#MilitaryExperience #EyeOpening #OutrageousMoments
🌟 As a veteran, I can tell you that the military is full of unforgettable experiences that shape us forever. Here are some of the most outrageous and eye-opening moments I’ve encountered:
Combat Zone Chronicles
– Witnessing the raw intensity of combat and feeling the adrenaline rush through your veins.
– Seeing the selfless bravery of fellow soldiers risking their lives to protect each other.
– Dealing with the harsh realities of war and the sacrifices that come with it.
Cultural Shockwave
– Immersing yourself in different cultures and learning to adapt to new environments.
– Experiencing traditional rituals and customs that are vastly different from your own.
– Gaining a deeper understanding of global perspectives and the interconnectedness of humanity.
Unforeseen Challenges
– Overcoming physical and mental obstacles you never thought possible.
– Navigating complex situations that require quick thinking and strategic planning.
– Developing resilience and fortitude in the face of adversity.
Key Takeaways:
1. Embrace the unknown and be open to new experiences.
2. Lean on your comrades for support and camaraderie.
3. Grow from the challenges you face and use them to become a better version of yourself.
In conclusion, the military has a way of pushing you to your limits and exposing you to a world unlike any other. These moments, though tough, ultimately help us grow and develop into stronger individuals. Remember to cherish the lessons learned and the bonds formed during your time in the service. #MilitaryLife #VeteransPerspective #RealTalk 🇺🇸
Mandatory service here.
Sheer fucking will. Some of the things I and some people managed to accomplish with that was eye opening.
The amount of wasted money. I was in air craft maintenance and our squadron bought brand new tools that were worse than what we already had because if they didn’t spend the money, they wouldn’t get a budget increase the next fiscal year. The incentive is to spend, not save money.
We were in an active war zone when one of they guys decided he wanted to go for a run between two outposts. He asked the company commander, who thought the guy was joking and answered “sure, you can go for a run but only if you run with a bulletproof vest and a radio on your back”. Everyone thought it was funny until the guy retuned from his run with the vest and radio.
One of the other platoon leaders in the unit I was assigned to was out in a patrol with four vehicles. An IED blew up and disabled one of the vehicles and the LT and his vehicle fled the scene and left the other three vehicles (one of which was blown up and disabled) to fend for themselves during the ensuing firefight.
Afterwards, the LT was pulled from his job and placed into a staff job working in an air conditioned office for the rest of deployment while guys like me were left patrolling out in sector and dealing with danger on a daily basis.
Fuck up, move up…
Surabaya, Indonesia, 1983. It’s since been taken over by Islamic extremists, but it used to be a destination for SE Asian sex tourism. The “Dolly District” really opened my eyes to just how huge the human trafficking problem is, especially in areas with a lot of poverty.
Driving by what seemed like miles of dilapidated shacks with young women and girls sitting on bleachers with numbers hanging around their necks like cattle at a livestock auction.
Getting out of the US and seeing the world gives you a much different perspective on life. Not every experience was positive, but all were educational.
How much time in a day, that you actually have to accomplish tasks, when you don’t sleep. This may also apply to meth addicts.
When you think your body or mind can’t go on, then see the Marine next to you continuing forward. Rather it be combat or just PT. You realize that your mind is a roadblock for the body.
It’s 100% true that when your brain tells you that it’s time to quit, you are only 50% of your capacity.
Countless times I have seen and completed things with my brothers that I am sure I would not have been able to complete if I was doing the same thing alone.
When I was a private first class, I was marching up a mountain with my superiors. Gun, full-gear, and everything. Probably about 50-60kg all said and done. I complained that this was probably the hardest thing I’ve done in my life. One of my superiors laughed and said “you ever moved a mountain?” He pointed at one of the neighbouring mountains and said “we moved that last year.” I laughed and didn’t think anything of it.
Fast forward probably a year later and I was moving the exact mountain I was marching.
We went to the bowling alley. And a guy put egg and chili on a hamburger.
I was just barely 18 and had never seen anything like that before.
Your leadership will fuck you metaphorically and physically. Consent is nice so both parties can benefit while fellow shipmates do the shit work so you don’t have too but consent is optional.
We have a sexual assault problem in the military.
The complete disconnect between what is reported in the news and what is happening on the ground – and why it is happening. Most of the time what gets reported is either complete fantasy, or complete lies.
My old Coworker that did multiple tours would talk about how common death was in the Countries he was deployed to. An IED would go off and nobody would clean up any bodies. He said there was flesh hanging from a couple trees for weeks.
Fraud, waste and abuse.
How truly incompetent people can be and double down on their own stupidity because they have some stripes/ bars on thier chest.
Also the corruption when someone is in a position of power.
When we intercepted the ISIS price list for humans, to include infants. That hit me pretty hard.
How many people were given the option to join as a plea bargain instead of going to jail.
Taking initiative just paints a target on your back to get jacked up whenever something goes wrong.
I killed 19 men in 27 minutes with a machine gun. I shot two men with one bullet. Shot a 15 year old with an RPG In the neck and he fired his weapon in to his own home. Killed 6 of his family members. I mean I can go on, but war is hell
dont trust military grade, military uses the cheapest and most mass produced shit.
Army Medic here- the biggest danger to our men is themselves. We would get mortared frequently and be fine had one guy get a minor surgery for shrapnel that got stuck in his leg.
Had a truck back into a shack and it collapsed injuring 3. Had a guy trying to take a picture of a helicopter flying over some trees have a branch fall down and put him in a coma. Had an E6 think he was still 20 years old jump out of the back of an LMTV and end up getting medically discharged he messed up his leg so bad.
Weaponized incompetence
The amount of theft and how it’s basically encouraged at times. You have your last 4 and last name on your underwear and someone will still steal it. In boot camp, you’re taught how to be a “ricky ninja” (ricky is the nickname for recruit) which is the term used when you need something in your division, but another one has it. It could be a mop and bucket, a broom, etc. But when you’re in a squadron and you really need a few fasteners, you may need to ricky ninja the squadron next doors pre-ex and take what you need.
Or if your squadron is deploying and you need as many “good parts” on your bird as possible, like if you have a panel that has too many cracks on it. You may be tasked with swapping out panels with the squadron next door and leaving their cracked panel on your plane in the middle of the night. You know who you are you sonofabitch.
Infidelity is (or was) rampant and almost normalized. When I got to MOS school, half of the guys in the platoon were actively plotting to cheat on their girlfriends or wives back home. I had a girlfriend (now wife), so I did not partake. However, it was a little shocking how common it was.
The Green Ramp Disaster. I didn’t see the actual crash but I heard it and saw the fire from the barracks. Got dressed and went to work (worked nights at the time) and was involved in the aftermath /clean up. Was absolutely horrifying. Saw some stuff I’ll never get over. It was a month after my 20th birthday.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Ramp_disaster
Training exercise, “bad guys” stole a truck and password to the gate of our secure location.
Drove the truck into our camp like a Trojan horse and jumped out, started attacking our base.
I ran out of our comm center and took cover behind a truck and started engaging.
Battle started to die down. 1st Sergeant walks by, sees me. Starts yelling at me to “get on line” meaning, go to my fighting position BEHIND our comm center and face the opposite way to guard the perimeter.
I tried to explain the bad guys were in the compound and were coming from “that way” pointing forward.
Got told to get to my position. Went and set in my hole, expecting someone to come up and shoot me in the back.
Made the decision right then and there I was getting out when my enlistment was over.
Edit to add: after a few exercises where we were set up in this configuration, few of the senior NCOs told me that the comm center should never be on the perimeter and should always be in the interior of the compound next to the TOC. None of them could explain to me why we were always set up on the perimeter and stated it was not the idea scenario for resource placement.
NSFL warning!!! – I was at a pretty remote COP in Afghanistan and One time during dinner I was walking back from the Portapotties and looked in-between some Hesco barriers and there was a puppy. (Stray dogs were all over the place where I was. I would make it a game to see how many I could count on mission). The puppy was obviously sick and super lethargic. “COP dogs” had just been banned because we had a soldier in our sister platoon get bit and die from rabies cause he didn’t tell anyone.
Well I grabbed this puppy and asked my leadership what to do with it and after some back and forth we decided to take it and drop him outside the walls. One of the E5s in my squad who was peice of shit and I hated volunteered to do it and told me to hop in the razor with him (Polaris razor). So I grabbed the puppy and we hopped in the razor and went to the OP (the highest point on base). We climbed up on the hesco barriers and I handed him the puppy and I thought he was going to just drop him over the wall.
This fucker overhand throws this puppy as hard as he can. Since this was the highest point it was downhill from there and the puppy went a pretty long way, slammed and bounced and skidded. Got back up, took a few steps and collapsed. I was fucking shocked but was a private at this time and he was an NCO and he just laughed. I didn’t say shit and we got back in the razor and drove back down and joined the guys eating dinner. It was fucking awful. One of the worst things I saw on deployment including exploded humans and other gore.
I grew up being pretty decently well off. I mean I wasn’t a rich kid but I never remember wanting outside of just material desires. I never starved and my parents never involved me in things to see a lot of the real world for some.
I’ll just always remember walking into a room of a single room house that two farmers who were brothers owned. They had two small blankets the width of a napkin as a bed. We were just asking them questions and I was told just to walk in their room and see if there was anything to search or discuss with them. No crazy interaction, just simply can we walk into your property and they agreed.
I walked in and look around. No windows. No door to the entrance. Just two napkin width blankets where they slept. It was mud and clay, dirt from them walking inside, and dust. Nothing more and nothing less.
I remember just thinking “Wow, they really have nothing.” We left and I just remember being shocked two people could just have only that. Not as combatants trying to hide their involvement in the conflict, just two people barely surviving.
One was also when another man walked up with a dead baby. Asked us if we could help. We took the baby aside and talked to the man. Our medic told me “I’m just making it look like we’re trying to help but we can’t. This child is long gone.”
The man wasn’t in distress or angry. Just as casual as could be. I think he was the father. We gave him the baby’s body back and told him we were sorry but the baby was gone. We couldn’t do anything. We couldn’t even tell the cause of death but just assumed it was natural causes. Offer to give the man water, food, or anything to show our condolences on the matter.
He was grateful, acknowledged our sentiments, but completely casual.
He told our interpreter “Tell them I said thank you and go with God. This is not their fault. This is just the way of Iraq” and casually walked off with the corpse.
I saw lots of bodies and horrific scenes but that old man stuck with me. It was so common for his family to see death and the future end abruptly… it wasn’t even traumatic. It was casual.
Lol not the wackiest shit I’ve seen but one of the funnier things. While outprocessing I was placed in CQ housing on Lackland. The guys there developed a tradition, when they knew a new person was being moved into the room (which was about 12×12 with 4 bunks) they would all change into the black boxers and no shirt. Than would hang their balls out on the leg hole … and proceed to act like nothing was going on. So just a room of 5/6 random men you’ve never met, hanging brain. Did it creep me out…yes….did I join in the tradition….yes …. it was a long 4 months waiting time that felt like a year.
People are the same all over.
I’ve been turning wrenches in the Canadian navy about 5 years, but whenever we’re doing anything crazy, I’m either sitting in firefighting gear or or walking around making sure our stuff isn’t about to break. I don’t find out about how close we are to things happening until afterward. I don’t have any cool war stories.
We’ll pull into a random port that I wouldn’t have been able to place on a map before joining. A couple of days before we pull in, we have a port brief that tells us a little bit about where we’re going, but they always feel fake. When I get a day or two off, I’ll try to talk to locals and hang out with them to learn their culture a little bit. People are the same all over, and generally, being friendly is enough to get by in most places. Drinking Angkor in a club in Jakarta with a guy who I need to talk to through a translator app is basically the same as drinking Alaskan Blue around a fire in Dutch Harbor with a guy who played football in high school.
Just how effective the reflective belts were at protecting us from getting hit by cars, planes, ships, go karts, enemy fire, friendly fire, herpes, HIV/AIDS, extra duty on weekends, hysterical pregnancy, intestinal discomfort, sunburn, windburn, heartburn, and earaches.
Those things were truly majestic and should be worn by everyone at all times!
Man, I did 2 years in my countries coast guard as a search & rescue operator. I got no good stories other than pulling bodies out of the water & meowing on emergency channel radios at 3AM.
I suppose for eye openers, just how quickly things can go tits up at sea, we lost a training dummy during an excercise which in theory was a best case search & rescue scenario, weather turned during the excercise and flatwater became 3m swells. We where supposed to find our damsel boat, perform a crew transfer of a injured damsel, then perform a search pattern for a man overboard with a vague description of time & location given by the damsel.
We ended up canceling the crew transfer as we couldn’t safely do it between 2 7-8m long boats in a 3m swell, we spent an hour on our pattern with zero luck before we ended up incorporating the damsel boat & the local rescue charity (RNLI) boat into the pattern as well as using the exact GPS pin of where the dummy was dropped, we where all at it for 6 hours until 2AM or so before we called it.
Training dummy washed up and was found by a dog walker a few weeks later, the thing was fully hi-vis, opened my eyes as to how hard it is to rescue a crew overboard in adverse conditions.
Saw a group of cats feasting on a charred and decaying Russian corpse in Donbass.
Also saw packs of stray dogs, (that had been left behind when their owners fled the advancing Red Army) get fat on gorging human meat from Russian bodies.
Saw a mass grave of people in Bucha.
Women and children with their hands tied.
Word of advice: If you ever see any of these sights, dont look at the faces of the dead. Thats what stays with you.
Watched an MK-19 gunner have an ND directly into our aid station in Afghanistan.
Watched a PL get relieved while out on mission for having his mortar team drop 60mm rounds into a village. Which was 180 degrees in the wrong direction from where the CO told him to shoot.
Watched my battalion commander get relieved while downrange. The entire staff got together and wrote a complaint to the brigade commander.
Probably the most amazing thing to me was to watch how totally incompetent people were routinely promoted and placed in positions of leadership. Even more amazing is how the military actually works. It really shouldn’t, but it does.
This quote from a German officer during WW2 sums up the military.
“A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine.”
Not my story, but a guy I knew said he spent most of his deployment guarding a warehouse steadily filling with heroin. Two days before his return, the warehouse is loaded into a C5. Headed to the States.
Saw my boy blow his brains out onto a Stryker (brought a Glock to the field). I’ve also been raped. Idk which is worse