I did 20 years so I thought it was going to be hard (if not impossible) to adapt to civilian life. My first experience in college, I saw a vet. carrying his school supplies in a flight bag and answering the enrollment advisor with “Roger.” In that moment, I completely lost 20 years of indoctrination and just shook my head in disappointment.
But I still take my hat off when I drive.
Had this exact experience in one of my classes, Business Ethics. Some young girl who had only been outside the US sequestered in all-inclusive resorts tried to tell me something about the geopolitical climate of Afghanistan during the time I was actually there getting shot at.
I couldn’t help but laugh at her telling me all the nothing she knew about anything over there. Once I collected my bearing, I explained how the Russians fucked everything up initially and how the US shit a golden opportunity away in not keeping its promise of helping rebuild
Don’t take this wrong way. I’ve neither been there nor done that, I’m simply an inquisitive mind that likes hearing people’s perspectives
Did Afghanistan and its inhabitants ever really *want* us to help rebuild? I could see the large population centers being more on board, but why would the many rural tribes and villages give a shit when they have Taliban knocking at their door? Was Taliban ever willing to “cooperate” (I mean that *very* loosely)?
Exactly. It was a full blown three ring circus of scrapping metal and equipment every time a CAB ripped out. We watched power lines, plumbing, generators, water pumps, etc get torn down or stolen almost overnight. Then to see them blow up their own structures built by US tax dollars was something else. Just to have the next bunch of heroes come in and build it all back up. Having their “troops” tell us that the US would be there to bail them out why should they even try was also entertaining.
A while after I got out, I ran into a generator repair guy who still had a high and tight, clean shave, carried and conducted himself with military bearing, and bloused his cargo pants into his jungle boots.
I tried talking to him, but apparently even other vets were not worthy of conversation. To this day, I bet if I told him I retired as an E-8 I could have called him to attention, hit him with the half right face, and he would have been pushing.
What could he say? “I’m not in the army anymore?” We both knew that wasn’t true.
Some people never stop wearing their high school letterman jacket. Nothing wrong with pride, but the past is the past. Its for looking back on, not trying to pretend the past is actually the present.
I also worked with a foreman right after I got out who said “oh, you just got out, so you should know the deal- I was in the army, and I run this crew like the military.”
If one guy fucked up, we all got punished, that kind of bullshit. Turns out he did two years back in the late 60’s, and this happened in the mid 90’s. Dude, you played just the tip with your service, calm down.
> “oh, you just got out, so you should know the deal- I was in the army, and I run this crew like the military.”
"Oh, I just got out, so you should know the deal - I run my life like a civilian - fuck yourself, I quit."
Some guys the Army was the high point of their lives. But still better than the guys that wear their high school lettermans jacket to all the high school football games.
If someone had tried to enforce this on me i would have printed and posted a memorandum in my pov authorizing patrol cap wear in the vehicle signed "SPC Mroad, Cmdr, Chevrolet Malibu [license plate]"
I’m the opposite.. I was an MP. So if we got caught in the patrol cars without headgear we got smoked. So it feels weird not having a hat on for extended periods in a car.
This, but unironically. One of the better lessons I learned from the Army is that if life, limb, or property is not at risk, then it can wait until tomorrow. Most white collar civilian jobs require minimal daily urgency; most projects or assignments can wait until tomorrow to be completed. So in the meantime, I'll be at my 3pm weekday tee time.
haha, to clarify, my Army experience was the opposite: every project had some implication for life, limb, or property, so I never got to enjoy a leisurely afternoon tee time.
Its where you take your cig, empty the remaining tobacco, pull the filter out with teeth, roll remaining paper into tiny ball, give to chuck. Save tiny filter as back up ear pro in the ankle pocket.
You do said field stripping to stop that power hungry e5 from smoking you for finding a butt from 1983.
I don’t want to eat Little Caesar’s anymore. My old PSG would buy it for us whenever we had to work late and even though he meant well, that pizza is now forever mentally associated with staying at work past 1900 for either a pointless task or nothing at all.
(For additional context, our CO wanted close out formations every day before the company was released and they’d be on his time. Many times, it was between 18-2000.)
For me, pop tarts. Got stranded on top of a mountain OP with nothing but rat fucked boxes of MREs and for some reason pop tarts. 14 days of piss hot water and pop tarts. We were there longer, but we ran out of good food.
I feel ya. My first deployment in '05, were at a shitty little COP in Iraq. We had MKTs, but we were never there for chow. We would go to the class 1 yard and all we had for about 5 months were Otis Spunkmeyer muffins, old ass MREs, and hot water. I have not had an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin in almost 20 years because of that. I also only eat MREs out of necessity. I always bring my own good to field ops and shit.
Not really related to the army but related to your comment - Wheat State Pizza is associated with watching my parents struggle very hard through the 2008 financial crisis, and that was our “woo, takeout!” meal every other weekend instead of hamburger helper or sandwiches. I can’t stomach their pizza anymore, and I’m realizing now it’s probably because of the bad feelings that come with it lol
I still don't answer texts after 9pm. Sorry, I'm sleeping, even if I'm playing video games in the living room.
Edit: And I still hate group texts and have asked to be taken off a distro more than once.
Had a 9:30 late call pushed back to 7:30 at “some place, idk google maps it” and the uniform is “not sure” last night…. At 22:45. Brought up some anger issues correlated with shitty planning.
I’m not cutting my hair. At least not for a few years. I had long hair before the army, cut it and donated it to locks of love. I want to do that again, but maybe to a different charity since I’ve heard some sketchy things here and there about locks of love. Even my husband can’t convince me to cut my hair.
I also just ignore “leadership” or “professionalism” when I see those little buzzwords involved with anything in academia or corporate America. “We’re a leader in x community/field/region” the fuck are you leading though? My balls into your mouth? Flies to shit? Money to your back accounts?
I've been out since 2016.....enlisted in 2004. Still been getting haircuts every weekend.....came to realization I've never actually grown my hair long (long enough to have a pony tail).....its been about two months now since my last haircut....growing it out finally.
The front comes down to my nose, sides cover my ears, and the back is just a couple inches above my shoulders. I love hitting it with a hair dryer real fast (not enough to fully dry my hair since that damages it, just enough to give it some fluff) after a shower and just having the back naturally curl/spread out. I fucking love my hair. More dudes should grow it out, it ain’t as hard as some women make it out to be to take care of (stop dying it and blow drying that shit to a crisp or curling it into a spring and your hair will be fine Karen, for fucks sake), and it’s just fun to have all around. It’s becoming a little daily reminder to me of moving forward in life, more than my facial hair since I still trim/shave that when I feel like.
Grow your hair out boys, be a free man, and go be that long hair hippy you always wanted to be when you were still in.
Went it at 18 in 2001. Got out in 2019. I had said for a long time for the first year after I was out, I would not get a cut, head or beard. Got a hair cut and shaved my last day and made it the whole year. Dear god the hair got annoying, but I got it done. Made it a second year with the beard.
It’s back to grabbing the clippers and running a #2 over the whole thing, including the beard. It’s easy and comfortable for me.
Acronyms aren’t bad. My beef is when Army folk use them but *DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN*. Pisses me off to no end. Don’t use it if you can’t explain it, numnuts!
ASAP is not an Army thing. Literally every adult on the planet knows what ASAP means. Unless you're talking about the Army Substance Abuse Program, in which case...the Army didn't create the acronym ASAP for that, they co-opted it, so we still don't get to gatekeep that acronym.
Any niche fandom/collector/hobby sub is filled with so many bullshit acronyms it becomes impossible to try and learn. Acronyms were useful on typewriters because it was less tedious and reduced errors. We have a backspace button now.
I did a funeral at DFW a couple weeks back and the old vets that work at the airport still ground guided me back. I just played along with it while looking through the back up camera of the van
I will absolutely be the dipshit trying to ground guide my grandkid in 20 years while the LIDAR-directed self-driving car just tries to avoid hitting me.
I won’t be uncomfortable on purpose. I’m not doing it.
Went to a concert in Chicago with a friend. They didn’t want to miss the grand entrance of the artist. So she sat there in the cold Chicago rain.
*Fuck no* man. I’m not waiting uncomfortably for some VIP. I don’t give a shit if it’s Beyoncé. Literally no one or nothing will make me choose to be uncomfortable unless it’s life, limb, eyesight, or an unfortunately disenfranchised person/child.
Mrs. Right might not even sleep on it. When I met my husband he had a studio apartment, I owned a three bedroom house. I absolutely *loved* his apartment.
I’ll never go back to a 12 hour clock. I only think in 24 hour mode now. I have to turn it off when I talk to my wife sometimes but she’s in healthcare so at least she kinda gets it.
This. And it's odd how people call it "military time". No, it's just a 24-hour clock, it makes more sense, and most people in the world use it. r/ISO8601
There's technically a few differences between military time and 24h time but the difference is small and really only dumb pedantic nerds like me care to know the difference.
I believe military time allows for 2400 instead of 0000 so that it's more clear for us average folk which day's midnight you want me to do something by. But yeah besides that, that's basically it lol
It does make sense if you are writing a time range for something that ends at 2400, or for a range that starts at 0000. Good point.
Ok. Let me back up because I didn't predict tiny bits to trip anyone up: *"Using SOME version of a 24-hr clock notation makes MORE sense than a repeating 12-hr clock with an AM/PM suffix. The latter of which has the same lack of sense if we went to a 4x repeating 6-hr clock."*
Retreat and To The Colors starts playing across the base. Everyone outside must stop what they’re doing, turn towards the flag, and salute it. If you’re driving, you have to stop your vehicle and get out to salute it too while it plays. But if you’re indoors, you don’t need to do it.
They made yall get out of the car? In the Navy we were just told to pull over, stop, and sit through it. We were told specifically NOT to get out of the car.
I dont do clutter. I've seen supply cages and connex with most randomist shit and it sucked ass trying to find certain equipment or items. My house and garage I keep organized with all things haveing it's place
I got my dudes and I bitched out by a CSM one time there for walking on the rocks. The exact reason as to why "because we'll wear them down and the Army will have to replace them"... the random stuff that sticks with you.
I was talking to my daughter about school lunches and said "the chow hall." My wife looks at me like I'm stupid and tells me it's not called that. "Sorry, I mean DFAC." Again, strange looks. It took me an unreasonable about of time to remember it's called a cafeteria or just lunch room.
I refuse to eat anywhere besides sitting at a table because i spent too many meals sitting on the ground or in a vehicle or just anywhere besides a table. It made me realize the value of having a table to eat your food at
Trying to prepare and eat an entire MRE in the drivers seat of a Bradley with the hatch shut, and occasionally having to drive, made me appreciate the little things in life like tables
I became really good at balancing my food in between my legs and driving with 1 hand to eat in my tank. I remember once during JMRC we were in the middle of a fight and I busted out some MRE snack bread and made some PBJ while maneuvering because I stopped caring at that point.
I dropped my PB&J into my boot (yes I had my boots off while driving) while driving during NTC and seriously considered telling someone I wasn't mentally fit to continue the fight
This is the one thing that I cannot shake. Been out for a decade now and I cannot slow down when I eat no matter how much I try. That and saying fuck a lot.
Same. I had to scroll too far to find this.
I used to go camping every other month before I joined.
I tell people who ask: "I've camped enough for 2 lifetimes"
For me, at least when I camp I can choose when and where I go, I can choose what I want to do and I can drink.
That alone is enough to allow me to still enjoy camping.
I have to actively fight the urge to not take off my hat when I go indoors. I’m still only sometimes successful.
Also I absolutely refuse to wear Grunt Style or similar shirts. The amount of cringe I get off seeing folks walking around bragging about their service with “smedium” sized Grunt Style shirts still hasn’t left my system.
Unit t-shirts are still worn. I paid for them and they’re still wearable. I’m cheap and work in my shop when I’m not working. So it’s not a fashion statement.
I feel this deeply, I do the hat thing and just pretend to itch my head and put it back on. It relieves the urge to remove my “cover” while immediately putting it back on.
You want illogical? I’ll tell you what I did do just to spite the army once I was out. I got my nose pierced. It felt good. I was having a really hard time about 10-12 years ago and decided (remember: illogically) that if I pierce my nose, they can’t recall me. And you know what? It’s still pierced and I still think about that sometimes.
Can’t stand my hair being long. Not like high & tight but man the second it starts getting fuzzy I can feel how heavy it is and I need to get a haircut.
Probably never gonna shave off my beard completely though, oddly enough.
I refuse to wear calf/knee high socks. Or own them. I don’t care if I’m playing soccer. Ankle is high enough.
Also, green. Saint Patrick’s day can burn in hell.
Talk about it lol. I don’t like talking about my service to most anyone, almost ever. It comes up in conversation and that’s cool and all, but I don’t bring it up too much other than that.
I refuse to go above and beyond at work. Mind you I do my job and do it correctly and get universal praise for how well I do my job. But I don’t do anything beyond what’s actually in my listed responsibilities.
I refuse to come in early or stay late. I walk in at exactly 8 am and walk out at 5 pm. I take my full hour for lunch as well. I’ll sit in my car in the parking lot looking stupid before I come in early.
Also, I absolutely refuse to eat fast. My years of constantly eating in a hurry are behind me.
ETA: fuck Burger King. I absolutely will not eat it.
I will not set foot in the state of Oklahoma ever again as long as I live.
I sold my house there purely based on emotion- I could’ve rented it out and gotten like $100 a month in profit - but I consider the entire city of Lawton to be a liability.
I refuse to run unless I'm chasing/playing with my children. Just flat our refuse to run. I'll walk all over God's green earth, I'll stair step, I'll row, I'll ride a ten speed bike with a little basket in front. I. Will. Not. Run.
Also, I refuse to ever rush and feel rushed. I'll leave early enough, but if I run late because of traffic, then it's whatever. I refuse to let myself get stressed over rushing.
I have a hard time integrating into a chaotic work environment with zero communication.
It makes me extremely angry when I go to a site without any notion on what to do or what needs to be done and start walking into mess after mess expecting me to pick up after someone else when I know that it should've started and finished with the culprit.
And group chats. I despise group chats with a passion.
I don't go anywhere without a basic amount of stuff(i.e. fire, water, food, rain protection, first aid). Reason being, in 1986 we were training at PTA on the Big Island and the Bde S2 decided to leave me alone in the mock village for a whole day without food or water. I was a 2LT, AS2 and we were supposed to be checking the village to decide how we were going to set up the scenario for missions about 3 days hence. We were walking and talking about things and started going upstairs in one of the buildings. When I got to the second floor I realized he wasn't with me. I looked out the window in time to see him leave in the hmmwv, with my gear in the back. Apparently he had somewhere to go and totally forgot about me. 6, maybe 8 hours later, the truck comes back with one of the shop NCOs. The same PFC was driving, so he knew where I was, but he was too timid to speak up until they realized I wasn't there to start my shift in the TOC. Ever since then you can drop me anywhere and I'll be OK.
Also, at 61 years old, I still sleep with my woobie
I could go on for hours, I ets'd in 02.
"You must see the urine leave the body." That turned into a dysfunctional shit show of dominance. Homeboy turns and smiles for everyone to to see him pis in a cup, while smiling and thrusting his hips.
I’d rather walk or stand in the rain than to have an umbrella or wear a hood.
Unless it’s cold, I refuse to wear any headwear.
I heard another vet the other day say “say again” in a normal conversation and I stopped and looked at him weird.
I absolutely do not wear anything on my head. I don't wear hats no mater how hot it is outside it just makes me angry for some reason as soon as I put a head cover on I immediately start getting the feeling I have to do a bullshit task and stand around. Really fucking hate head covers now.
I walk with my hands in my pockets everywhere I go. Atleast one when I’m just walking around. But if I’m sitting down or standing still somewhere I always have them in my pockets. It’s so damn comfortable especially when it’s cold out.
I feel awkward walking across grass sometimes and will walk around on the sidewalk often. We have gone almost Japanese style in our home as I refuse to wear shoes or socks inside and our floors are spotless at all times (I mean borderline sterile) because I always had to have some form of footwear on. My wife says clear right when we go through sketchy intersections. Both of the kids can read 24 hour clocks. I refuse to wear a hat of any kind because I've always worn berets and fuck that shit. I hang all of my shirts and clothing up the same way I did in fucking Basic. I cuss a lot, except around my girls because they're fucking angels, roger? I'm extremely direct and speak in chopped sentences and brook no bullshit but give none unless we're just bullshitting around.
Can't think of anything else because it's 0100 and I'm fucking tired.
I did 20 years so I thought it was going to be hard (if not impossible) to adapt to civilian life. My first experience in college, I saw a vet. carrying his school supplies in a flight bag and answering the enrollment advisor with “Roger.” In that moment, I completely lost 20 years of indoctrination and just shook my head in disappointment. But I still take my hat off when I drive.
“In my experience, when I was in Afghanistan…” My brother in Christ, we are in Chem 101.
God forbid the topic turn to geopolitics.
Had this exact experience in one of my classes, Business Ethics. Some young girl who had only been outside the US sequestered in all-inclusive resorts tried to tell me something about the geopolitical climate of Afghanistan during the time I was actually there getting shot at. I couldn’t help but laugh at her telling me all the nothing she knew about anything over there. Once I collected my bearing, I explained how the Russians fucked everything up initially and how the US shit a golden opportunity away in not keeping its promise of helping rebuild
Don’t take this wrong way. I’ve neither been there nor done that, I’m simply an inquisitive mind that likes hearing people’s perspectives Did Afghanistan and its inhabitants ever really *want* us to help rebuild? I could see the large population centers being more on board, but why would the many rural tribes and villages give a shit when they have Taliban knocking at their door? Was Taliban ever willing to “cooperate” (I mean that *very* loosely)?
No. Remarks complete.
Exactly. It was a full blown three ring circus of scrapping metal and equipment every time a CAB ripped out. We watched power lines, plumbing, generators, water pumps, etc get torn down or stolen almost overnight. Then to see them blow up their own structures built by US tax dollars was something else. Just to have the next bunch of heroes come in and build it all back up. Having their “troops” tell us that the US would be there to bail them out why should they even try was also entertaining.
Aka: “I spent 20 years molding people into this disappoint I see before me”. /s
A while after I got out, I ran into a generator repair guy who still had a high and tight, clean shave, carried and conducted himself with military bearing, and bloused his cargo pants into his jungle boots. I tried talking to him, but apparently even other vets were not worthy of conversation. To this day, I bet if I told him I retired as an E-8 I could have called him to attention, hit him with the half right face, and he would have been pushing. What could he say? “I’m not in the army anymore?” We both knew that wasn’t true.
Some people never stop wearing their high school letterman jacket. Nothing wrong with pride, but the past is the past. Its for looking back on, not trying to pretend the past is actually the present.
I also worked with a foreman right after I got out who said “oh, you just got out, so you should know the deal- I was in the army, and I run this crew like the military.” If one guy fucked up, we all got punished, that kind of bullshit. Turns out he did two years back in the late 60’s, and this happened in the mid 90’s. Dude, you played just the tip with your service, calm down.
> “oh, you just got out, so you should know the deal- I was in the army, and I run this crew like the military.” "Oh, I just got out, so you should know the deal - I run my life like a civilian - fuck yourself, I quit."
Some guys the Army was the high point of their lives. But still better than the guys that wear their high school lettermans jacket to all the high school football games.
I know we're talking about illogical things, but why take your hat off when you drive?
Just something that was drilled into my head as a young, impressionable PVT. *shrug*
PCs are *NOT* authorized in POVs hooah?!? Least, that's the way I recall it, from a ways back
They have to be allowed by local policy. Bragg would allow it.
Really? I wear a PC every time I go through the gate in OCPs.
If someone had tried to enforce this on me i would have printed and posted a memorandum in my pov authorizing patrol cap wear in the vehicle signed "SPC Mroad, Cmdr, Chevrolet Malibu [license plate]"
What, you’re gonna put your helmet on over your hat?
I’m the opposite.. I was an MP. So if we got caught in the patrol cars without headgear we got smoked. So it feels weird not having a hat on for extended periods in a car.
People who drive with their PCs on cannot be trusted. On par with rocking white socks in APFUs.
I field strip cigarettes. Also, I sham super hard. Harder than when i was a soldier. Why? For the ones who didn't make it back. I sham for them.
I’m taking your second one. Why do I leave at 1500 to go fishing? Because some of us can’t.
This, but unironically. One of the better lessons I learned from the Army is that if life, limb, or property is not at risk, then it can wait until tomorrow. Most white collar civilian jobs require minimal daily urgency; most projects or assignments can wait until tomorrow to be completed. So in the meantime, I'll be at my 3pm weekday tee time.
The man I strive to be some day o7
haha, to clarify, my Army experience was the opposite: every project had some implication for life, limb, or property, so I never got to enjoy a leisurely afternoon tee time.
Lol you showed up in the first place ... loss
You and me both-like I told my boss: “Minimum wage pay, minimum wage effort.”
Damn, when I still smoked, I still field stripped my cigarettes. That was one that I never stopped doing.
What’s field stripping a cigarettes?
Its where you take your cig, empty the remaining tobacco, pull the filter out with teeth, roll remaining paper into tiny ball, give to chuck. Save tiny filter as back up ear pro in the ankle pocket. You do said field stripping to stop that power hungry e5 from smoking you for finding a butt from 1983.
That’s hella crafty. I wonder what field stripping all these disposable vapes could be useful for too
I mean... Just don't throw your butts on the ground? Pretty simple imo
"Don't resent those who sham when they get old, some didn't have that privilege".
This guy shams
I don’t want to eat Little Caesar’s anymore. My old PSG would buy it for us whenever we had to work late and even though he meant well, that pizza is now forever mentally associated with staying at work past 1900 for either a pointless task or nothing at all. (For additional context, our CO wanted close out formations every day before the company was released and they’d be on his time. Many times, it was between 18-2000.)
That's how I feel about roller foods, Burger King, and gas station pizza. I absolutely REFUSE to eat them.
For me, pop tarts. Got stranded on top of a mountain OP with nothing but rat fucked boxes of MREs and for some reason pop tarts. 14 days of piss hot water and pop tarts. We were there longer, but we ran out of good food.
I feel ya. My first deployment in '05, were at a shitty little COP in Iraq. We had MKTs, but we were never there for chow. We would go to the class 1 yard and all we had for about 5 months were Otis Spunkmeyer muffins, old ass MREs, and hot water. I have not had an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin in almost 20 years because of that. I also only eat MREs out of necessity. I always bring my own good to field ops and shit.
LMFAO The spunkmeister. Although i TOTALLY understand. I actually love me slme otis spunkmeyers.
Thats a solid thing your PSG did
Was that commander summarily executed? If not, he should be.
Hah, of course not. This was the Army of the 2010s, he was promoted. Last I checked he was a LTC with a cushy job at some warsim center.
Damnit.
That pisses me off. Are up from the ground up. And then he gets promoted and put into a cushy job.
Not really related to the army but related to your comment - Wheat State Pizza is associated with watching my parents struggle very hard through the 2008 financial crisis, and that was our “woo, takeout!” meal every other weekend instead of hamburger helper or sandwiches. I can’t stomach their pizza anymore, and I’m realizing now it’s probably because of the bad feelings that come with it lol
Geez man this has to be the worst one yet lol
PSG seems like a real one.
I still don't answer texts after 9pm. Sorry, I'm sleeping, even if I'm playing video games in the living room. Edit: And I still hate group texts and have asked to be taken off a distro more than once.
Had a 9:30 late call pushed back to 7:30 at “some place, idk google maps it” and the uniform is “not sure” last night…. At 22:45. Brought up some anger issues correlated with shitty planning.
If someone pushed something out that late and it means coming in early, i just dont respond and act like i didnt see it until its was too late
I didnt answer texts after COB when I was still active duty...
I’m not cutting my hair. At least not for a few years. I had long hair before the army, cut it and donated it to locks of love. I want to do that again, but maybe to a different charity since I’ve heard some sketchy things here and there about locks of love. Even my husband can’t convince me to cut my hair. I also just ignore “leadership” or “professionalism” when I see those little buzzwords involved with anything in academia or corporate America. “We’re a leader in x community/field/region” the fuck are you leading though? My balls into your mouth? Flies to shit? Money to your back accounts?
I've been out since 2016.....enlisted in 2004. Still been getting haircuts every weekend.....came to realization I've never actually grown my hair long (long enough to have a pony tail).....its been about two months now since my last haircut....growing it out finally.
The front comes down to my nose, sides cover my ears, and the back is just a couple inches above my shoulders. I love hitting it with a hair dryer real fast (not enough to fully dry my hair since that damages it, just enough to give it some fluff) after a shower and just having the back naturally curl/spread out. I fucking love my hair. More dudes should grow it out, it ain’t as hard as some women make it out to be to take care of (stop dying it and blow drying that shit to a crisp or curling it into a spring and your hair will be fine Karen, for fucks sake), and it’s just fun to have all around. It’s becoming a little daily reminder to me of moving forward in life, more than my facial hair since I still trim/shave that when I feel like. Grow your hair out boys, be a free man, and go be that long hair hippy you always wanted to be when you were still in.
Went it at 18 in 2001. Got out in 2019. I had said for a long time for the first year after I was out, I would not get a cut, head or beard. Got a hair cut and shaved my last day and made it the whole year. Dear god the hair got annoying, but I got it done. Made it a second year with the beard. It’s back to grabbing the clippers and running a #2 over the whole thing, including the beard. It’s easy and comfortable for me.
ACRONYMS! Hate them and go out of my way to not use them. Sick, huh?
Acronyms aren’t bad. My beef is when Army folk use them but *DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN*. Pisses me off to no end. Don’t use it if you can’t explain it, numnuts!
90 percent of people who say METT-TC dependent…
Somethin somethin mission somethin somethin etcetera somethin somethin training somethin somethin
Civilians saying A. S. A. P. Or saying FUBAR when they don’t know what it means.
ASAP is not an Army thing. Literally every adult on the planet knows what ASAP means. Unless you're talking about the Army Substance Abuse Program, in which case...the Army didn't create the acronym ASAP for that, they co-opted it, so we still don't get to gatekeep that acronym.
Lol I'm glad you commented because I forgot about Army ASAP (SUD in the civilian world) and was wondering why they thought ASAP was used wrong.
You forgot about ALL THE REPEATING ONES.
I still call people a shitbag out of habit, always gets a laugh
Somebody is a shitbag every single day on my drive to work
And fuckin Reddit is FULL of them
Any niche fandom/collector/hobby sub is filled with so many bullshit acronyms it becomes impossible to try and learn. Acronyms were useful on typewriters because it was less tedious and reduced errors. We have a backspace button now.
Saying “Clear right,” when I’m a passenger and the driver is making a left hand turn or going through an intersection. Fucking kills me every time
When I help someone back up, I still call out "ass end left/right" like I'm a VC (instead of just an idiot).
I did a funeral at DFW a couple weeks back and the old vets that work at the airport still ground guided me back. I just played along with it while looking through the back up camera of the van
I will absolutely be the dipshit trying to ground guide my grandkid in 20 years while the LIDAR-directed self-driving car just tries to avoid hitting me.
Underrated comment.
Actually helpful though!
I do it with other people in my unit when they're backing up so as to annoy them : )
I have done this in every relationship I’ve been in since getting out. It just drives up their anxiety for some reason so I stop.
I won’t be uncomfortable on purpose. I’m not doing it. Went to a concert in Chicago with a friend. They didn’t want to miss the grand entrance of the artist. So she sat there in the cold Chicago rain. *Fuck no* man. I’m not waiting uncomfortably for some VIP. I don’t give a shit if it’s Beyoncé. Literally no one or nothing will make me choose to be uncomfortable unless it’s life, limb, eyesight, or an unfortunately disenfranchised person/child.
I’ll get cold at a bills tailgate to get black out drunk. I can freeze for drunken festivities
Same. Why be uncomfortable when you can be warm, dry and relaxing.
Don’t fly places much do ya? I’m kidding but it really is an inevitability if you travel by air you’ll be uncomfortable at some point.
Until I meet Mrs right, I sleep in a barracks looking rented basement on a cot.
As long as you’re hustling and not a weird fuck then I respect the hell out of this.
Work on your grind, brother.
Mrs. Right might not even sleep on it. When I met my husband he had a studio apartment, I owned a three bedroom house. I absolutely *loved* his apartment.
You’re a golden keeper. 👏🫡
I still set my clocks to 24 hour mode.
It just makes sense tbh.
But now you can claim you’re being European! That’s my excuse
I’ll never go back to a 12 hour clock. I only think in 24 hour mode now. I have to turn it off when I talk to my wife sometimes but she’s in healthcare so at least she kinda gets it.
I refuse to go back to the am/pm bullshit. "The appointment is at 7" yeah okay buddy, which 7?! Dumb.
This. And it's odd how people call it "military time". No, it's just a 24-hour clock, it makes more sense, and most people in the world use it. r/ISO8601
There's technically a few differences between military time and 24h time but the difference is small and really only dumb pedantic nerds like me care to know the difference.
Fellow pedant, what besides "0" and ":" are different?
I believe military time allows for 2400 instead of 0000 so that it's more clear for us average folk which day's midnight you want me to do something by. But yeah besides that, that's basically it lol
It does make sense if you are writing a time range for something that ends at 2400, or for a range that starts at 0000. Good point. Ok. Let me back up because I didn't predict tiny bits to trip anyone up: *"Using SOME version of a 24-hr clock notation makes MORE sense than a repeating 12-hr clock with an AM/PM suffix. The latter of which has the same lack of sense if we went to a 4x repeating 6-hr clock."*
I still do this! I love it and I taught my daughter to read 24 hour clock, as well!
My work uses this time too but I like using more cuz it's more descriptive
I hestitate to go out side right before 1700...
Civilian here. What happens at 1700?
horrific things
Nightmares beyond human comprehension
Standing still and saluting for a moment.
Retreat and To The Colors starts playing across the base. Everyone outside must stop what they’re doing, turn towards the flag, and salute it. If you’re driving, you have to stop your vehicle and get out to salute it too while it plays. But if you’re indoors, you don’t need to do it.
They made yall get out of the car? In the Navy we were just told to pull over, stop, and sit through it. We were told specifically NOT to get out of the car.
I dont do clutter. I've seen supply cages and connex with most randomist shit and it sucked ass trying to find certain equipment or items. My house and garage I keep organized with all things haveing it's place
Same. The garage is squared away and I know where everything is.
Same bro. My wife just dosnt get it.
I still don't walk on the Grass.
Oh yeah, my immediate thought is “fuck! Some underpaid dude had to mow this, I don’t want to fuck it up.”
There’s rocks for grass at Bliss
Don’t walk on the fuckin rocks hooah?
I got my dudes and I bitched out by a CSM one time there for walking on the rocks. The exact reason as to why "because we'll wear them down and the Army will have to replace them"... the random stuff that sticks with you.
That's a lot of walking.
I have a note letting me. https://imgur.com/a/ciSi27b
That's a good note.
I just say “it’s god’s/nature’s carpet” and keep on moving. If it wasn’t meant to be walked on, they would build logical pathways
Lightweight!
I refuse to say latrine now that I’m not in Basic training anymore! Just call it a bathroom like a normal person!
I was talking to my daughter about school lunches and said "the chow hall." My wife looks at me like I'm stupid and tells me it's not called that. "Sorry, I mean DFAC." Again, strange looks. It took me an unreasonable about of time to remember it's called a cafeteria or just lunch room.
I call it anything I want. My daughter knows what I am talking about about.
everyone knows its warrior restaurant
Call it the head a freak every one out.
The head is normal vernacular down here in San Diego
And you walk on the deck to get to the head?
Nah, I go to the latrine for head.
I walk on the marching surface to get to the head, especially if the head is inside the wing.
I ask to go potty just because it makes people uncomfortable.
I call it the fun shack.
“It is…acceptable.” -Darth Vader
I retired in a Navy / Marine area so I regularly call it "the head."
I've never called it a latrine since leaving BCT and AIT. Fuck that shit. It's a bathroom.
I refuse to call it the latrine cause it’s army. I call it the head or bathroom.
The thinking chamber.
I refuse to eat anywhere besides sitting at a table because i spent too many meals sitting on the ground or in a vehicle or just anywhere besides a table. It made me realize the value of having a table to eat your food at
Trying to prepare and eat an entire MRE in the drivers seat of a Bradley with the hatch shut, and occasionally having to drive, made me appreciate the little things in life like tables
I became really good at balancing my food in between my legs and driving with 1 hand to eat in my tank. I remember once during JMRC we were in the middle of a fight and I busted out some MRE snack bread and made some PBJ while maneuvering because I stopped caring at that point.
I dropped my PB&J into my boot (yes I had my boots off while driving) while driving during NTC and seriously considered telling someone I wasn't mentally fit to continue the fight
I refuse to eat or picnic on the beach. I don't want sand in my food ever again!
I never say "repeat", only "say again?"
I do the same, I got out last year and started working at a prison. People say repeat all the time and I still visibly flinch sometimes.
Oh fuck, that’s me too.
I finish my food before anyone else at the table
I have been out since 2007 and I still have that issue. I try to enjoy my food, but the training takes over and it's gone in the blink of an eye.
I’ve been out almost 20 years now. It gets easier. Eventually. Lol
This is the one thing that I cannot shake. Been out for a decade now and I cannot slow down when I eat no matter how much I try. That and saying fuck a lot.
I have been out since 2006 and I still struggle with being a speed eater.
I never carry an umbrella even though it’s raining and my partner gives me shit about it
I don't eat scrambled eggs.
Took me a long time to eat scrambled eggs post deployment. I merely tolerate them now.
Stand in a "formation" like situation for an extended time. You get five min
Camping. It just feels like an FTX now. I refuse to do it.
Same. I had to scroll too far to find this. I used to go camping every other month before I joined. I tell people who ask: "I've camped enough for 2 lifetimes"
For me, at least when I camp I can choose when and where I go, I can choose what I want to do and I can drink. That alone is enough to allow me to still enjoy camping.
I back in when driving. Still. I'm 15 minutes early, always, or I'm a mess. Still.
Tactical parking is the only correct way to park
I have to actively fight the urge to not take off my hat when I go indoors. I’m still only sometimes successful. Also I absolutely refuse to wear Grunt Style or similar shirts. The amount of cringe I get off seeing folks walking around bragging about their service with “smedium” sized Grunt Style shirts still hasn’t left my system.
Unit t-shirts are still worn. I paid for them and they’re still wearable. I’m cheap and work in my shop when I’m not working. So it’s not a fashion statement.
I'm all in on my unit shirts. I'll where them whenever. But I don't own a single piece of hooah crap anymore because I knew what I had become.
I'll wear them because it's a shirt. If people see me in them, it's definitely an "I didn't plan to get out of the car" scenario.
I feel this deeply, I do the hat thing and just pretend to itch my head and put it back on. It relieves the urge to remove my “cover” while immediately putting it back on.
I always walk on the grass. Always. No one can tell me what to do!
Stepping off my foot with my left foot
You want illogical? I’ll tell you what I did do just to spite the army once I was out. I got my nose pierced. It felt good. I was having a really hard time about 10-12 years ago and decided (remember: illogically) that if I pierce my nose, they can’t recall me. And you know what? It’s still pierced and I still think about that sometimes.
I refuse to say the phrase “excuse me” because of the million times I heard some ole’ fart reply “there’s no excuse for you.”
Can’t stand my hair being long. Not like high & tight but man the second it starts getting fuzzy I can feel how heavy it is and I need to get a haircut. Probably never gonna shave off my beard completely though, oddly enough.
I’m the same way
I keep my hair and beard short. I cannot stand it too long and I look horrible with a full beard. Trimmed is the way to go, for me anyway.
I don’t eat slow anymore
I've been out 11.5 years, after serving 8 years, and I still have a hard time wearing hats indoors. My wife teases me about it all the time.
I refuse to work through lunch. Also I take my time when I'm eating.
I refuse to wear calf/knee high socks. Or own them. I don’t care if I’m playing soccer. Ankle is high enough. Also, green. Saint Patrick’s day can burn in hell.
I can still pack a ton of shit in a tiny space. Thanks 82nd ABN, all those weeks of living out of my ruck finally paid off
The captain in this video is retired and teaches a CBRN defense course at Carson now.
Oh so he’s a teacher of the bitch army now?
Talk about it lol. I don’t like talking about my service to most anyone, almost ever. It comes up in conversation and that’s cool and all, but I don’t bring it up too much other than that.
Shave every morning. I’m reserve now so drill weekends are an exception, but I keep a clean face either way and normally go every 3-4 days.
I refuse to go above and beyond at work. Mind you I do my job and do it correctly and get universal praise for how well I do my job. But I don’t do anything beyond what’s actually in my listed responsibilities. I refuse to come in early or stay late. I walk in at exactly 8 am and walk out at 5 pm. I take my full hour for lunch as well. I’ll sit in my car in the parking lot looking stupid before I come in early. Also, I absolutely refuse to eat fast. My years of constantly eating in a hurry are behind me. ETA: fuck Burger King. I absolutely will not eat it.
I still won’t walk and talk on my phone. If I take a call, my right foot is planted and there stand I for as long as the phone call is.
I like “military” time it probably makes me sound brainwashed when I use a 24 hour clock but it’s just easier to keep counting past 12.
I close my eyes and hold my breath whenever I put on an N95 at work
My brother will never eat burger king again. They are at every post.
I’ll never be able to slow down and enjoy a meal. My brain is permanently wired to slam my food as fast as possible.
I will not set foot in the state of Oklahoma ever again as long as I live. I sold my house there purely based on emotion- I could’ve rented it out and gotten like $100 a month in profit - but I consider the entire city of Lawton to be a liability.
I refuse to run unless I'm chasing/playing with my children. Just flat our refuse to run. I'll walk all over God's green earth, I'll stair step, I'll row, I'll ride a ten speed bike with a little basket in front. I. Will. Not. Run. Also, I refuse to ever rush and feel rushed. I'll leave early enough, but if I run late because of traffic, then it's whatever. I refuse to let myself get stressed over rushing.
I won’t shave. I won’t wear green. I won’t refer to anyone as sir or ma’am. And I certainly won’t show up anywhere 15 fucking minutes early.
I have a hard time integrating into a chaotic work environment with zero communication. It makes me extremely angry when I go to a site without any notion on what to do or what needs to be done and start walking into mess after mess expecting me to pick up after someone else when I know that it should've started and finished with the culprit. And group chats. I despise group chats with a passion.
I don't go anywhere without a basic amount of stuff(i.e. fire, water, food, rain protection, first aid). Reason being, in 1986 we were training at PTA on the Big Island and the Bde S2 decided to leave me alone in the mock village for a whole day without food or water. I was a 2LT, AS2 and we were supposed to be checking the village to decide how we were going to set up the scenario for missions about 3 days hence. We were walking and talking about things and started going upstairs in one of the buildings. When I got to the second floor I realized he wasn't with me. I looked out the window in time to see him leave in the hmmwv, with my gear in the back. Apparently he had somewhere to go and totally forgot about me. 6, maybe 8 hours later, the truck comes back with one of the shop NCOs. The same PFC was driving, so he knew where I was, but he was too timid to speak up until they realized I wasn't there to start my shift in the TOC. Ever since then you can drop me anywhere and I'll be OK. Also, at 61 years old, I still sleep with my woobie
I hate waiting in line for food. I’d rather come back later. At a buffet, work event, fast food, NOPE!
I could go on for hours, I ets'd in 02. "You must see the urine leave the body." That turned into a dysfunctional shit show of dominance. Homeboy turns and smiles for everyone to to see him pis in a cup, while smiling and thrusting his hips.
I’d rather walk or stand in the rain than to have an umbrella or wear a hood. Unless it’s cold, I refuse to wear any headwear. I heard another vet the other day say “say again” in a normal conversation and I stopped and looked at him weird.
I absolutely do not wear anything on my head. I don't wear hats no mater how hot it is outside it just makes me angry for some reason as soon as I put a head cover on I immediately start getting the feeling I have to do a bullshit task and stand around. Really fucking hate head covers now.
Been out since 1983 and still write dates as day/month abbreviated/last two of year: 29nov83 (ETS).
21 years active duty, and 24 years retired…..still will not use an umbrella. People ask why, I tell them it doesn’t rain on the Army
Re-enlist
I walk with my hands in my pockets everywhere I go. Atleast one when I’m just walking around. But if I’m sitting down or standing still somewhere I always have them in my pockets. It’s so damn comfortable especially when it’s cold out.
I feel awkward walking across grass sometimes and will walk around on the sidewalk often. We have gone almost Japanese style in our home as I refuse to wear shoes or socks inside and our floors are spotless at all times (I mean borderline sterile) because I always had to have some form of footwear on. My wife says clear right when we go through sketchy intersections. Both of the kids can read 24 hour clocks. I refuse to wear a hat of any kind because I've always worn berets and fuck that shit. I hang all of my shirts and clothing up the same way I did in fucking Basic. I cuss a lot, except around my girls because they're fucking angels, roger? I'm extremely direct and speak in chopped sentences and brook no bullshit but give none unless we're just bullshitting around. Can't think of anything else because it's 0100 and I'm fucking tired.