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Favorite Military "sayings"

Back in the day I was "Airborne qualified", but not a Paratrooper.

Still, I think attitude displayed by this saying is outstanding, "We're paratroopers, we're supposed to be surrounded.”

Additionally, the LGOPS (Little Groups Of Paratroopers) doctrine and practice is outstanding as well.

I expect nothing less from my Army brethren. ;)
 
In the Legion, there is (was?) no political correctness. “Mongole (person with Down syndrome) was the most common. And pretty much every race/nationality had its own insults coming. Adolph was for the Germans. Kurwa for the polish. Elephant pilot for anyone from India.
They we’re most creative when it came to hazing. In IEC (driver’s ed), we had a caporal-chef (equivalent of a Lance in the USMC) who would make you pull over and climb up a stop sign and polish it with a rag he kept between the seats. If you stalled the Jeep, he’d make you dismount, get on your knees behind the Jeep, and yell “I’ll never do it again” into the exhaust pipe. My fav when it came to sayings was when you screwed up and some NCO or other asked you if you had smoked ass hair.
 
In the Legion, there is (was?) no political correctness. “Mongole (person with Down syndrome) was the most common. And pretty much every race/nationality had its own insults coming. Adolph was for the Germans. Kurwa for the polish. Elephant pilot for anyone from India.
You forgot Sprout for the Belgians.
 
Back in the day I was "Airborne qualified", but not a Paratrooper.

Still, I think attitude displayed by this saying is outstanding, "We're paratroopers, we're supposed to be surrounded.”

Additionally, the LGOPS (Little Groups Of Paratroopers) doctrine and practice is outstanding as well.

I expect nothing less from my Army brethren. ;)

A poster like this one used to hang somewhere in every barracks at Ft Bragg, probably. I bet they're still there.

1668569238252.png
 
A poster like this one used to hang somewhere in every barracks at Ft Bragg, probably. I bet they're still there.///
My favorite was a poster of a Sergeant D. Shaw with the inscription “U.S. Army Paratroopers give the enemy the maximum opportunity to die for their country.”

Factoid. The first tank from the relief force to enter the perimeter was named “Cobra King”. It was an M4A3E2 “Jumbo” Sherman and is now a museum piece at the Army Museum.

The motto of my Ranger School class was “Death From Above.” The motto of the class before us was “Death From Above.” The motto of the class after us was “Death From Above.” Creative geniuses….
 
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In formation outside the chow hall. Some Sgt all of the sudden yells at someone, “ did you eat a bowl of stupid in the chow hall?? Go get yourself a cup of get right, and fix yourself!”” I was pissing myself while trying to maintain composure.
 
Did the 11th ACR see action after Vietnam? Great Unit saved Tan Son Nuit from falling during TET, saved everything during TET
Kinda-sorta. Their scout platoons went to Desert Storm, and 1/11 served near Baghdad in '05. The Regiment itself hasn't deployed organically.

11th ACR has been the OPFOR at Ft Irwin for many, many years. I think they still are.
 
Kinda-sorta. Their scout platoons went to Desert Storm, and 1/11 served near Baghdad in '05. The Regiment itself hasn't deployed organically.

11th ACR has been the OPFOR at Ft Irwin for many, many years. I think they still are.
Most of the Vietnam 11ACR studs I knew were covered in glory...Bless Them
 
When the situation, circumstance, or mission changed unexpectedly many people would often comment dejectedly, "Semper Gumby" meaning to be "Always Flexible".

Depending on how bad or how difficult the change was, the reply might be something more akin to "Semper Gumby Mo**er Fu**er!"

semper gumby 1.jpg
 
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Kinda-sorta. Their scout platoons went to Desert Storm, and 1/11 served near Baghdad in '05. The Regiment itself hasn't deployed organically.

11th ACR has been the OPFOR at Ft Irwin for many, many years. I think they still are.
Yes, still.

They just launched a drone swarm. Gotta keep up with the Joneses.

 
The Brits were in the flat, muddy, northern part of Germany. They would have been the last to see an Armor invasion.
LOL - Not sure if serious.

The north German plain was one of the key areas expected to see large, armored Soviet invasion forces. Specifically the Soviet 3rd Shock Army along with GDR and Polish forces.

The bulk of the units in U.S. III Corps, an armored Corps, were Reforger units designated to reinforce NORTHAG in time of war.
 
I was never in the Military but my Dad & Uncle were in the Air Force/Army Air Corps. My Uncle was a Bomber Pilot in the Pacific during WWII and Korea. My Dad slid in right between Korea and Vietnam. He was Chief Commissary Officer at McDill AFB in Tampa for a short stint. I never heard either of them use any Military jargon. I had another Uncle that was in the Navy during WWII in the Pacific. He was the highest ranking Officer to survive a torpedo attack on the USS Strong. The only thing I ever heard him say was "Reveille at 0600", which my cousins explained that we were to stop talking and go to bed. However, I had a guy that worked for me for 33 years that was a Marine in the early 70's, he had all kinds of sayings. I wasn't even sure half of them were even Military untiI I read this thread. The one I haven't seen is " Shines like a diamond in a goat's ass". Is this considered Military jargon or just some inbred Rowley saying, and what the He'll does it mean?
 
I was never in the Military but my Dad & Uncle were in the Air Force/Army Air Corps. My Uncle was a Bomber Pilot in the Pacific during WWII and Korea. My Dad slid in right between Korea and Vietnam. He was Chief Commissary Officer at McDill AFB in Tampa for a short stint. I never heard either of them use any Military jargon. I had another Uncle that was in the Navy during WWII in the Pacific. He was the highest ranking Officer to survive a torpedo attack on the USS Strong. The only thing I ever heard him say was "Reveille at 0600", which my cousins explained that we were to stop talking and go to bed. However, I had a guy that worked for me for 33 years that was a Marine in the early 70's, he had all kinds of sayings. I wasn't even sure half of them were even Military untiI I read this thread. The one I haven't seen is " Shines like a diamond in a goat's ass". Is this considered Military jargon or just some inbred Rowley saying, and what the He'll does it mean?

The military values inventive, colorful slang, and veteran NCOs gain a GREAT deal of respect if they can come up with memorable phrases off the cuff. I suspect your employee's "diamond in a goat's ass" might have been one of those, but even if not, it sounds very typical of the kind of thing that comes out of military mouths. A lot of the military's culture is basically Southern, meaning some of those corny country idioms often show up on post no matter where it's located.

Your dad and uncle who were in the Air Force? That might be why their slang sucked. The early Air Force was pretty formal because they were trying to set up a new service, and they wanted to be seen as more professional than the Army. I assume it took time for them to evolve their own slang, and even today the Air Force is different about how people talk to each other.

I remember briefings where my battalion commander and a few of the other staff would go through the motions of briefing the aircrews before our jumps. We'd be there at the front of the auditorium on Pope, all camo'd up with our NODs tied off in our BDU pockets, looking ready to go out and kill some MFers and the AF guys would all be clean, in their seats with long hair, wearing cute scarves. They often looked at us like they couldn't believe we were real.
 
The military values inventive, colorful slang, and veteran NCOs gain a GREAT deal of respect if they can come up with memorable phrases off the cuff. I suspect your employee's "diamond in a goat's ass" might have been one of those, but even if not, it sounds very typical of the kind of thing that comes out of military mouths. A lot of the military's culture is basically Southern, meaning some of those corny country idioms often show up on post no matter where it's located.

Your dad and uncle who were in the Air Force? That might be why their slang sucked. The early Air Force was pretty formal because they were trying to set up a new service, and they wanted to be seen as more professional than the Army. I assume it took time for them to evolve their own slang, and even today the Air Force is different about how people talk to each other.

I remember briefings where my battalion commander and a few of the other staff would go through the motions of briefing the aircrews before our jumps. We'd be there at the front of the auditorium on Pope, all camo'd up with our NODs tied off in our BDU pockets, looking ready to go out and kill some MFers and the AF guys would all be clean, in their seats with long hair, wearing cute scarves. They often looked at us like they couldn't believe we were real.
My Dad's First Cousin enlisted right out of High School. Belmont HS 1962. His superlatives were Debate Team, Chorus and Collector of Antique Firearms. Imagine that in a 2022 Belmont HS yearbook, they'd have the school on lockdown. He did his basic at Ft.Dix then onto Aberdeen for Small Arms School. He arrived in Vietnam August of 1962. I was surprised to learn he carried a Garand instead of an M16. I think he was 93rd Mechanized Transport, I could be wrong. They were on the Soc Tran Trail and they had an actual Tiger as their mascot, his name was Tuffy. He returned state side to camp Shepard in California the week I was born, Labor Day 1963. He died in 2014 and we're still going through his stuff. Even though there was no will, my Dad was his sole heir. Antique Typewriters, Antique Radios, Railroadiana, Militaria and 987 Firearms. We used to bug my Dad to ask him if he had a will. Thanksgiving and Christmas would pass each years and we'd say "Did you ask him" and he'd say "He's 13 years younger than me, I'm not going to ask him that". My brothers and I decided that at the next Thanksgiving I would be the one to ask him. He died a month before.
My Dad was ROTC at BU, when graduated, he did his basic at Ft.Drum in N.Y. Is it SOP that Air Force does basic on an Army Base?
 
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