sidewalk, someone in the flight would yell out "right turn..."  Sadly this guy is a weapons director (he tells fighters where to go).

[TeufelHog]

In the squadbay at Quantico wearing scivvie-drawers, combat boots, flak jacket and kevlar helmet.  Foot lockers at the foot of the racks obstructing the center passageway and the "Sergeant Instructor" (a.k.a. "Drill Instructor") screaming, "Front Hatch . . . pause . . . Rear Hatch . . . pause . . . Front Hatch!" Repeat until he was tired . . ..  It was a cross between a football game (with no ball) and a train wreck!  Gotta love Marine Corps OCS.

[PIGINAPOKE]

I went to San Diego in Sept of 75. I had long hair. My ears had not seen sun for 5 years. My ears peeled in CHUNKS ! I could peel the burnt skin with a set of lineman pliers. I remeber not takin a crap for 6 days/ Scared. I laugh now about it. I think ALL kids should do it. Made me a man..Ouick!

[msudawgs64]

my favorite memory at this point was it being over.  Hated the cattle trucks, hated Fort Dix in winter.  We would march to classroom instruction in some very cold temps then they would put us in a very heated classroom, ah a sleep inducer..

[pivohog]

My memory is actually no memory,

Ft. Jackson SC.  '88.  October.  World Series.  Kirk Gibson's home run, didn't see it , still haven't.  But people were still talking about it 8 weeks later. 

[bigyellowdog]

Agony, Misery & Heartbreak Hills in Ft. Knox KY, And it gots hot in the summer in KY.

I remember those hills very well.  I do not recommend going to Knox for Basic in July.

[fritolayhog]

Army Boot Camp - Ft. Leonard Wood, MO 1986 - Being crammed into "cattle trucks" and carried to the firing ranges because it was "too hot" to march. Good times. Navy Boot Camp - Great Lakes NTC 1987 - After our first liberty near the end of boot camp, one of our recruits had to be picked up in Chicago because a street walking hooker had stolen his money and pants while performing a "service" for him.

I was XO of a training company at Ft. Lost in the Woods in '84-'87.  Might have seen a few of you pass through. 

I was the assh*le. 

[fritolayhog]

I remember those hills very well.  I do not recommend going to Knox for Basic in July.

I did basic at Ft. Knox in late July 1982, myself.  You speak truth.  That was one hot and muggy mother.

[ronmahony]

Those are all good stories, I haven't been to boot-camp in 32 years, and I can still remember almost everything like it was yesterday! The boys are on hold for now, They cut out the sign on bonus so my oldest is kinda undecided now, He's a newleywed with a Baby, so he's kinda torn my youngest has to loose a little weight, so he kinda cooled off, right now it's Who knows. Welcome to you newer members and thanks I'm proud of yall.

[Joe Davis (USS Razorback)]

I stood exactly one (1) watch while in recruit training.

It was one of the first nights in the ship (barracks) and I had been assigned the midnight watch in the space.  We stood our post right outside the Company Commander's office door (BTC Blair and JO1 Johnson).  As the Chief locked up for the night, he told me that there had been instances of persons (graduating company members) running naked through spaces in the recent past, messing things up, being a general disturbance.  I was to stop and detain any unauthorized persons in Company 027 spaces.  I acknowledged and repeated the order and he left the space.

I stood there reading the General Orders posted on the bulkhead.  About 30 minutes into the watch, someone entered the space.  I yelled "Halt, who goes there?"  No response.  I turned to the threat and hollared, "HALT, WHO GOES THERE?"  No answer.  So I swung my rifle around and held the barrel like a club and ran at the intruder yelling AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!

"IT"S THE OOD, IT"S THE OOD!!!!"  ...........  I slid to a stop, came to attention and advised "Okay, Advance and be recognized."

He chewed my butt right there.  I just nodded and answered alot of "yes sirs."  He left the space.

15 Minutes later, over the 1MC, "SEAMAN RECRUIT DAVIS REPORT TO THE QUARTERDECK."  Chief Blair had the duty and the OOD had told him what had happened.

I told him what had happened, told him it was all in the log book.  The OOD was red in the face as I told the story to the chief.  The Chief asked the OOD if it happened like I told it and he said it was exactly what happened.  I explained that I got no response when I challenged the intruder.  It was dark.  I had been told to stop and detain anyone.  The OOD asked what I would have done if he had not responded.  I told him I would have whacked him and stopped him and called to the RPOC to go get the duty chief.

After the OOD left, the Chief asked me if I would have really hit the OOD and I said, "absolutely."  When he asked why I ran at him with my rifle like I did I told him because I did not have bullets.

That's the God's honest truth and I never stood another duty in recruit training.

[beachhawg]

The first morning, waking up, like, WTH have i done?

[nlrwildcat1]

Ye i woke up just in time to see the 50 gallon steel trash can go flying down the hall lol. We were in the single story bays at ft. lost in the woods. The 2 story was getting fixed and we were the farthest away from the drills. We got away with so much stuff

[razrbk1]

Ft. Knox, KY....Agony, Misery, Heartbreak....blisters gallore.  How about all the deer standing down range as we were qualifying with our rifles.  LOL

[usnavyhogfan]

The first morning, waking up, like, WTH have i done?

hell yeah that was my reaction! i was in great mistakes (great lakes) for navy bootcamp in 2000, probably my funniest memory was this old recruit who was german i think, anyways wierd guy but when we found out we won CNO (which is best division) the guy ran around our berthing compartment celebrating in his scivvies and for whatever reason ran right smack into a concrete pillar and knocked himself out. we also had to stand night watches over the compartment while the rest of the division slept and so many people would sleepwalk and do crazy stuff. we had guys standing at attention completley asleep reciting the general orders, or making their bunks, folding clothes. crazy experience. that place is depressing though i wouldnt wanna go back.

now that i think of it heres another story, not funny though anyways we had this guy from texas who just couldnt hack it, who decided one night he was gonna sneak out and get through the fence and find a way back home. well sure enough one morning everyone awoke at revielle and that guy is nowhere to be found. everyone knew he snuck out but didnt know how far he got or if he got caught. well a couple weeks later his bunkmate gets a letter from him, and this dude drew out a map, just like a treasure map, to show how he escaped from the base. it was complete with x's for holes in the fence, about how many paces to the train station. stuff like that. he sent it just in case anyone else wanted to get outta there. never found out if he eventually got caught though.

[Too $hort]

Ft. Jackson, 2007


We had a guy in our platoon named Baker that everyone hated. He was always getting us smoked and we would always find ways to get even with him. Once we put Tobasco sauce from our MRE's into his two-quart...the expression on his face was priceless when he finally took a sip out of it about halfway through a road march. We also took a banana from the DFAC and stuffed it in the buttstock of his rifle. Then someone snitched to a DS about him having food in his weapon and when they had him open up the buttstock, banana pudding came oozing out.

But by far the best memory from basic would have to be seeing two of the drill sergeants almost throwing fists during an argument over who's platoon the floor buffer belonged to, no more than 5 minutes after they had broken up a fight between the bay leaders of both platoons who were arguing over the same thing. That was classic!

[Albert Einswine]

I actually enjoyed Air Force basic training.  Compared to two-a-days in Arkansas in August,  basic in Lackland in April and May was a breeze.

Tech School at Sheppard in Wichita Falls, on the other hand, sucked.

[H&D]

I'm with you there.  Went to Lackland AFB back in 2000 & hated every second of it.  Spent 12 weeks there w/ basic & tech school. 

What job?

[jmichael]

Fort Leonard Wood Missouri March 1971, 3rd week of basic out on the rifle range.

50 raw recruits from different northern and southern states with rifles in their hands lined left to right awaiting orders to open fire for the first time in our military training.

Range officer in tower yells into microphone: Ready on the right,
ready on the left, responses from both sides by drill sergeants, READY, range officer yells open fire!

The moment he yelled open fire a 12 point buck strolled leisurely
out onto the firing field.....

I'm sure you all know the rest of the story.....   

[H&D]

I have a couple, Lackland 00', one of our TIs threw a clipboard at a girl in the chow hall in our second week.  Didn't see that guy again until "warrior week" and he wasn't sporting a "cookie or hat".  His name was SrA Amundsen, I was actually deployed with some guys a few years later that worked with him a Scott, AFB.  We had another TI that was working for his hat, SrA Rose, he was studying for a test so he never keep an eye on us and we would sneak down to the patio and make calls, smoke and get stuff out of the vending machines.

The worst day was the day our chow runner was sick and they sent me "his element leader" in to do his job.  Nothing like trying to do chow runner duties with a damn element leader badge on your chest.

[Dirty]

Snow patrol . . .

I went through Air Force basic in July 81 at, of course, Lackland AFB, Texas. A friend from Florida and I had some of the city boys in our baby flight convinced that there was a top secret detail at night called Snow Patrol. We told them even though it was usually about 100 degrees in the day time, it would get cold and snow at night and some of us would go out and shovel the crap up. Whenever baby flight was pulling our dorm guard, we would convince the guard that we had to get to our briefing and then go down on the patio for a smoke and a coke. I later told our TI about it (long after graduation when I ran into him on a TDY) and he swears he knew we were doing it. He was a great guy, mean as hell, but a great guy. SrA Streetman was his name.

Snow patrol!   Went to Great Lakes in Nov of 92' thru Feb of 93'...One cold SOB!

[TeamVLWD]

While I was in BCT, Clinton was in office, and we bombed Kosovo. After morning PT and showers, our Drill Sgt informed us at morning formation that we had bombed Kosovo. It went something like this...

"Our President decided to send us to bomb Kosovo this morning. Kosovo, some place I've never heard of, not real sure just where the hell it is at, but we are bombing the sh*t out of them right about now. That is good. Maybe they will send me back to war, because you little bastards piss me off and I'm ready to strangle someone, and not get charged under UCMJ for doing it! Speaking of you little bastards pissing me off, half right face, front leaning rest position move!"

[Ragnar Hogbrok]

My favorite memory was fashioning an antenna out of a coat hanger, hooking it up to the tv that was locked in the drill sergeant's office, and watching football. 

My least favorite?  Fashioning an antenna out of a coat hanger, hooking it up to the tv that was locked in the drill sergeant's office, and watching football....and getting caught.

We all got really strong after that day.

[Anon2]

Has anyone mentioned falling out and into formation in the middle of the night with nothing but a raincoat on for a short-arm inspection?  Been so long but I think that's what it was called.

A ten mile march at Ft. Leonard Wood and my left foot was killing me right after the march started.  At the first break, I sat down and took my boot off and it fell out. A brush that you use to apply polish to your boots.  Felt pretty stupid.

[RazorWeevil]

What job?

Air Trans!

[H&D]

Air Trans!

Are you the guy's we called "box cutters"?

[RazorWeevil]

Are you the guy's we called "box cutters"?

Nope, not us.  That was most likey TMO (Transportation Management Office).  We shared the dorms/classroom/mess hall with them. 

What was your AFSC?

[H&D]

Nope, not us.  That was most likey TMO (Transportation Management Office).  We shared the dorms/classroom/mess hall with them. 

What was your AFSC?

Thanks right it was TMO.  I was a 3PO31 (Cop).  We where the ones running at 4 in the morning while you guys were coming back from the clubs.......j/k.  You ever hit-up the Skylark?

[RazorWeevil]

Heck yeah, the Skylark (also referred to as the BDU Club) was the place to be!  I made an almost daily trip there.  I remember the SP's having the most awesome dining hall.  We'd slip off & eat there whenever possible.  I was at Lackland in 2000 from May-Aug & it effin' sucked!

PT was no joke in tech school either.  We got up much earlier than in basic & ran like crazy.  We'd take "base tours" & run for what seemed like hours.  I remember vividly running over the pedestrian bridges to the other side of the base & the bridge shaking like crazy with everyones weight.  Good times! 

[H&D]

Heck yeah, the Skylark (also referred to as the BDU Club) was the place to be!  I made an almost daily trip there.  I remember the SP's having the most awesome dining hall.  We'd slip off & eat there whenever possible.  I was at Lackland in 2000 from May-Aug & it effin' sucked!

PT was no joke in tech school either.  We got up much earlier than in basic & ran like crazy.  We'd take "base tours" & run for what seemed like hours.  I remember vividly running over the pedestrian bridges to the other side of the base & the bridge shaking like crazy with everyones weight.  Good times! 

Yeah I was in shock the first time I walked into our dinning hall.  All of that food and all the time in the world too eat I couldn't believe it.  That lasted for a couple of weeks and then our classes started and I only seen the inside of that place on the weekends.  It was MREs for us two meals a day and breakfast consisted of pop-tarts or cereal bars, yum.

[Jeff "hogfanintx" Anderson]

my favorite is never having been through one.

[H&D]

my favorite is never having been through one.

What's the fun in that??

[Jeff "hogfanintx" Anderson]

What's the fun in that??

never said fun...just thankful

[RazorWeevil]

my favorite is never having been through one.

Don't know what you're missing.  It changes a person, it really does. 

[Porquemada]

Lackland AFB, July 1987.  I was on dorm guard for the first morning of our baby flight.  Since they had gotten in at about 1:00 AM, they were already going on little sleep, so when guys from our sister flight came in at 0500 to give them their "wake up call", it was absolutely hilarious.  It is so much funnier when somebody else is on the receiving end.  I still remember the DI telling them, "do whatever you want...just don't touch 'em." 

A close second, listening to guys softly crying in their bunks at night, especially after the first and second days.

Guys cry at AF bootcamp? LOL. We had a couple of people run off in the middle of the night. Not sure of their fate, as everyone knows, they don't ever tell you sh.t in bootcamp. I think they may told us that they went to Leavenworth to bust rocks or some other clever saying that's going around the military at the time. Good times.