Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Have you ever been hazed in the military???

In 1968 when I turned 18, I registered for the draft.
Had lot's of returning vets telling us high schoolers, "Don’t go unless you just HAVE to!"
Before I graduated in 1969, I recieved an updated draft card rating me "1A" on June 1, 1969!
I immediately went to my local draft board and filed for a college deferment. It went through.
I enrolled in college in Sept 1969.
Didn't take me long to figure out I wasn't college material. The only class I passed was PE!
Fortunately, LBJ decided to institute the draft.
If not, they were fixing to snatched me up!
My draft lottery number was "324"!
LBJ claimed he would draft up to number 275.
No chance for me to be drafted, I dropped out of school and went back to work.
When the hostilities were over (?) in 1973, I had four years service, a pretty cushy job making really good money for a 22 year old at the time.
It was a "union" job!
Had I been drafted, my seniority would have continued.
If I volunteered for the military, they would have held my job, but I would have lost all previous seniority.
I couldn't see throwing that seniority away, so I didn't join after 'Nam.
Way too late in life, it dawned on me that I could have helped myself personally and developmentally had I just joined and tossed the seniority. But, alas!!!

Friend that graduated 2 years ahead of me, volunteered for combat in 'Nam three times. They kept him in Germany his entire enlistment.

Hazing was not commonplace in my unit, harassment at RIP, Pre Ranger and Ranger School were abundant though!

...but I do have a funny story!!!
Right after my 18th birthday in 1968, I was the recipient of a free bus ride to Dallas to partake in a military sanctioned "Pre-induction" physical! 😃
We all stripped to our socks and skivvies. All our valuables in a small, olive drab sack on a string around our neck.
We were lined up, shoulder to shoulder, in a room.
An orderly came by with an open box of wooden tongue depressers and said, "Take one."
Then the order came to drop your drawers to your knees.
One goofball across the room, used his tongue depresser to lift his penis. Then a doctor (?) came by to do a "short arm" inspection. Goofball was ordered to, "Skin it back!".
The doctor took one look and said, "Boy, you better wash that thing before it falls off!"
The doctor looked at the tongue depresser holding up the fetid penis, snatched it out of the goofball's hand, said, "Open wide!" and shoved the depresser in the guys mouth to check his teeth!
The only thing that stopped peals of laughter was the stern looks of the military medical staff!

Martin Strummer: I also remember our induction physicals. We all boarded a greyhound bus headed to Jackson Mississippi. At one stop the 2 rocket scientists went into a Jr Food Mart and purchased small Edwards pecan pies. They threw the pies away and ate the small foil pie shell it came in thinking the foil would show up as ulcers. Nope, didn’t fool the docs. They kept them over the weekend, fed them laxatives, took fresh x-rays and classified them 1A. A big black guy bent over but grabbed his face cheeks. They made him maintain the position and brought all the staff to seen this poor dumb SOB. Another brought his 2” thick folder of medical records telling them he had medical and mental problems. The doc round filed them in the wastebasket and told him that them did their own testing and he would be spending the weekend with them also. Yeah, fun times. My draft number was 6 and I joined the National Guard.

ditto. shellback and bluenose.

It is a rite of passage.

Pinning the crow, pinned dolphins, blue nose, shellback but like Teal said I didn’t consider it hazing just tradition.

I wasn’t in the military, wanted to be a Marine more than anything, signed one of those cards in high school, totally forgot about it, had scholarships to play football in college, recruiter and Bird colonel showed up at house, to talk, told them the war was stopped and I had no reason now to go , I was going to play ball, anyway the crap we had to put up with as a Freshman ball player took everything I could do not to knockout half the team, can’t imagine being in military and taking chit, I don’t care when I see red about anything, but I was glad I made it through the first year.

Will add, I was in ROTC in college, I guess I had a problem with authority be screamed at by someone I looked straight down on and could break in half like a stick, I didn’t have the makeup to respect wimpy officers. I admire you men that severed, will always wish I had.

One of the guys that went to Dallas with us was diabetic. Since we all had our personal items and money, Robin made about 30 bucks peeing in sample bottles!
No idea if it worked.

When I was qualified as flight mechanic they zip tied me to a gurdie, hit me with aircraft soap and a firehose and left me having from the hoist for awhile. The chief just stood back nodding in approval.

Yes.

Some attempts as a freshman in college. No way would I put up with that crap.

Prop blast. No longer allowed

Ever have to do the ‘Elephant walk’ ?

The one constant thing among my comrades and I,was constant abuse!
We bitched and argued all the time. There were only a couple good meals in the MREs, and we’d fight over them! We fought over card games, we fought over guard duty, and every other little damn thing all the time!
But we all stuck together, and if any of us had a problem, we closed tanks and helped eachother out!
That’s what the military teaches you!
I’ve always said, I wouldn’t do it again for a million dollars, but I wouldn’t take two million for the experience. I made some lifelong friends, guys who would help you hide a body if need be!
Reon

“We hate each other, but we hate you more”