Looking for good Military stories (tricks played on other military forces or civilians)

me | 04/04/02 | Me

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

I was talking to a guy the other day who said that when he was in the Navy (in the early to mid 1990's) he and other sailors would play games/tricks with other military forces. He also said that they would jam the radar of commercial Russian planes for a little while until they could see the airliner go off course and then they would give them their radar back. I got a real kick out of hearing his stories and was wondering if any other FReepers have stories that they could post.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

He also said that our Navy was much more superior to others and that the other guys hated us because we were so far ahead of them.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

He didn't say all military forces were inferior and jealous! You have any good stories?

[Alberta's Child]

I know a guy whose father was in the army back in the early 1960s, and one of their infantry training schools involved a simulated night-time exercise in which they had to go out into the woods, set up a perimeter around a base camp, and keep the "enemy" from infiltrating the camp.

This guy apparently had a friend among the officers who knew how the "enemy" was planning to carry out their operations that night, so he tipped this group off with a warning: "They're going to creep through your area between midnight and 3 AM."

What this guy didn't know was that this same officer had issued a challenge to the infiltrators and told them that the forces defending the perimeter would know where and approximately when the attackers would try to sneak into the base camp. The "enemy" was apparently a phenomenal group of soldiers, and they didn't appreciate the officer's meddling.

The defenders in that sector dug their trenches, set up their trip wires, warning devices, etc., and hunkered down for the night. Midnight came and passed, then 1 AM, then 2 AM, etc. Nothing happened all night, and the infantrymen were convinced that the officer had been jerking their chain just to keep them on edge.

When the sun rose the next morning, each of the guys in that squad had an orange spot painted on the front of his helmet, courtesy of the vaunted "enemy" who had paid a visit during the night and passed them by without making a sound.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Unbelievable!

[Severa]

My husband is a sonar tech aboard a fast attack submarine and during an underway (short trip out to sea) this past year, they pulled a prank on their senior chief. This particular chief was fond of using Velcro to put up announcements and the like up on the bulletin boards, so they 'kidnapped' the box of Velcro and hid it, and left a 2 page typed ransom note, complete with pictures of the box with a knife laying over it and their demands!

A boot camp prank he told me happened 2 days before graduation, at morning muster one of his fellow recruits wasn't in line. They found him-wrapped to his bed in lord only knows how many yards of dental floss . Once it was discovered who did it, the culprits were sent back to first week of boot camp, to repeat it!

[Newbomb Turk]

You mean like sending the new guy to the supply depo for 5 gallons of prop wash or 50 feet of flight line. Oh and dont forget an ID ten T (id10t). Or sending someone for the keys to the turret lock on a tank ,squelch oil for the radio or sending him to the Plt Sgt for a prick E7.

[Gamecock]

There was an Air Force Col in our Army office. Being the only Air Force, he was often the subject of pranks.

One summer afternoon around quitting time he couldn't find his cover. He turned the office upside down.

Finally, one of our SFCs said "Sir, have you checked the freezer?" Sure enough, there was his cover, frozen solid. As he walked across the hot, Texas parking lot, the ice melted and soaked his head.

[Gamecock]

Or a box of grid squares.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Great story! I'm going to Munich in May. I doubt I'll have as much fun on my trip will be as much fun as these guys had!

[Newbomb Turk]

One of my fondest memories of command in the Army came on my first night with my new Armor unit.
I bunked in with the troops at a training area because we arrived late and I was replacing a Commander who had been offered a position at a military school. Not to many people knew I was the new Commander yet.
Not unusual for a friday night 3 troops came in late, Drunk and turned on the lights in a 50 man bay. I told them to cut out the lights. In typical fashion one said to me to F*ck off.
Quickly the lights went out and I heard one ask the other who the a**hole was who had told them to turn out the lights. I will never forget the moan when the guy next to them said, that's the new Commander A**holes.

[Newbomb Turk]

How could I have forgotten that one.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

LOL! That's a great one. I bet you got a real kick out of that. I bet they got a cold sweat when they heard who you were.

[Newbomb Turk]

It was hard not to burst out laughing. What a way to meet your new boss.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Here's a story that goes along similar lines although it's not done by the military. I've heard it the "woodpecker" myself. Radio hams do battle with 'Russian Woodpecker'

This one is probably a military urban legend, although debunking them is next to impossible;
During the Vietnam war, Russian "trawlers" sailing near Guam and using state of the art radio intercept equipment used to observe B-52 take offs and warn Hanoi. The NVA forces frequently moved out of the target area shortly before the bombs arrived. These "trawlers" used to sit off the end of the runway in international waters. We made several official complaints about these tactics, but the Russians kept doing it. Our pilots were angry about this, one decide to do something about it. On the next mission he took off and after gaining enough airspeed, broke from his flight plan. He banked his B-52 to a low level pass right over the Russian "trawler". Before he passed over the boat, the pilot opened his bomb bay doors. The whole aircrew said it looked like an anthill with what must have been the entire "trawler" crew jumping overboard. The B-52 buzzed the boat at low level, the pilot closed up the bomb bay and continued on the mission.

[Uglywhiteguy]

How about getting 2 R&R's in Nam because several of us were transfered several times and the only record of an R&R that went with us was our shot records...all we did was get new shot records after we "lost" ours....

Or "sitting in" for our officer who was out of town in Nam...the NCOIC had me chew out a guy for changing his permanent records.....only time I got saluted...

Or changing the height on the records of a sargent so he couldn't go to drill sargent school....

Or throwing gravel on the tin roof of the Senior NCO hootch at 2 in the morning....

Or making whistling sounds while watching movies outside at night....All I can think of right now...

[Frohickey]

A boot camp prank he told me happened 2 days before graduation, at morning muster one of his fellow recruits wasn't in line. They found him-wrapped to his bed in lord only knows how many yards of dental floss . Once it was discovered who did it, the culprits were sent back to first week of boot camp, to repeat it!

Boot camp the first time through would be difficult. But I think that boot camp the second time through woul be easier than the first.

[Washington-Husky]

I was talking to a guy the other day who said that when he was in the Navy (in the early to mid 1990's) he and other sailors would play games/tricks with other military forces. He also said that they would jam the radar of commercial Russian planes for a little while until they could see the airliner go off course and then they would give them their radar back.

Hey, these guys didn't accidentally shoot down a TWA flight over Long Island Sound by any chance, did they?

[Newbomb Turk]

bump