(07-11-2023, 10:26 PM)dbcowboy Wrote: I entered Basic in 1981. Air Force.Basic In the summer of 1967 where salt tablets were issued at Ft. Polk La. and one Korean drill Sargent was the terror of the base. Thankfully he was not my Platoon Drill Sargent but close enough to observe . He got busted down one stripe as he insisted all his Platoon were no better than trash so he had them all climb into a big stinky dumpster. Then he told them on the count of 3 the last people out of the dumpster would spend the rest of the day with some real quality time with him. At least one Broken Collar Bone, one arm, and no telling what else happened which did not set well with trying to get people to Nam.
My youngest son is graduating from Air Force Basic in two weeks.
We've talked a couple times.
The differences are astounding.
It was a different world back then...there were other things of course but time has faded those memories.. I do remember when someone did not salute correctly he would grab the thumb of the offending trainee and bend it in a way that had them on their knees in pain.. His platoon had some snappy good looking salutes I will say ! Sometime later a rule was passed that said a Drill Sargent could not touch a trainee without permission so always being a rule kinda guy he would ask first before twisting a guys thumb off. The most terrifying words at the base became "May I touch you"!
I had gone to a military academy which was worse than the real military ever put out.. so basic to me other than the heat (I was a squad leader) was not that big of a deal as I knew how to play the game. Then off to 6 weeks of B.S. preflight training where sleep deprivation and officer training went hand in hand before actual flight training began. I learned how to sleep at parade rest (no shit)!
Auhhhh those were the days !!
Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
Silence those who disagree and you will never realize you are wrong.
No one rules if no one obeys
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire
Silence those who disagree and you will never realize you are wrong.
No one rules if no one obeys
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire