Posted on Jul 1, 2014
What constitutes being "old school" in the military?
1.04M
19.9K
5.63K
1.9K
1.9K
0
I'm hearing/reading people saying "I'm old school, therefore..." So out of curiosity's sake, where is that ever-moving line?
Tradition
Humor
Memories
Military History
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 1808
6
6
0
6
6
0
As far as C Rats go, ham and M-Fers (lima beans) was the worst of the worst. Always the last box left in the case.
(6)
(0)
SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
Here is a can of those Ham and MF's, that was the last type of C Rat anyone wanted, they were nasty !
(1)
(0)
CPT William Jones
SMSgt Lawrence McCarter - I wouldn't doubt that but part of the reason for bird cage was because open flash suppressor also hung up on vegitation
(0)
(0)
SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
CPT William Jones - Maybe so but it was useful for breaking the wire on those C Ration cases. Can't say I've ever heard about it hanging up on vegetation though. Could be a reason they changed it but its not anything I would ever have thought of. Some guys would put the little plastic sleeves the spoons etc that came with CRats to keep dirt out of the barrel over the flash suppressor or sometimes even a rubber. (Trogan)
(0)
(0)
Cpl Len Rybicki
I always carried a bottle of hot sauce in the field for the crappy C-Rats like ham and eggs. Beef and potatoes was called beef and rocks.
(0)
(0)
6
6
0
Your SS number is not your Army serial number...that is Old School! RA126#####.
(6)
(0)
SPC Paul Eiden
Yes, can still rattle mine off 60 years later. And remember my First DI name. It was Sgt Crooker, he said I would never forget it.....
(0)
(0)
CPT Earl George
My brother (rest his soul) had an Army serial number in 1964 when he went on active duty
(0)
(0)
6
6
0
You might be old school if...
The smoke pit was where you got smoked, not a place where you smoked cigarettes.
You called home from Basic at a line of payphones.
You blouse your boots by actually tucking your trousers into them.
You know what to do shelter halves.
You've witnessed "The Atomic Situp".
You could say damn near anything and get away with it, so long as it was expressed through cadence.
You sang songs about yellow birds, your girlfriend that lives in the hospital, McDonald's & playgrounds, and you know what her dad is keeping for you behind the door & why.
The smoke pit was where you got smoked, not a place where you smoked cigarettes.
You called home from Basic at a line of payphones.
You blouse your boots by actually tucking your trousers into them.
You know what to do shelter halves.
You've witnessed "The Atomic Situp".
You could say damn near anything and get away with it, so long as it was expressed through cadence.
You sang songs about yellow birds, your girlfriend that lives in the hospital, McDonald's & playgrounds, and you know what her dad is keeping for you behind the door & why.
(6)
(0)
SGT Randall Smith
1.You also sang about Jody and your girlfriend or Cadillac. And since there were no women any where near the basic trainees we could sing any thing we wanted.
2. You marched, ran and did all PT in the same uniform and boots you wore all day.
Those were the same boots you spit shined the night before.
3.If you had fire guard you could write letters and shine your boots.
4.You tied a towel on the end of your bunk so they would know who to wake for KP
5.You painted a white dot on the back of a pair of boots. If you lined up outside and every one else had the white dot and you did not, then you had not changed boots. You never wore the same pair two days in a row to save the pretty polished ones.
6.You shaved the night before you went to the gas chamber. If you did not, ( and I can attest to this) you jogged in place and dry shaved. Now you knew a real burn.
7. in the field you looked for the newest box of C-rations. 1953 was a good year.
8. You did not talk in the mess hall. You were there to eat not visit.
2. You marched, ran and did all PT in the same uniform and boots you wore all day.
Those were the same boots you spit shined the night before.
3.If you had fire guard you could write letters and shine your boots.
4.You tied a towel on the end of your bunk so they would know who to wake for KP
5.You painted a white dot on the back of a pair of boots. If you lined up outside and every one else had the white dot and you did not, then you had not changed boots. You never wore the same pair two days in a row to save the pretty polished ones.
6.You shaved the night before you went to the gas chamber. If you did not, ( and I can attest to this) you jogged in place and dry shaved. Now you knew a real burn.
7. in the field you looked for the newest box of C-rations. 1953 was a good year.
8. You did not talk in the mess hall. You were there to eat not visit.
(4)
(0)
SGT Randall Smith
Most important, you stood in line on pay day to get your cash. You then handed over $4.00 for the kp fund, $2.00 to the united way fund ( which you WOULD donate to) , $2.00 to the Soldiers Sailors Relief Fund, then to any one in line you owed money to.
Then you stood in line to collect from those who owed you money.
Then you stood in line to collect from those who owed you money.
(4)
(0)
SPC Paul Eiden
SGT Randall Smith - Remeber all of above but seem to remember talking in the mess hall. Maybe that was after Basic and AIT training....
(0)
(0)
6
6
0
I remember when the ARMY was switching over to the Abrams M1A1 we still had M60's we trained on both in AIT. We trained on both the Bradley and the M113 and we still trained on the M109 howitzer. we were just starting to get the Hum-V. We could smoke in basic in the barracks steel pot and liner shelter half. Going to the range and the only way you fired was steel sights only none of this optics assisted crap. Oh and lets not forget those wonderful green heavy flack jackets on long road marches when our company commander would get in the mood. Oh and 5 to 10 mile some times 15 mile road marches in full mop gear lets not forget that fun. Is that old school enough Oh and CW 5 wasn't even invented yet.
(6)
(0)
6
6
0
You might be "old school" if:
-You wore sage green or olive drab fatigues or BDUs
-Knew a WAC or WAF
-Flew an aircraft powered by an internal combustion engine(s) after pilot training
-Wore full-color unit patches and rank on work or specialized uniforms
-Had shiny black boots
-Saw Air Police (security forces) dressed in "class B" uniform working the gate
-Drove onto a military installation without being stopped at the gate
-Received a paper pay check or stood in a pay line for cash
-Wore in a cotton fight suit and a wool dress uniform
-Wore Air Force buttons that actually had the Air Force crest on them
-Saw separate clubs for airmen, NCOs, and officers
-Experienced an airman standing up from his desk when you approached and asking, "how can I help you, sir?"
-You wore sage green or olive drab fatigues or BDUs
-Knew a WAC or WAF
-Flew an aircraft powered by an internal combustion engine(s) after pilot training
-Wore full-color unit patches and rank on work or specialized uniforms
-Had shiny black boots
-Saw Air Police (security forces) dressed in "class B" uniform working the gate
-Drove onto a military installation without being stopped at the gate
-Received a paper pay check or stood in a pay line for cash
-Wore in a cotton fight suit and a wool dress uniform
-Wore Air Force buttons that actually had the Air Force crest on them
-Saw separate clubs for airmen, NCOs, and officers
-Experienced an airman standing up from his desk when you approached and asking, "how can I help you, sir?"
(6)
(0)
SGT Randall Smith
Col. Coe, Don't they have WAC, WAF, WAVE or BAM's any more? On our compound in Nam we had the Beetle Club. There was a rope dividing the room into EM and NCO's
In Germany when working at Bn HQ, we did not stop work or stand when an officer approached. If he outranked our OIC we called At Ease.
In Germany when working at Bn HQ, we did not stop work or stand when an officer approached. If he outranked our OIC we called At Ease.
(0)
(0)
(1)
(0)
MSG John Wirts
You missed the top three club, had to be SFC, MSG, !st Sgt, SGMAJ, Command SGMAJ, to get get in.
(0)
(0)
6
6
0
Was in the Army before the Humvee and the transition to the M1A2, still had the Blazer the pickup truck the Deuce and a Half the 113 APC the 109 Howitzer, Smoking cigarettes in Basic, Smokem if you gotem and if you don't get them from a buddy! Smoke breaks on a road march.
(6)
(0)
1SG Ernest Stull
Being old school means showing up for PT at 0600 still drunk and running five miles and puking all the way. Being old school is being on KP as the pots and pan man. Being old school is going to the field in Wildflecken Germany in the dead of winter and freezing your gonads off and not able to build a fire. Old school is just a term for the different decades of being in the service and how it was done back when. But if your not as mean as woodpecker lips and able to move mountains then you will never get it.
(3)
(0)
6
6
0
Not knowing what the hell is going on today, rifles don't look like rifles, combat dress is nothing like it was 60 years ago. We had no knee pads, no gloves. no goggles , no BP vest , no MRE or what ever took the place of c rations., don't know if a good kick in the ass is still with us or not., no fancy quarters, only had Quonset huts or tents. any older than that we would be in the cave man days, I know from WW11 till at least 1959 seems not much changed, after that,, today I would not know where to start. so I guess 60 years could be considered old school.
(6)
(0)
6
6
0
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google