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55 years later the only term I still use, ham and mutherf....kers, which I like, the only kid in II Corps, apparently, that did. I make 4 or 5 pots every winter. The rate of exchange back then was...1 each pound cake equals 3 each ham and lima beans.

I was always fascinated by the inventiveness of derogatory language:

meat rocket
food blister
200lbs of chewed bubblegum
chicken noodle hoagie
WM (Marine speak for Woman Marine but really means Walking Mattress)

The Brits are also very good at it

Thick as a whale omelet
Cock handed twat

Couple of my favorites CPT [bleep] (self explanatory) and QFA (acronym for quit messin around)

Guess I mispelled it. Should read CPT Fockahwee

Nut to Butt: stack really tight to get through the FFF (Fatal Funnel of Fire aka doorway) quickly. Of course you had to have had tons of the 7 Ps mentioned above so you don’t shoot your buddy in the back of the head.

Another one: Practice makes Permanent.

Changed from practice makes perfect. If you do the wrong crap over and over it becomes ingrained and it sure ain’t perfect.

FANG F'n Air National Guard
RAFSOB Regular AF SOB

There was something my father used to always say, "How up!" He would use it when it was time to leave (for school, for work, for church, etc.)

When I was a little kid, I asked him what it meant. He said he didn't know, but he picked it up in the army. He just knew it meant time to go.

He'd been dead for a few years before it dawned on me what it meant. Dad trained in the pack artillery towards the latter part of WWII. He was part of a team that used mules to schlepp French 75s up mountainsides. The "HOW" part was short for howitzer. It's like "Saddle up!" or "Pack up!"

SOS known as S**t on s**t. Chipped cream beef on toast. Ate a lot of that in Army BCT.

TLAR, pronounced tee-lar, That Looks About Right, used for any critical setting or measurement.

E.g., "set your claymore a MINIMUM of 15 meters in front of your position." Private Tentpeg takes 5 steps forward - "ahh, TLAR".

See also, "Good enough for government work".

FUBAR

Heels, azz, head = sorry PLF

Task, condition, standard. Heard that a lot in the EIB training/testing and hands on SQT.

Noner
Red Ball
Tramp
Tittless WAF
Butter Bars

What The Fu-k, Over!

As screwed up as a football bat!

4th point of contact--butt

1-balls of feet
2-calves
3-thighs
4-buttocks
5-push up muscles

a proper PLF (parachute, landing, fall)

Army Medical Corps myself...

in Basic we had " Give me 5 No Goods" from the Sgt in charge of the sign in desk...

We'd count off, with one Nat Guard, 2 National Guard etc,, then they'd yell I didn't ask for National Guard, I asked for No Goods. So go to the end of the line... so they next 5 guys would come in counting off 1 No Good, 2 No Good etc.

Then our drill sgt would run in, and yell "you're in Second Platoon! even if you are NO Good, you're still Good for the 8 weeks your here, so get your asses back at the end of the line!"

They'd feed a 1000 RAs ( Regular Army) before they fed the 20 Reservist and Guardsmen, every darn meal. The our Drill Sgt would look at his watch, for 2 minutes after the last guy from our platoon, came out with a tray. Then he'd take his coffee cup to the dishwashing window, and walk across the chow hall in a loud yelling " if you're in Second Platoon and you're in here, YOUR WRONG"..... We'd stuff what we could in our pockets and weren't allowed to run in the Company area, so we got to the Formation area as quick as we could ( without supposedly running). If we weren't all there when the Drill SGT got there, it was a 5 mile run, or if we had to be somewhere, then we owed him the 5 mile run... which was usually more closer to 10 miles...

We each managed to wear out 2 pairs of combat boots in 8 weeks at Ft Sill, where I did basic...

I knew most of the acronyms in basic, as I was a military dependent. My dad did 10 years Marine Corps, and then 16 years Air Force and retired as a Colonel. My childhood was pretty much Marine Corps basic growing up. Army Basic Training was like Scout Summer Camp in Boy Scouts.

Well here you go - the whole enchilada, official US multi-service brevity codes. 76 pages worth starting on page 12. This used to be part of my business.
ALSA Brevity Guide

Enjoy,
Rex

Who knows, YGBSM?
And who can identify "fast, neat, average, friendly, good, good?"
Rex

TARFU = Things Are Really F-ed up
SNAFU = Situation Normal All F-ed up
NAVY = Never Again Volunteer Yourself

She!t on a shingle = any kind of meat on toast
Surf and turf = hot dogs and fish sticks
3x5s= square fish patties
Mid Rats= midnight rations (meal for crew coming on and other crew going off at midnight)

Port and Starboard shifts = 12 hours on, 12 hours off
water slug = torpedo launch w/an empty torpedo tube
Fire in the sky = glow from missile launch
Topside = outside on top of the submarine (or ship) or on the pier
Below Decks = in the sub
NUB = New Unqualified Body (hasn't earned his Dolphins yet)
Dolphins = breast insignia showing you have a working knowledge of the entire sub
Boy Butter = lubricant
PD = periscope depth - sub stays submerged, but is close enough to the surface to raise a periscope and antennas
Trash Can = ESM (Electronic Surveillance Measures) antenna ( to detect any nearby Radar)
TD = Test Depth - maximum designed depth the sub can repeatedly go
Goat Locker = Chief Petty Officer's quarters
Nick names like T9 - your name was too long or difficult to say, so the first letter and the number of letters that followed was now your new name.


I tried to put of that stuff out of my mind, now you are asking me to remember it

All the branches interpret order’s differently. For instance the order to secure a building.


The NAVY would turn out the lights and lock the doors.

The ARMY would surround the building with defensive fortifications, tanks and concertina wire.

The MARINE CORPS would assault the building, using overlapping fields of fire from all appropriate points on the perimeter.

The AIR FORCE would take out a three-year lease with an option to buy the building.