Discipline
Discipline
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More from: "My Time in Service:"
Guard Duty. What a thing to think about at 0300 hours. I am awake for no apparent reason...but that happens to us old guys. Anyways, I am not talking about Combat Guard Duty...that is something I have never experienced...and those of you who had to guard a perimeter, or run an OP/LP for REAL, get all the respect I can send your way. I have no idea how incredibly mental pressure cooker that must be. Knowing the Enemy is out there...and when they might decide to attack. That is way above my pay grade.
No I am talking about regular run of the mill Guard Duty that us Grunts get from the Duty Roster. Granted, some of those are serious....but for those Guard Posts, they usually put trained MP's- or Selected individuals that know what they are doing. Like Area 51, or any Air Base, Navy Base, or Army Base.
But as an ordinary Grunt, you got two types of Guard Duty, at least in my experience. One where you have a rifle, but no ammo- or a nightstick. And one where you have live Ammo for your M 16, or a fully loaded .45 instead of a rifle.
And I don't know which scared me more. Having a weapon that can't shoot and is just for show. Or having a loaded weapon where I might have to make a split second decision ...and take a life.
Usually I got around it by making Supernumerary...or Alternate. But sometimes the Staff Officer would get tired of me winning and just sitting in the Guard House eating Pizza. And I would have to do Guard Duty. Over in Germany, I could take money to pull someone else's Guard Duty...but they got the credit for pulling the Duty. They put a stop to that ...I think. LOL
One time I was pulling Guard Duty over at Wheeler AFB, for some reason they had a bunch of us walk the line of Choppers for a week. The second day of Duty, they called us all in and told us to stop peeing on the Chopper Tires.
"How in the world did you know we were doing that?"
The Chief Warrant Officer in charge laughed.
"Well, first of all, pee smells like pee. And our Mechanics and Crew hate that smell on their nice pretty birds. Second of all, our Snipers saw you all."
I had a shiver.
I never knew that there were Snipers watching. So the watchers were being watched. I was under somebodies scope ... and man, that made the hair on my neck prickle. And I realized that even when a runway looks deserted, somebody is watching. Luckily, I just peed in the grass edge of the runway. LOL
There weren't many Posts where you had two (or more) Guards at the same location. But those were a lot easier ...I think.
And when you got a radio and some very specific "Standing Orders"...well, those came with some responsibility. And most of the Guard Duty was at Night...so you had to be careful.
Only twice in my Infantry time, did I see a guy get busted for sleeping on Guard Duty. And never for abandoning a Post.
But I did see a guy order a Pizza because there was a payphone outside the building he was guarding. And the Staff Duty just made him share it. And the new Standing Orders warned of an Article 15 if you used the PayPhone.
I liked the Posts where you could walk around. Especially in Winter.
And I was ready to yell "Bang" if you ignored my command to Halt.
Not sure what I would have done if they kept coming. LOL
Guard Duty. What a thing to think about at 0300 hours. I am awake for no apparent reason...but that happens to us old guys. Anyways, I am not talking about Combat Guard Duty...that is something I have never experienced...and those of you who had to guard a perimeter, or run an OP/LP for REAL, get all the respect I can send your way. I have no idea how incredibly mental pressure cooker that must be. Knowing the Enemy is out there...and when they might decide to attack. That is way above my pay grade.
No I am talking about regular run of the mill Guard Duty that us Grunts get from the Duty Roster. Granted, some of those are serious....but for those Guard Posts, they usually put trained MP's- or Selected individuals that know what they are doing. Like Area 51, or any Air Base, Navy Base, or Army Base.
But as an ordinary Grunt, you got two types of Guard Duty, at least in my experience. One where you have a rifle, but no ammo- or a nightstick. And one where you have live Ammo for your M 16, or a fully loaded .45 instead of a rifle.
And I don't know which scared me more. Having a weapon that can't shoot and is just for show. Or having a loaded weapon where I might have to make a split second decision ...and take a life.
Usually I got around it by making Supernumerary...or Alternate. But sometimes the Staff Officer would get tired of me winning and just sitting in the Guard House eating Pizza. And I would have to do Guard Duty. Over in Germany, I could take money to pull someone else's Guard Duty...but they got the credit for pulling the Duty. They put a stop to that ...I think. LOL
One time I was pulling Guard Duty over at Wheeler AFB, for some reason they had a bunch of us walk the line of Choppers for a week. The second day of Duty, they called us all in and told us to stop peeing on the Chopper Tires.
"How in the world did you know we were doing that?"
The Chief Warrant Officer in charge laughed.
"Well, first of all, pee smells like pee. And our Mechanics and Crew hate that smell on their nice pretty birds. Second of all, our Snipers saw you all."
I had a shiver.
I never knew that there were Snipers watching. So the watchers were being watched. I was under somebodies scope ... and man, that made the hair on my neck prickle. And I realized that even when a runway looks deserted, somebody is watching. Luckily, I just peed in the grass edge of the runway. LOL
There weren't many Posts where you had two (or more) Guards at the same location. But those were a lot easier ...I think.
And when you got a radio and some very specific "Standing Orders"...well, those came with some responsibility. And most of the Guard Duty was at Night...so you had to be careful.
Only twice in my Infantry time, did I see a guy get busted for sleeping on Guard Duty. And never for abandoning a Post.
But I did see a guy order a Pizza because there was a payphone outside the building he was guarding. And the Staff Duty just made him share it. And the new Standing Orders warned of an Article 15 if you used the PayPhone.
I liked the Posts where you could walk around. Especially in Winter.
And I was ready to yell "Bang" if you ignored my command to Halt.
Not sure what I would have done if they kept coming. LOL
Duty
Guard
Mission
Soldier
Discipline
Posted 2 d ago
Responses: 2
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SGT Kevin Hughes
I never made Supernumerary or Alternate throughout my ten months of training at Ft.Lewis,but after my return from Vietnam,and reaching the NCO plateau,onre of the duties of Cadre at Ft.Polk was running Guard Mount with the AIT trainees,very,interesting experience indeed even caught one doofus with a loaded magazine,live freakin ammo in his weapon,Never knew what happened to the young man definitely Stockade time in his future,Guard duty or manning the Perimeter in that terrible green place was interesting too,nothing reaching the level of intensity of a night ambush you understand,but the company perimeter was better than LPs they got a little hairy a few times,got to use the brand spanking new Starlight scope,heavy son of bitch,glad when the Battalion commander took it back,don’t think he trusted us lowly dirt balls with Raytheon’s expensive ,experimental night vision, Welcome Home Brothers.
I never made Supernumerary or Alternate throughout my ten months of training at Ft.Lewis,but after my return from Vietnam,and reaching the NCO plateau,onre of the duties of Cadre at Ft.Polk was running Guard Mount with the AIT trainees,very,interesting experience indeed even caught one doofus with a loaded magazine,live freakin ammo in his weapon,Never knew what happened to the young man definitely Stockade time in his future,Guard duty or manning the Perimeter in that terrible green place was interesting too,nothing reaching the level of intensity of a night ambush you understand,but the company perimeter was better than LPs they got a little hairy a few times,got to use the brand spanking new Starlight scope,heavy son of bitch,glad when the Battalion commander took it back,don’t think he trusted us lowly dirt balls with Raytheon’s expensive ,experimental night vision, Welcome Home Brothers.
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SGT Kevin Hughes
Oh, we had one of those guys too! Somehow he got live rounds and loaded his .45...and it went off while he was playing with it. And man, that thing sounded like a cannon out there in the swamps of Louisiana. And where all those Officers and Senior NCO's came from I will never know, but he had more Brass around him than the ammo dump! And he to a summary court martial out of it. And the Amorer buddy that let him draw his .45 got the Max Article 15 punishment and lost a stripe. So I guess idiots are universal!
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PO3 Edward Riddle
One of our duties for a while, was going back and forth across the river, looking for the bad guys with the Starlight Scope, Brother Phil. This was in late '68 or early '69 and I'm sure it was a different version from the one you guys used as you had the earlier version. I thought they were pretty awesome, as heavy as they were.
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SGT Philip Roncari
PO3 Edward Riddle
I think we actually had the prototype ,this was in early 1967, The unit couldn’t leave the company night perimeter,we could not take it on ambush patrols or even LPs,it stayed with the Headquarters group ,LT,company RTO and head Medic when not use,remember it was pretty loud warming up and the fuzzy green images were disconcerting,and a heavy platform to be sure, Welcome Home Brother,Phil.
I think we actually had the prototype ,this was in early 1967, The unit couldn’t leave the company night perimeter,we could not take it on ambush patrols or even LPs,it stayed with the Headquarters group ,LT,company RTO and head Medic when not use,remember it was pretty loud warming up and the fuzzy green images were disconcerting,and a heavy platform to be sure, Welcome Home Brother,Phil.
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Your reflection captures the very different weight between routine guard duty and the intense reality of combat guard posts. The way you distinguish the everyday roster assignments—standing watch over a base or facility—from the unimaginable pressure of perimeter duty in hostile territory shows respect for those who’ve faced that burden. https://www-servicetitan.com
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PO3 Edward Riddle
What's with the commercial breaks, anyway? Isn't someone watching, trying to catch supposed contraband postings?
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