soutie

the medical was a joke there we where standing in our broekies,underpants ,coughing when told to generally just fit for military service ,the problem with me was i only have 5 % vision in my left eye,now it was time for the eye exam ,their was this staff sarge who said to me in afrikaans read from top to bottom ,cover up your left eye ,so i useed my left hand to cover up my left eye ,i have my faults but i am not a shirker.
He then said okay now do the same with your other eye ,he then looked down onto his chart to start marking what i was reading ,so i took my right hand and covered up my left eye according to the SADF i have perfect vision ,a guy behind me said ,i cannot believe you got away with that ,
it was kruger the guy who was on the train with me ,he was in platoon 2 ,i just smiled back and said i do not want to be a desk jockey for my 2 years in the military,from that day we became firm friends,slowly but surely the sickies started returning after a few days there was 26 of us in the platoon ,we got our hair cuts and today was the day we where going to get our kit whoopie.

sappersgt

Well, that explains the grenade incident. But how did you still manage to hit a Captain in the head with a condom full of piss from a moving vehicle?

I'm nearsighted (20/50) in my right eye and farsighted in the left. I couldn't qualify at the range without my glasses because my shooting eye is the nearsighted one. I got time off to go into town and see the optometrist. I qualified a few days later with glasses on. I did later on learn how to shoot left eyed, just in case.

Yes, I do not miss those issue under pants with no elastic only a string. The SADF also got my blood type wrong on my records. I'm a universal recipient so it didn't matter. The only time I got blood I told them first and they said, "Lucky you, we just so happen to have one of your type!".

__________________
Reddite igitur quae sunt Caesaris Caesari et quae sunt Dei Deo
(Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's)

Southie

When I went through Basic Training in San Antonio TX (USAF - Dec 1979) the first day that we were getting our blue's issued there was a light flurry of snow. The blue's issued to women were skirts and short sleeve blouses. We also had our over coats which were lined. My T.I. (TSgt Jimmy Carter) called around to the places that we were going to go to after we got our blues and asked that the instructors meet in one building because of the snow (very light, mind you) and possibly provide coffee and hot chocolate for the Airmen! Yes, basic training was enjoyable for me!

Actually got to do the obstacle course twice. Once because we had to and the second time because we wanted to. The second time we did, and friend and myself cannonballed into the "pond" from the swinging rope and soaked our T.I. Had to give up a "341" which was a demerit.

__________________
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” - Jimi Hendrix
Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

soutie

hehe remeber there was a group of them standing together ,so lets just say that the piss bomb was an area weapon ,thats why i carried an LMG

tankie

__________________
TANKIE , WITHOUT WAX

soutie

4,30AM in the morning opstaan tyd ,get up time then the 3 sss **** shave shower,no inspection because there is no kit yet ,march to breakfast ,there motto was eat now chew later back to the barracks fall in for kit ,standing in the kit kine i was as nervous as hell ,when i came to the quatermaster there was a pile of kit on a table ,staaldak (steel helmut)and green webbing 2 sets of browns 6 pairs of socks 3 pairs of overalls web belt round kitbag that the army insisted we had to make square sheets blankets pillows boots ,beret ,bush jackets ,for the first two weeks they showed us what they wanted in our kit inspections and bungalow inspections ,plus lots of chicken parades,the first time i was asked by our company staff sergant if i knew what a chicken parade was "yes staff ,when a bunch of chickens are on parade",before basics i could not do 10 pushups ,after 2 weeks i must have done about 500 hundred By then i was developing a bit of a rep as it where ,the guys in my platoon used to get pissed off with me because sometimes they too would get PT because of a certain comment that was made by me when i asked a direct question when we had inspections they where very strict as any ex serviceman would know,my inspection where always good ,never a fault and they used to go over everything with a fine toothcomb ,the staff the RSM and the sarge all used to stand 2 millimeters from my face snarling at me ,whats going thru my mind do not laugh do not laugh do not laugh,that would last about 15 seconds i could not help myself ffing push ups again .I will be honest with you guys i was the unfittest soldier that was ever drafted into the SADF as i said to my sarge whatever i do whether it is right or wrong u still gonna make me run so i may as well have some fun while i am doing it We got issued with our weapons 1 month into basic ,the army will always find more things for me to clean i thought to myself.tHE FIRST MONTHS OF BASICS WAS BASICS FITTNESS RUNNING screaming shouting inspections then we got our first pass wahoo ,i think the first 3 days was a drunken blur ,if i had know what was install for me when i got back i would never have got so pissed ,In my youth i was a rum drinker ,so can you imagine monday morning back at camp during our inspection i was reaking of old rum ,SOUTIE YOU REEK OF ALCOHOL FULL KIT PLEASE ,THAT DAY I RAN 3 2,4 IN N ROW I PUKED RUM AND COKE UNTILL THE COWS CAME HOME , somehow i felt they where picking on me .For the most part our NCO where pretty hard they where not sadistic excepy for one ,he used to take enjoyment out of it ,he was later tranferred to another unit.We had two operational NCO who used to give us lectures on platoon weapons these guys where good ,i heard they where sent to there respctive units in NAMBIA we heard rumors that the one guy ,who was called mitch by his collegues was sent to 32 as i said that was a rumour

soutie

township duty was an eyeopener we where sent to MAMELODI basically we had to control the masses asit where look for ANC activists ,make sure the kids are not burning down schools,being white and coming from a modest background and going to an area like that ,opened my eyes and alot of other guys eyes as well,apartheid and the meaning of it really hit home ,the homes where small ,clustered together alot of them where made out of corrigated iron,a really **** place to live ,i asked the guy ,can you blame them for throwing stones at us look how they are living,alot of my platoon mates had no answer to that ,every single day we where pelted with stones and other objects,we where not allowed to use our weapons ,we could,nt chase the perpetrators either cos we had so much kit and i swear a few of those guys we used to chase would qualify for the olympics i remeber one instance my sarge and i where chasing these guy who was handing out ANC leaflets he jumped over a 6 foot wall into a group of houses ,we had alot of kit and our rifles and we followed suit ,well we climbed over this wall ,jumped down and hit the floor with a thud .What faced us 2, AMERCIAN PITBULLS and they looked hungry,it must have taken us about five seconds to climb over this wall,and about one second back again ,on the other side of this wall i started giggling ,then laughing ,hells bells sarge did,nt know you could move so fast ,neither did i he replied,but i suppose when you have 2 pitbulls as motivation anything is possible There was this guy our platoon who,s father worked for corobrik,they where suppliers of bricks to the building trade.Anyway he managed to organise a few hundred half bricks for ammo purpose ,well one fine morning thru the same street at the same time the bricks came ,we where in samil 20,s at the time ,we each had about 10 half bricks of our own ,we returned fire ,you should have seen their faces ,we where actually laughing at them for about 4 mins we threw each other with stones, bricks tins of baked beans and even some energy bars ,after that we where never thrown again,it was like an undeclared truce

Southie

This was passed on to me by my boss. Thought some of you might enjoy it!


Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 06:55:28 -0500


Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by
civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes,
forgetting that it was there long before they were.


A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back.
Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the
local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day
at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB
officer, I hope it stung quite a bit.


The complaint:
"Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: Whom do we thank for the
morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 a.m., a tight
formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall,
continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet.
Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this
wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early
bird special? Any response would be appreciated."


The response:
Regarding "A wake-up call from Luke's jets" (Letters, Thursday): On June
15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship flyby of F-16s
from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave
of Capt. Jeremy Fresques.
Capt. Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at
Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day. At 9
a.m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park
in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend.
Based on the letter writer's recount of the flyby, and because of the jet
noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or
my words to the widow and parents of Capt.
Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the
United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who
understand the sacrifices they have endured. A four-ship flyby is a
display of respect the Air Force pays to those who give their lives in
defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs
seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four
officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects.
The letter writer asks, "Whom do we thank for the morning air show?"
The 56th Fighter Wing will call for you, and forward your thanks to the
widow and parents of Capt. Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in
their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.
Lt. Col. Scott Pleus
CO 63rd Fighter Squadron
Luke AFB

soutie

i feel embarressed for the person who wrote that letter i hope that he feels really kak

Ray

A very moving reply!

I am sure the original letter writer would have felt bad for writing his letter and I am sure he would have apologised as all good men should.

__________________


"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

HAKUNA MATATA

Southie

I'm sure all good men do apologize when it's appropriate!

Stan187

What if it was a woman who wrote it? How many men do you find in a mall at 9:12 in the morning?

__________________
In Iran people belive pepsi stands for pay each penny save israel. -urmomma158
The Russian Navy is still a threat, but only to those unlucky enough to be Russian sailors.-highsea

Officer of Engineers

The sleeping security guard - he was PO he got woken up.

__________________
Chimo

Ray

Valid point!

Though, I see myself at Mall at that hour since I am enjoying the luxury of a retired life!

Expat Canuck

Ahh so you've joined a walking group! Good to keep fit in your old age.