US Military Lifestyle Discussion

[dadrago]

Warning: those who love/like the military may not like this post!!

While I was in boot camp, I went through pretty massive withdrawls from a few normally acceptable stimulants. those being caffine and nicotine. the only somewhat substitutes that were available were only available during meal times and that was powerade and you were only allowed to get 1 glass during each meal. and for the nicotine (aka tobacco) several of the drill instructors as well as one of the senior drill instructors of my boot series smoked cigarettes or did smokeless tobacco, so those who were going through nicotine withdrawls were tortured pretty much whenever a drill instructor who smoked came back from a smoke break.
and what really sucked was when i was called by one of the other platoon's senior drill instructors to his personal vehicle and he was smoking that really almost made me break ranks and regulations by asking for a cigarette.

and there was absolutely no soda available that the recruits could purchase ... with me being former marine corps the 3 months without a cigarette was pretty bad ... but after the first month or so the cravings for a cigarette was pretty much non-existant its just afterward the mind psychologically saying 'he's smoking why cant I?'

dadrago

[Journeywoman]

Just makes me happy that one I don't smoke and two reinforces the fact that I NEVER want to join the military!

[Were_Fan]

Warning: those who love/like the military may not like this post!!

While I was in boot camp, I went through pretty massive withdrawls from a few normally acceptable stimulants. those being caffine and nicotine. the only somewhat substitutes that were available were only available during meal times and that was powerade and you were only allowed to get 1 glass during each meal. and for the nicotine (aka tobacco) several of the drill instructors as well as one of the senior drill instructors of my boot series smoked cigarettes or did smokeless tobacco, so those who were going through nicotine withdrawls were tortured pretty much whenever a drill instructor who smoked came back from a smoke break.
and what really sucked was when i was called by one of the other platoon's senior drill instructors to his personal vehicle and he was smoking that really almost made me break ranks and regulations by asking for a cigarette.

and there was absolutely no soda available that the recruits could purchase ... with me being former marine corps the 3 months without a cigarette was pretty bad ... but after the first month or so the cravings for a cigarette was pretty much non-existant its just afterward the mind psychologically saying 'he's smoking why cant I?'

dadrago

Yup! No cuppa coffee in the morning to clear bleary eyes really sucked. One reason besides jitters that the armed forces doesn't like caffiene is that it makes you urinate more often.

I still remember the first breakfast morning at our dining facility during Basic Training. I headed to the coffee machine only to get yelled at by a Drill SGT. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING PRIVATE? YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR COFFEE!" I swallowed a reply that the Drills all had coffee. You don't want to be known as a smart ass, especially during basic training.

PT (Physical training) each morning before breakfast wasn't bad since the physical exertion kept you awake. If we marched somewhere for training after breakfast I was OK also. However, if we had classroom instruction after breakfast the next few hours would be spent in a daze. I'd usually become somewhat alert by lunch time!

I didn't tell you this but you can save the instant coffee packs from the MREs. When getting a sleepy dazed feeling, use the packet like chew or put it in your canteen. The packet trick works like a charm during guard duty at night. You get the caffiene boost plus the bitter taste ihelps keep you awake. Use this sparingly since you don't want to get a bad urge to pee during a road march.

[Lochar]

And now I'm going to have to forward this to all drill instructors, so they know to confiscate the coffee packets.

[dadrago]

And now I'm going to have to forward this to all drill instructors, so they know to confiscate the coffee packets.

It won't really do any good. they know that is sometimes what recruits do to stay awake or get an energy boost. and it wouldn't do much good the coffee packets aren't standard in every MRE, it comes in the accesory pack (along with the gum (which is also not allowed ) ) and the coffee pack is either coffee or tea and the tea has to be heated.

I just hated having in basic to field strip the MREs to remove the 'candy' aka most desert items.

dadrago

[Were_Fan]

And now I'm going to have to forward this to all drill instructors, so they know to confiscate the coffee packets.

It won't really do any good. they know that is sometimes what recruits do to stay awake or get an energy boost. and it wouldn't do much good the coffee packets aren't standard in every MRE, it comes in the accesory pack (along with the gum (which is also not allowed ) ) and the coffee pack is either coffee or tea and the tea has to be heated.

I just hated having in basic to field strip the MREs to remove the 'candy' aka most desert items.

dadrago

The drills went wacko when some guys lit up the cigarettes that were thoughtfully provided in one set of MREs we were issued! However, all they did is make the few that lit up stub them out. After all, the government had provided the contraban. LOL

There were a few smokers that got caught at other times. Cost them about $150 (1/3 of a month's pay) with an Article 15. First time was during initial in-processing and some wise guys didn't know the shower ventilators had smoke detectors in them. We all got pissed off when another guy figured the furnace room was a good place to sneak a smoke. At 3AM you don't want what little sleep you have to be interrupted with a fire alarm. We were staying some old barracks at Ft Benning GA that were definite fire hazards. This was in the early 80s and these things looked like WW2 relics of 50 years ago.

[Were_Fan]

And now I'm going to have to forward this to all drill instructors, so they know to confiscate the coffee packets.

I don't think they would have bothered about coffee packets since they never bothered troops about it. Mainly they rag you for cigarettes or candy. A few smokers had to cough up about $150 Article 15 fine when caught. One "fat boy" did get caught with candy and they ragged his ass in PT after that. Same idiot begged me for more chewable vitamin C after I let him have one.

BTW, you are (or were) allowed vitamins but otherwise NO food in the barracks due to attracting bugs and other wildlife. For "city boys", don't take food in a tent either. If you do, pray you only get a raccon tearing stuff up instead of a bear. One year a bear did invade a field kitchen but that was before my time. Oh, the wolves in Minnesota won't bother you. The howling at 3AM when you have no ammo is just to laugh at the silly humans. It didn't bother me but one guy refused to stand guard duty at night. In fact, I really enjoyed a crisp moonlight night, sub-zero temps, 4+ feet of snow, wolves howling and an empty 45!

[thisandthat]

I didn't tell you this but you can save the instant coffee packs from the MREs.

MRE's, that brings back memories of a supply truck rolling by and catching a brown packet tossed from the back of the truck as it rolls by.

Did we get something good like "Mac & Cheese" or "Meatloaf With Gravy". Or is it your turn go get one of the dreaded duo known as "Dead Man in a Bag" - a ham and egg omelet entree - with an unpleasant aroma and greenish hue to the eggs or the "Four Fingers of Death" -- four hotdogs in a bag with beans.

I knew a guy who had messed with the wrong people once – each person was issued a case of MRE’s – he got a case of Ham & Egg and only Ham & Egg.

MRE’s, three lies in one; not really Meals, not really Ready and not really editable also known as Meals Refused by Ethiopians.

[Were_Fan]

I didn't tell you this but you can save the instant coffee packs from the MREs.

MRE's, that brings back memories of a supply truck rolling by and catching a brown packet tossed from the back of the truck as it rolls by.

Did we get something good like "Mac & Cheese" or "Meatloaf With Gravy". Or is it your turn go get one of the dreaded duo known as "Dead Man in a Bag" - a ham and egg omelet entree - with an unpleasant aroma and greenish hue to the eggs or the "Four Fingers of Death" -- four hotdogs in a bag with beans.

I knew a guy who had messed with the wrong people once – each person was issued a case of MRE’s – he got a case of Ham & Egg and only Ham & Egg.

MRE’s, three lies in one; not really Meals, not really Ready and not really editable also known as Meals Refused by Ethiopians.

I liked most MREs and don't dislike anything except wieners but a lot of relatives, co-workers and other folks sneer at me when I eat Chunky Soup from a can without heating. When you hear about federal specs allowing something like 1% rat shit you probably won't eat wieners anymore either.

Prior to the MREs I got a few C-rats. Beans and wieners in a small can, etc. Also, you get green or grey eggs all the time in the military unless you are a REMF. Color change is a sign of overcooked eggs. Best eggs I ever had were delivered via chopper and served with water during a rainstorm. The rain added flavor maybe.

Here are some other MRE definitions:
Meal Ready to Eject (or Meal Readily Ejected)
Meal Ready to Erupt

Did you ever get a MRE that appeared to be under pressure? That was a sign of a spoiled MRE but was extremely rare. Usually one of the foil packets wasn't sealed. Some bad MREs also came back from Desert Storm 1. Soldiers were treated to melted M&Ms and other bad things.

Original MREs in early 80s were smaller and more rounded. Most unfavorites were dehydrated beef and pork patties. Imagine a "cracker" about 1/2 inch thich that was supposed to reconstitute into something like a hamburger. I actually liked them and used to munch on them like crackers while drinking water. The dehydrated ppeaches, pears and mixed fruit were good also.

Later MREs were larger and squared off. They added things like hot sauce and had larger portions. Then Desert Storm got the sand colored plastic instead of dark grown.

Last but not least were the emergency meal packs that were the same color as cluster bomblets. I don't whether the bomblets or the meals had the color first but that snafu killed innocents in Iraq. One would think that the idiot designing the cluster bomblets would have included a skull and crossbones on the plastic. Hindsight is 20/20 though.

[thisandthat]

Prior to the MREs I got a few C-rats.

C-Rats were good and you got this real cute can opener.
The newer MRE's were much better with the little bottle of tabisco sauce.
During the first war people would wash them out and fill it with sand.
Pink baby powder like sand in Saudi.
Browner stuff in Kuwait
Pebbly to powder & mud in Iraqi

Also if you walk the beach in UAE you find lots of cuttle fish bones (the same stuff you stuff in a bird cage).
The other thing that is strange in UAE is the color of the water at the beach. You can walk out to the end of a dock and see the bottom of the water & the fish too. The water is such a clear green-blue - something to see.

[RedManX]

i just compleated navy bootcamp on april 16th.
in the galley we where offered coffee for brakefast
and soda or coffee for lunch and dinner.

we where not aloud to have any tobaco products tho , i am now a happy smoker after a 2 month brake and am truly enjoying said smoke brakes.