Most memorable private/cherries prank!

SGT Bryon Sergent — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 10:44:16 -0400

I know these will all differ per MOS but I have seen some of the funnier things on here, acronyms, movies, and such. So here goes. What are the most memorable pranks that you have pulled on the NEW privates.

I guess the most memorable one that we did in the Mechanized Infantry where to have a bunch of privates a top a M-113 jumping up and down to test shock movement on the tracks. Platoon Sergeant was pissed cause we had all the new guys in the platoon and one older guy up there for a total of 10.

Response by SFC William Swartz Jr made Apr 8 at 2014 10:47 AM

SFC William Swartz Jr — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 10:47:30 -0400

Searching for a box of grid squares, tank exhaust samples, BOOM check of main gun...

Response by SPC David Wyckoff made Apr 8 at 2014 12:15 PM

SPC David Wyckoff — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 12:15:43 -0400

Blinker fluid, left handed wrachet set. Muffler bearings, which by the way come to find out, are a real thing. Deuce and a half exhaust sample (UI jar with evidence tape). The funny part was watching some pvt try like hell to get the actual exhaust sample while some spc is revving the engine up and pouring black smoke out of the stack.

I got to witness the track shock movement joke. We arrived on a contact call to pull the pack out of a 113 so we could work on the 60k gen set that was in it. We drive up to find four pvts all jumping up and down on one side of the 113 like a bunch of monkeys. They had quite an audience standing around and the SGT in charge saw us walk up. He winked and told us what they were doing. Those guys jumped for at least five more minutes before they paid attention to everyone laughing and got down.

I can remember hearing the E-5 say, Nope you guys have to jump all at the same time to put enough pressure on the shock absorber to make it move.

Good times.

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Apr 8 at 2014 12:37 PM

SGT Bryon Sergent — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 12:37:27 -0400

Any of the older people here send any one after any prk E-7 batteries? That one got me in trouble!

Response by SGT Genty McFarland made Apr 8 at 2014 12:37 PM

SGT Genty McFarland — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 12:37:59 -0400

I remember when I first joined Smoke PLT, I had to the the exhaust sample in the field while being attached to FA. When we got back from the field we got several new soldiers and had them going around the track with a hammer and a piece of chalk making sure the M113A3 had no soft spots. If they found soft spots, by carefully listening for hollow sounds by pounding the hammer against the track, they would proceed to mark it with an X.
Fun times at hood!!

Response by CW2 Jonathan Kantor made Apr 8 at 2014 3:19 PM

CW2 Jonathan Kantor — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 15:19:22 -0400

Always loved the ID10T Form request. Change the time on the Zulu clock, get some Chem-light batteries... Keys to the dropzone... There are a lot of them actually. Anyone ever get anyone good with one of these? I had a guy going from officer to officer looking for a way to change the Zulu clocks and they just played along.

I once low-crawled across the floor about 20 meters to paint on a buddy's boots in white out (This was back in the black boot days).

I once got a friend's cover, stuffed it into a coke can (Cut the top off with my leatherman as smoothly as possible, soaked it with water, sealed it, and froze it. At the end of the day, he had a coke can on his desk and he had to nuke his hat out of the solid cylinder of ice before he could leave :)

Response by SFC Stephen P. made Apr 8 at 2014 4:15 PM

SFC Stephen P. — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:15:56 -0400

I had a CQ runner call down to the 24 hour shoppette to find out what time they close.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 8 at 2014 4:21 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:21:15 -0400

One of my previous OIC's, he was told that after BOLC, he needed to report to his first Battalion Commander in Dress uniform, so he showed up to HQ's in Blues trying to report to the BC

Response by SSG Jonathan Rowley made Apr 8 at 2014 4:31 PM

SSG Jonathan Rowley — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:31:29 -0400

I worked on an airfield and used to get boots to tell me A: what a "Bravo Alpha 1100 November" with a "S.T. ring" was and B: where to find it on the airfield.

It usually took them all day to figure out what it was (Balloon with a String) so they thought it was a joke and didn't care to figure out where to find one on the airfield. the joke was on them once I pointed out that they were the weather balloons we sent out periodically that were found at Hangar 5.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 8 at 2014 6:12 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 18:12:39 -0400

I recently heard about someone getting a Soldier to search for "soft spots" on the armored vehicles....haha

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 8 at 2014 6:15 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 18:15:28 -0400

I also remember someone trying to get me with the BA11's lmao

Response by MSG Jose Colon made Apr 8 at 2014 6:22 PM

MSG Jose Colon — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 18:22:46 -0400

I was walking by in the motor pool and a180lbs and 6.5" lt was testing shock absorbers too on a 113. Same lieutenant, a few weeks later was painting pink chalk "x"s on the are or of an M60, he was checking and marking soft spots. I yelled at him to knock it of before our old CSM got there.

I also saw a helicopter road guard in the middle of the parade field.

A SFC asked me permission to get my SGT to find the NSN for a Bradley track pad pressure gage. My E5 sent one of his privates to get the proverbial box of grid squares.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 8 at 2014 8:16 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 20:16:55 -0400

So while its not really a prank, but our cherry jumpers on thier first jump after the Basic Airborne Course, often wore a red kevlar, with a green stem/shark fin attached to it. They also ended up with hostess cherry pies in their pockets, and often their faces painted with red lipstick.

Response by Col Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 8 at 2014 8:27 PM

Col Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 20:27:29 -0400

Great topic SGT S, here's a scene that some will be able to relate to, I just couldn't resist posting this one! lol

Response by SGT Craig Northacker made Apr 8 at 2014 8:53 PM

SGT Craig Northacker — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 20:53:22 -0400

Other than the old skyhook and canopy lights tricks, I learned why we always got the lousy c-rations even though the box was always upside down. Then passed it on as was only proper...and watched the cherries complain as we enjoyed the "good" ones.

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Apr 8 at 2014 9:59 PM

CPT Aaron Kletzing — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 21:59:48 -0400

When I got to my first unit (in Hawaii) as a new 2LT, we were out training on the big island, and a SSG put a rotten oyster inside my MICH helmet, between the skull pads and the kevlar shell. I wore that rotten oyster around on my head for a few days and was asking people if they smelled something nasty. The end of the story is that I got him back nice and good -- but that's another story for another time, and if I tell it here I will get some 'Down' votes from the more conservative among us, and thus hurt my Influence Score.

Response by SN Alan West made Apr 8 at 2014 10:48 PM

SN Alan West — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 22:48:02 -0400

We put a guy in foul weather gear and gave a boathook and sent him up to the foc'sle (front of the ship) and told him that he had mail buoy watch and that a helicopter would fly over and drop the ship's mail into the water and he had to grab it with the boathook before it sank. We told him if he let the mail sink and the crew found out they would come to voice their displeasure (cough, cough, wink, wink). He stood up there for two or more hours until the Bosun asked him what he was doing . . . damn we were mean! LOL

Response by SSG Daniel Deiler made Apr 8 at 2014 10:59 PM

SSG Daniel Deiler — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 22:59:55 -0400

My first duty assignment as a 92A was with the 311th Military Intelligence BN out of Ft. Campbell, KY. I will never forget my very first Sergeants Time Training when my Squad Leader, SGT Vogel, asked me for some help the day prior. He asked me to make sure I went to supply before COB and get two boxes and 5 rolls of grid squares and bring them with me to training the next day. Wanting to make a good first impression I said "Roger Sergeant," snapped out of parade rest to attention, did an about face and started running out of the motor pool and down the road to the company supply room which was about 2-3 blocks away as it was closing in on 1700. I was about halfway there when it slowly started to dawn on me...I stopped running since there was no longer any hurry.

That evening I found an old map, an E-Xacto knife, two small boxes and some scotch tape and went to work doing as I was told.

The next morning you should have seen his face when I handed him two boxes and 5 neat and tidy rolls of grid squares.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 9 at 2014 9:06 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 09:06:37 -0400

When we went to gunnery while stationed in Germany we had to use the rail system to get the tanks and Bradley's to Grafenwoehr. Every now and then we would be blessed to get a brand new private in a few days before and tell him that he needed to go get his train ticket from the Squadron CSM!! That was never a boring report back of "why do you guys hate me so much?" LOL.

Response by SN Alan West made Apr 9 at 2014 10:19 AM

SN Alan West — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 10:19:14 -0400

We would also tell new guys to the ship to get 100 feet of chow line or water line but one of my favs was telling them to get a BT Punch, the joke entails sending them to the biggest, strongest Boiler Tech on the ship who would then punch them in the shoulder, hence the term BT Punch!

Response by LTC John Czarnecki made Apr 9 at 2014 11:59 AM

LTC John Czarnecki — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 11:59:20 -0400

Probably the most effective prank, which just about always worked, was to send a Cherry Ranger right outta RIP off on an urgent mission to get hold of a set of Back Blast Bags for the M67 90mm Recoilless Rifle.

Since the 90 comes right outta the arms room with canvas covers for both the muzzle and the breech, the Cherry having seen them invariably accepts it as Gospel that backblast bags exist, and being VERY motivated to accomplish whatever the task may be, 100% and then some, he'll damn near kill himself trying to find 'em.

Sometimes an enterprising but slow-witted Ranger might even poke his head into the First Sergeant's office, inquiring as to the whereabouts of those elusive bags. Whoa. Antics then ensued.

Response by SSG Jeffrey Spencer made Apr 9 at 2014 12:57 PM

SSG Jeffrey Spencer — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 12:57:47 -0400

Springtime was a time to change the air in the tires.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 9 at 2014 1:16 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 13:16:18 -0400

when a private first show up in battalion tell him to go to Camo stick man(CSM) office to get his supply of camo paint. hardly ever see or hear about soldiers pulling this one on new soldiers.

Response by CPT Kevin Schultz made Apr 9 at 2014 2:23 PM

CPT Kevin Schultz — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 14:23:03 -0400

One of my favorites was when I was in a mechanized infantry unit. I was a gunner on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle before I commissioned. They would have a new private perform the boom mic test during our pmcs. This consisted of having them yell BOOM into the end of the barrel. They would tell the private if he could be heard from inside it meant the barrel was fully operational. There was one guy they had screaming from the top of his lungs and kept saying we couldn't hear him. He could be heard and seen by the entire motor pool. This guy continued yelling BOOM even after a crowd gathered around him.

Response by MSG Timothy Smith made Apr 9 at 2014 3:14 PM

MSG Timothy Smith — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:14:01 -0400

Back in the early 70's, when Mech. Infantry units used the M-113A1s, we would send the newbies after the left handed ratchet sets. I sent one after a set after he couldn't find the spark plugs (they were ran by diesel). A buddy of mine in 3-35 Armor (M60A2's) sent a new 2LT up to Battallion to get the key to the travel lock in order to test the turret. You got to love those newbies.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 9 at 2014 3:21 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:21:46 -0400

This is not a private prank but I had a special Specialist that would be great at doing a task but never come back to tell you that it was completed. He instead would go sit by these two E-7s and go on the computer and look at trains. One of the E-7s was trying to get rid of him and told him to go look for a laser cutter. Well after an hour or so the other E-7 got concerned as he still had not come back and he went to go find him. He found him in the next building (where the two star command was) walking with a LTC looking for this laser cutter. When the E-7 tried to get the SPC to come back the LTC asked him if they found the laser cutter yet.....He quickly got him away from the LTC by saying yes we found one.

Response by SGT Dan Knispel made Apr 9 at 2014 4:19 PM

SGT Dan Knispel — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 16:19:53 -0400

While not technically a prank one of the funnest things I ever recall from my time in the service involved a SP4 and a fruit roll up. It was about the time they (the fruit roll ups) first came out. They were tasty, handy and I liked taking them to the field with me when we went out training. Well on this particular training exercise our new SP4 saw me eating one and asked what they were, I handed him one and told him to try it. I walked off at this point and didn't see him until later that evening. When I did I asked how he liked it and he said it tasted like plastic and he couldn't see how I could eat them like I did. It took me a moment to figure it out and when I did I asked him how he ate it. He replied that he took it right out of the paper tube it was in and took a bite. I said so then you didn't actually roll it open and take out the plastic sheet it was attached too? The look on his face was priceless. You just gotta love a speedy 4.

Response by Capt Andre Toman made Apr 9 at 2014 6:15 PM

Capt Andre Toman — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 18:15:31 -0400

One day at Balad AB, we were sitting around the squadron talking about what restaurant we all wanted to go to after we got back. One guy said Chili's was his favorite restaurant. This guy was pretty naïve (never been abroad, first deployment, etc.), so I told this guy that they had just opened a Chili's restaurant at Mosul. About a week later we get a mission to go up there. So, we take everyone's order after our preflight mission briefing and tell him we'll "call it in on VHF when we're about a half hour from landing." This guy was practically drooling the entire flight from Balad to Mosul. When we land and pull into the offload area, we send him out of the back of the C-130 with strict orders (no pun intended)--deliver the piece of paper with our "confirmation number" to the man in the orange reflective vest, and stay away from the props. This guy goes out there and confronts the guy in the orange vest, they must have been talking for five minutes, I wish could hear what was being said. I'm sure it was along the lines of: "I'm here to get my order from Chili's, are you the guy?" "Huh, what are you talking about?" "Give me the Chili's order man", "What the hell are you talking about?" "Quit messing with me. Give me the Chili's I know you have it!" "Um, you think those guys are messing with you?"

What's really funny is we were redeploying back to the states and sitting in the pax terminal at Ali Al Salem, before going to Al Udeid, watching a some silly Base or Air Force station, like AFN, and the AAFES commercial came on. They had their little thing on restaurants in the AOr. Well, let me tell you something. Apparently there really is a Chili's in the AOR, and it was at Al Udeid!

Response by SPC Charles Brown made Apr 9 at 2014 6:37 PM

SPC Charles Brown — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 18:37:49 -0400

I once got even with a soldier who pissed me off. I did this by wiring his doorknob to an electrical outlet in the middle of the night, the fun was in the morning when he kept getting shocked while trying to open his door. We blamed it on the carpeting in his room having an overabundance of static electricity. He never figured out who did it to him. If he is on here and reads this he knows now.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 9 at 2014 9:11 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 21:11:21 -0400

Before I joined the Army my boss at the car wash I worked at sent me across the street to the Home Depot to get Fallopian Tubes for the car wash. I asked several
People who attempted to help me find them and then finally someone told me "I don't think we sell those here." I was definitely got good with that one.

Response by CPT Keith B. made Apr 9 at 2014 11:17 PM

CPT Keith B. — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 23:17:40 -0400

This happens in the officer ranks as much as the enlisted ranks. We convinced our new Battalion S-4 (a promising young 1st Lieutenant filling a Captain's job) that he needed to go to the Range Control Office on Ft Hood to secure the keys to the "maneuver box" in preparation for an upcoming field training exercise. The retired NCOs at Range Control weren't in on it, but played along great. They told him that he needed to come back with a requisition signed by the Battalion S-3. And that's when the fit hit the shan. MAJ L wasn't too happy with us (me, the Battalion Maintenance Officer and my good friend the Support Platoon Leader).

Response by TSgt Scott Hurley made Apr 10 at 2014 2:38 PM

TSgt Scott Hurley — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 14:38:51 -0400

Ok, the proverbial K-9P spray, was given to me. I'll never live that down. I know if someone asked me to go get a piece of flight line, I would ask if they want concrete or swiss cheese flight line. Because I know my flight lines... LOL...

At Langley AFB, Fuel Cell had a newbie go to all the shops to collect air samples. He had garbage bags that he had to collect the air samples in. It was funny seeing him hold those bags up with duck tape to seal them up.... lol

But this one comes from Vietnam. My father told me this since he was instigator of it. He and his tent mate both got Christmas trees (fake) from home. One was smaller than the other. So they put the smaller one outside the tent. They acted like it was real and watered it. After a few days the exchanged it with the taller one. They made it look like it grew. I do not what after, but I am sure the Marine Platoon was convinced it was real. lol

Response by SGT Thomas Spann made Apr 10 at 2014 3:25 PM

SGT Thomas Spann — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:25:00 -0400

When we would go down range to {Pinion Canyon (near Trinidad, CO) we would put the new medics out on storm watch or assiign them to put out pogey bait under the traps and check periodically to see if we caught any becuase they carried infected fleas. LOL

Response by SGT Craig Northacker made Apr 10 at 2014 9:25 PM

SGT Craig Northacker — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 21:25:47 -0400

We had a 2LT that even the XO couldn't stand. One day he comes running down and yelling for me to call CID, that he had a drug bust he was making. I informed him that company commanders really do not like CID in their AO's. He then told me he was acting company commander and had that authority. I reminded him that he was the OIC, and that it took an order to make him acting CO. Then he ordered me to call-and when I finally agreed and picked up the phone, he froze and asked why I was now calling them?

What I did not bother to point out to him, and what finally dawned him very slowly, was that he was holding the syringe, and at that point in criminal justice, his prints would have been the only ones on the needle.

When I told the XO, he howled.

Response by SGT Craig Northacker made Apr 10 at 2014 9:29 PM

SGT Craig Northacker — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 21:29:18 -0400

We had a new top who came into our unit. His greatest attribute was kissing up to the CO. He did not do a whole lot of work. Some of our guys got fed up and put a gold brick on his desk. He came in to me after he arrived the next morning and asked what a gold brick was doing on his desk. I told him it was a singular honor to select people. He was impressed and put it on the shelf.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 11 at 2014 12:08 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 12:08:16 -0400

Lets see there is the classic sending private to the supply sgt for some BA-11s. Or collecting of an exhaust sample, or checking for weakness in armor and marking with an "X" in chalk, or my personel favorite sending new private to a different platoon to ask the other plt sgt for the PRK-E-7.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 11 at 2014 3:53 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 15:53:42 -0400

I have two. One was flat out hazing back then. We would get the Cherries fresh out of jump school. Throw them in their fart sack. Tie their feet up in the HPT lowering line. Secure the load and hang them out the window.

We had a butter bar XO. One of the gun chiefs had him go to supply to sign for the howitzer blank adapter. Supply shy told him it was up at BN HQ. XO got into a argument with CSM about it. He was sweating, red and walking faster than anyone I've ever seen when he came down to the gun line in the motor pool. We were hysterical when we heard him chew SSG .... Out. LMAO

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2014 8:06 PM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:06:23 -0400

Last summer at AT up in Ft Drum, we were in the field and as a maintenance soldiers we love to play pmcs pranks.. we gave our 92G some big clear trash bags and told eveyone to collect exhaust samples.. we went out on a recovery and they were all tagged signed and in a corner..Top came over and just shook his head laughing

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 26 at 2014 2:03 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 14:03:34 -0400

The metric crescent wrench.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 26 at 2014 2:17 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 14:17:39 -0400

In Security Forces, we called both the new folks and the pranks we played on them "Jeeps."

There were the old classics like:
- Going to MOC (Maintenance Operations Center) to get keys to the F-16s
- Going to vehicle dispatch to get keys to the HMMWV
- Finding amounts of propwash or jetwash (I hear this was a maintenance one too)
- 40 feet of flight line
- Going to the clinic to get fallopian tubes

But the three best I remember were these:
- In the weapons storage area, breaking open a chemical glowstick and pour it on the ground near the opening of a storage structure, then having the new guy respond to the structure as an exercise. They had one guy down to his underwear telling them he'd been contaminated with radiation (which they detected with the metal detector wand).
- Having the new guy respond to one side of a two-sided structure (requiring two teams to respond), while the other team shouts "Help, I'm trapped in here!" through the vent on the other side.

When I was stationed in Aviano, they had one of the K9 guys do a training video on how to properly take air samples outside of the kennel...with a breast pump.

Response by CW5 Sam R. Baker made Sep 5 at 2014 9:57 AM

CW5 Sam R. Baker — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 09:57:54 -0400

I was a Military Police Officer in Japan at Camp Zama, when we received a new PVT named Alexander. He was a very tall, lanky built Soldier who had a college degree, but not a lot of street smarts about him. One night I decided to have the Desk Sergeant call him on the radio to look behind the PX because there were complaints of loud screaming. I met him at the front of the PX and told him to go the opposite direction of me and search the back side and all dumpsters and we would meet in the middle. The young fellow at 4 am, used his flashlight to walk around the building, I never used a flashlight to remain dark adapted, so when he got to the dumpster, he peered inside to find bloodied legs and arms and started screaming himself. Thing was we were laughing our asses off cause we had placed a mannequin inside the dumpster of one of the women from inside the store and put it in the trash bloodied up, he swore it was real as he ran past us. That was one of Alexanders experiences, there are more, but I have to try and stop laughing as I type this, that was 26 years ago and I can still see it today!

Response by CW5 Sam R. Baker made Sep 5 at 2014 10:06 AM

CW5 Sam R. Baker — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 10:06:47 -0400

Private or WOJG, go get me a box of grid squares from supply.

Response by SFC Walter Mack made Jan 3 at 2015 11:44 PM

SFC Walter Mack — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:44:34 -0500

The best one we pulled was when we had a new LT go looking for a BFA for the 25mm Bushmaster chain gun. The guy went to the armory, then to the company for a requisition form, then back to the armory where the whole PLT was laughing our butts off. He was not impressed, and didn't have a sense of humor. We spent a lot of time with that turd around until he finally left. No one was sad to see him go.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 16 at 2015 6:35 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 18:35:23 -0500

I'm starting to think I shouldn't have sent my ex-wife for some ID-10-T forms.

Response by SFC Walter Mack made Jan 19 at 2015 7:27 PM

SFC Walter Mack — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:27:58 -0500

If you take a fan & a bottle of baby powder, then pour the baby powder at the base of the door and blow it under with the fan, everything in the room will be covered in powder. It's a great prank to pull right before field day.