Posted on 05/31/2015 7:49:46 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
One of the funniest stories I ever heard was from a guy I knew who had enlisted in the Navy, and was sent to look for prop wash on the day they had to wash the helicopters.
He almost got taken in, but some joker said “and while you’re there, get 50 feet of shoreline”. He knew what “shoreline” was, and then immediately figured out what “propwash” was.
This was not a direct order from his CO.
He went back to his CO and said “they sent me to look for propwash. I don’t think I’m going to find any. If I don’t find any by the end of the day, can I just go home? The CO said “sure”.
He called in from home and told the guys who sent him a story about going hither and yon, and being told “we’re fresh out”, or “I think the guys on the other side of the base have some”, really laid it on thick, and concluded by saying “I don’t think anyone has prop wash. Can I go home?” They let him go home.
They did this a few more times, and he played “Mickey the Dunce” each time. The last time they sent him out in the morning, so he couldn’t go home. Instead he went to the enlisted mens’ club.
The guys who sent him found him in there at lunch time shooting pool. They asked him what he was doing. He said “looking for propwash. I looked everywhere else, I thought they might have some here, but they don’t.”
The guy shooting pool with him said “Yeah, last time he was in here looking for it, they didn’t have any either.”
He said after that they stopped treating him like “the new guy”.
That’s like being ordered to fire at Will!
Which one’s Will?
No they’re not. They’re part of bringing somebody into the crew. Hazing is a vital part of team building. Back in my fastfood days we’d send people for the left handed ice scoop and the vat cover. Then there’d be laughter, and eventually they’d send somebody on a fool’s errand.
Don’t forget getting the newbies in the Navy up on deck to look in the box to see the “Seabat”..
Friend of mine in the Air Force (years ago), used to send newbies out for a can of “cloud eradicator” so they could take photos from the plane, put the “eradicator” on it so they could see through the clouds..
We used to put newbies on the bow of the ship and tell them to look for the mail buoy..
Good times..
And do not forget to go get 50 feet of waterline! Oh, and get some relative bearing grease, too! ;-)
What is a “seabat” supposed to be?
My guess is that a seabat is a bit like a henway.
AWOL Private Returns After Seven Years With Box Of Grid Squares
What’s a henway?
I take it your dad was in the merchant marine?
I was an ordinary seaman on a Great Lakes iron ore carrier and I remember the chief engineer sent me on a twenty minute trip looking for sky hooks.
That poor wiper-he should never have been fired for following what he thought were legitimate orders of the third assistant engineer and the third mate.
“Such jokes are a betrayal of trust.”
And, I believe, the subsequent comment was usually “Screw’em if they can’t take a joke.”
We had the glass staple gun
Oh, about 3 or 4 pounds. :)
When I was new in the Army and got to my first duty station, I was sent by my sergeant t get a form T-R-Double-E from the Commo office. I went, and the only one on the office was the 1LT in charge. I asked him for it and got the words about halfway out when I realized I’d been had.
The Lieutenant just smiled and went back to work.
I cut it off three times and it’s still too short.....
Radiator caps for Teslas are a special order. Please fill out form ID 10 T.
Maternal grandfather was!
uh....my wife HAS a left handed ice cream scooper.
blade edge is on the right.
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