Yesterday I was visiting with a WWII Vet who served in MI during the war. We were discussing the habits we acquired as soldiers such as rolling our underwear and socks, the uniform placement of cloths on hangers and the distance between each hanger, not kicking a can laying on the ground or running over the most innocuous bit of junk on the road, correcting myself and staying in step when walking with someone else ...and my favorite, not setting with my back to a door. We discovered that we both had these "habits" and many more and I was wondering how many of the old warriors here still practice habits they acquired in service?

Anyone else dump chocolate milk on their Rice Krispies or white gravy on omlets....or am I just a grastonomic heretic?

Steve

Steve, You might be interested in this thread also
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/34059&page=1

Cheers
Henk

Steve
Yhea I still have a few of those quirks. I don't smoke but I find myself wanting to shield a lit cigarrtete at night. It still bugs me to sit with my back to a door and it bugs the he-- out of my girlfriend the way I constantly scan the room or always look over my shoulder. Went to a park once, a tropical rain forest park. On a walkway I found myself scanning the jungle. My girlfriend looked at me, asked me what I was looking for. Told her ( bad guys and booby traps ). The smell of the place took me back.
Now as for gastronomic catastropies. Yhea I cook a few things I picked up in the military that gets me looks. My omlets . My girl friend will look at it with this "you aren't seriously going to eat that"look. The 5 second rule still applies on things dropped on the floor right ?
Jerry

LMAO. We need to make sure to keep your wife and my girlfriend apart. I'd be a bit scared of the stories they might tell each other, and others.
Jerry

Henk,
Thanks!

Well I see between this post and the thread that you have shown me, that I am far from alone in my...quirks. They've reminded me of a few I'd forgotten about as well!

Take care
Steve

You bet! Just wipe off the gravel and dust bunnies and you're good to go!

This tells you more about "Combat Vets", i refuse to sit in the open, when i go in public places i sit in the corner so i have full view of the room. Even at work, i scan eveyone who comes in. I am the first one at work and the last one to leave. I check eveything before i leave. I make sure all my co-workers leave safely. I do not smoke, but i can tell when the wind is just right someone lit a match. at far as food, if it looks good it is in trouble. I perk an ear when i hear a aircraft flying near, or a helo (My co-workers think i am nuts). I get upset when co-workers are slacking off. It is a habit we can never ever erase from us.

Re-reading that older thread and this one got me chuckling again. :-)

I still work for the U.S. Army as a civilian and tend to use the old slang, sayings and euphemisms I learned years ago in uniform. It's fun explaining some of this stuff to the younger troops -- they've never heard it before. C-rats, P-38s, SOS, TWs, pickle suits, baseball caps, neck scarves, blousing rubbers, helmet liners, steel pots, WACs, Gamma-goats, running PT in combat boots, etc. ... these all seem part of ancient history now.

The youngsters are sometimes also shocked that a balding fat man knows so much about what they do or are supposed to be doing.

Ah yes...the infamous pickle suits, which became the banana suits, which became, whatever you have suits (in Germany).

What? they no longer use blousing rubbers? I have dents in my calves from those things!

Oh man you missed the discussion about Gamma goats...were you there for the C-Rats one? I can't recall.

MREs blech! loved some of the C-rats.

Those were good times ...now and again

Everyone pretty much went to tucking the trousers into the boots when we went to BDUs from the old fatigues. I found that a velcro band worked really well keeping the ends of the trousers folded back while I put on my boots. As far as the old blousing rubbers, I used them to hold my flashlight and poncho to my LBE!

My son is in the Navy and I was noticing his khaki uniform the other day. While I am convinced that the Dress Green Trousers (Same as Class A) with a short sleeve green shirt, open collar, makes a MUCH better Class B uniform because you can add the black tie and put on your blouse (OK, JACKET!), and viola, you're now in Class A's, I still thought the khaki/TW uniform looked good. Impractical, but seems more appropriate in warmer weather.

One thing I sure was glad to see go away, is doing the PCPT in combat boots. While you can argue the merits of measuring "combat" related physical events, there isn't much doubt in my mind that the 3 event APFT not only does a good job of evaluating overall strength and aerobic fitness, you need almost NOTHING in the way of equipment or facilities to both train for and conduct it.

I sure do miss getting up at 0430 to do PT.

Tom

Some things from the past that I DON'T miss:

back to back 10 milers
Puttees, weights and battledress
Polishing brass for the TWs
lugging a C1 and basic load of ammo around
52 and 64 pattern web gear

One habit I have is no matter where I am, wether it be walking down the street, across the mall parking lot or wherever, I always "field strip" my cigarettes and put the butts in my pants or BDU pocket until I get to a trash can to dump them...

Drives the Wife absolutely nuts when laundry time comes and I've missed a few... :-)

Combat parking -- I back into all parking spaces.

& of course, I've been known to "Combat offload" my pickup in the side yard .... :-) :-) but not wifey's flowers, any more ....

John

Ahhh,P-38
I have 2 still,though I have been out of the army since 1978.I still find myself using it to open canned fruit or whatever.Its just a natural thing to do.

I have enjoyed reading all of these post's. I served in the Va. Army Nat. Gaurd for 12 years in an Armored Cav unit. We operated M48A5's 113's, Ford Mutt's. I do remember many of the dress procedures. I entered just after the Army went to the BDU. Not a bad looking uniform if the soldier takes time to fit it properly. I would have preffered the slant pockets on top though. I really did not like the class A or B uniform. That "Corporate" look was and still is not "Soldierly"
I would like to see the Army go back to a better looking class A uniform resembling something like the WWII short waisted jacket and matching trousers with Brown boots Bloused. Please get rid of the Beret. I did like the overseas cap. Allthough the "C" cap should be a bit more flat on top rather like Newkirks cap in Hogans Heroes. Whew!
Frank Blanton

I've always liked the "Ike Jackets" as well. The class B did stink. They only thing that made them look half way acceptable were the black "commando sweaters" and the black zip-up wind breakers. Other than then that...blahhhh. I hated the C-Cap too. We were issued the white round (Good Humor) hat, but the only time we wore it was if we were a color guard for a funeral or holidays. Oh..and during liason with the Polezi.

Take care
Steve

One thing I've always wondered about is what I've always considered a "name change" from what I remember as a kid and when it may have happened.

I was an Army brat, and as a kid, I remember that my dad called his "C cap" an "overseas" cap, and his saucer cap a "garrison cap".

The reason was obvious, the C cap was much more suited to travel/TDY and the saucer cap was for wearing at home station or in "garrison".

When in the world (and WHY??) did the saucer cap start being called the "overseas" cap??? I know that pretty much my entire time on active duty (starting in 1972) that's what it was called.

And I'm with you on this one. I HATE the beret! (I call it a "crew served hat" think about it!) I'd dearly love to see the saucer cap come back, if not for the enlisted soldiers (theirs always seemed to look awful!) at LEAST for officers. It's embarrassing to see Army personnel in other than Dress Blues standing next to members of other services!!

Tom

Exactly! Geez...I thought I was the only one who thought that way! hehehehe.

I didn't think about habits until one of the new guys at work saw me putting new laces in my work boots(as I do all my laces).I lace them the same way every time,left over right all the way up.He asked me if I had been in the army.As it turns out he had time in too.
As already said I feild strip my butts, back into parking spots, do up all buttons (pockets) and burn off loose threads.Another one I still do is after starting my vehicle I turn on the head lights,day or night.Anyone who has not driven a mil. vehicle the brake and signal lights don't work without turning on the try Y switch.
There are probably more that I just don't notice.


Jim

Sorry to bring this back but I'm trying to re-introduce "NATO" or "NATO standard" to my boys... i.e. Milk and two sugars.

Speaking of old habits die hard, back in combat engineer school, our instructors used to raid our bunks at night while we sleep and try to steal our M16s and punish us the next day for lack of security so ever since then, i became a really light sleeper and for some strange reason, feel really bad these days when i doze off watching tv in fear that i would get punished.

I used to sleep on the rifle butt with the sling still strapped tight across my chest to prevent those pr*cks of an instructor from stealing it at night.

Just the other day, i dozed off on the bed while sitting up reading and just as my wife touched me, i woke up and immediately apologise! Took me awhile before i realised what i had done and that i wasnt in the military anymore.

We don't keep out weapons with us overnight when we are back at bunk unless we are on standby. As recrutis, normally we keep our weapons at the armskote every night. But when we have outfield training, thats when the platoon sergeant and all the other section commanders are out to get ur weapon. Well when i became a platoon sergeant, i did the same stuff too but i choose not to take from those who put in the effort to secure their weapons to their body when they are asleep.
In my whole army life from recruit to specialist, i never loose my weapon or equipment before. And as a result, i became a light sleeper too. Once i actually grab my gf when she tap my stomach when i was asleep, i thought i was holding my bayonet and about to stab the enemy. At that time i was rather jumpy cos i just came back from a 3 weeks exercise. If freak her out. HA ha..
All in all, I really miss the army.

When I joined (1984), the Army was just transitting to BDU's - there were still a lot of guys wearing the green fatigues. I used the steel pot (and helmet liner) in Basic, but we used the Kevlar Fritz helmet forever after. We still used blousing rubbers at first, but I was using camo velcro by the time I got out in 1993. We still used the WWII-era KSR machines though, and the R390 receiver (though newer RACAL receivers were around too). We had gotten rid of C-Rats by the time I was there, so I always had MRE's, but the oldtimers all complained about them until the Tabasco sauce showed up. I even got to see the transition from the Mutt and CUCV and CUCV Blazer - and the old M1038 Dodge Pickup - to Humvees.

I work with a retired army guy just like myself. We were talking about jodie and another guy asked who he was. I told him he was the guy with your wife when you were away. Also had to explain what a click was, a POV and police call.
brian
P.S. I also show up early and can't stand when someone rides the clock