Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire What I learned after enlistment

Surprised to find I had to pay the Barber for the haircut I got in basic.

And yes, recruiters lie.

The worst was being a Warrant Officer, you salute/get saluted by EVERYONE.

Every officer rank is above yours and obviously every enlisted rank is below.

That said, I never saluted JO's.

I learned that officers didn't hang around in the places I was assigned...

Geedunks.. (vending machine candy/ice cream etc)

"There's a right way, the wrong way, and the Navy way..."

Torpedos are "fish"..

No walls - they're 'bulkheads'.
No stairs - they're 'ladders'
No ceiling - that's 'overhead'
No left - that's 'port'
No right - that's 'starboard'
No rope - that's 'line'
Big line = 'hawsers'
Not a parking lot - that's the 'grinder'.
You don't say "sir" to a female officer
You don't look at anything other than the EYES of a female officer..
'Up & forward starboard, down & aft port' (to action stations)
Torpedo fuel is "pink lady" (Mk 14 steam fish)
A drip or drips is definitely NOT "flooding"..
Rolled hats are worn by gay skimmers ( I just threw that in)..

The rule in basic to avoid details is to stay in the middle of every line and NEVER speak unless spoken to. Do nothing to attract any kind of attention.
I avoided 90% of the details that way.

I learned that a Chief, Senior Chief, or Master Chief is worth their weight in Gold.

I learned that if you take care of your people, your people will take care of the job.

Petty Officers are experts at their professions.

Day cat shots and traps are fun...night cat shots and traps are work

Flying is is the best job in the world.

Flag ceremonies are special ( and worth teaching that fact to people at sporting events)

If you can speak after TAPS is played, I'd rather not be in your presence.

That's the truth

Being a warrant has to be tough but a decent Warrent officer gets more respect from enlisted men than many line officers.

No, not in the least, concerning tough. You get to tell a whole bunch of officers to pound sand (JO's are mostly 'afraid' of Warrants) and of course enlisted like us.

It's a neat place to be.

We had a meterologist CW3 that lived to tell everyone to #sand.

"I don't control the f'n weather, [bleep], I just try to predict it."

Whiners suck.
farting while waiting in ambush can cause chain reaction giggling among grown men.
mags, frags and water get priority in your loadout.
You are never so tired that you can't run when properly scared.
No matter how bad things get you will find something funny about it.
combat chopper pilots are the bravest men on earth.


mike r

In boot camp I learned so many things I thought I had known before, just weren't so. But my real education occurred when I got to the fleet.

I learned that on a submarine you were a NUB, a sub-human, worthless, non-qual, air-wasting POS until you qualified ships and got your "fish." I learned that the fastest way out of that unenviable position was to keep your head down and mouth shut, to get qualified as fast as possible, and never go DINK (delinquent). Because the nail that sticks up, gets hammered down. I also learned to qualify watch stations as soon as possible and give your division and watch rotation some relief, because no one likes a sandbagger. Being a sandbagger leads us to point number two.

I learned you are going to get hazed on a submarine, there is no way out of it, period, until you prove yourself. The more you whine and cry and piss and moan about it, the worse it is going to get. Take it with class, and pull your load, and you will pass the test. Be a whiny baby, and you have entered a world of hurt.

I learned that in most cases, what you could do trumped who you were, or what rank you had. Not always, but usually. I learned when to say yes sir and shut up, and also when to speak my mind even if I was outranked.

I learned to never, EVER, volunteer for ANYTHING!!!

In several cases, I learned if you aren't terrified you just don't understand the situation.