Military sci fi and military characters in sci fi

Well, I was young, naive and didn't knew better...

...I consider it a guilty pleasure...

 

I still absolutely love the Halo series. The book series is one of my favorites, and is up to around 20 something books now. I know only maybe five of them are actually super well written, but I still thoroughly enjoy the series and how its grown in military science fiction.

 

So, I did what is called split service, four years in the Navy and three years in the Army. Started in the Navy. 18 Months Shore duty in New Orleans LA. At the Naval Bio-dynamics Laboratory (NBDL) on the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility (NBDL no longer exsist thanks to BRAC (Base Realighment and Closure)) as a Human Research Volunteer (HRV) for ejection seat testing. after that 30 months onboard the ARDM1 Oakridge (Auxillary Reserve Drydock Mobile) which was a sub tender. In Dock Div. Lots of scraping rust and painting. Both the drydock and the subs. Got out, got married, had a kid and then went to go back in and Big Daddy Clinton had reduced funding to all the services and the Navy was not taking prior service. Not the case with the Army. So put in a request to enlist in the Army came back approved. Went back through boot camp then did 3 years as a 13M. MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket Systems). Tore a muscle in my leg. Army brought in a surgeon from the Air force because fixing the issue was his area of expertise. He cut a nerve in my calf and I lost the feeling in my foot. Medically discharged from the Army because I could no longer run or perform the essential duties of my military occupation. Also know as being broke dick. But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

So if you want to know what the military is all about. Most of it's about learning to do what your told without asking questions. Understanding you had a place (Usually on the lower end) in the chain of command. You learned hurry up and wait. You learned because that's what you were told. You learned that Motrin is the Military cure all. Had four wisdom teeth pulled in a day, here's two Motrin, report for P.T. at 0400. You found out how bad food could actually be. You found out if enough people yell at you; you can run 15 miles. You find out how cool an M203 looks while hating that heavy piece of shit at the same time. You learned how to stretch a very small paycheck over two weeks. You learned you didn't want to " Stand tall before the man" because he was going to take your rank and money if you screwed up. You learned how to sleep anywhere at anytime. You learned there was no such thing as taboo subjects when it came to telling jokes about other guys in your unit. You learned there is no such thing as privacy. Ever take a shower with 88 other guys? Ever drop a deuce in the desert squatting over a cat hole while your buddy made sure no one wanted to snipe your ass? But above anything else you learned about training, or preparing to train or using all that training to actually perform your mission. It's about knowing the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airman might serve in different branches of the service and we might give each other a ton of shit but in the end we had each others back. No Matter What... You also learn that anyone that didn't serve was harder to respect.

And yes, anybody that was an officer other than the ones that started out as enlisted pretty much where shittards. Had a butterbar (Second Lieutenant) who actually took the battery into an impact area (That's a designated area for people to fire artillery at) on Ft. Sill because he did not know how to use a plugger (Military GPS unit) or how to read a map, but this guy was supposed to be in charge.

 

I feel your pain here. My legs were too far gone from the constant crouching that comes with F18 work, and to repair my knees they told me I would surgery. The problem with that, as they told me, was a division of thirds. One third chance for success, chance for failure, and chance for not a damn thing. I opted to suffer through the last year of my five year in the Marines and lose my chance to reenlist. I've lost too many friends to military doctors for them to work on me. Can't run anymore either, but at least I can walk.

They opted to call me the "old man" with my crippled legs rather than a broke dick. They knew the beating that came with that phrase (as in tough job assignments, not physical most of the time).

But yes, I would do it again. I miss the chaos of the flightline.

 

Learned to do a funny looking jog. Took a long time to get used to the constant pins and needles feeling though. In hindsight I should have just dealt with the torn muscle.

Funny when people ask me for my DD214 because I have to ask them "Which one?".

Hope you got rated by the VA and are getting something for it. Took eleven years for them to finally give me 40%.

 

That's terrible, they should have given you way more. Claim tinnitus and grab the extra 10%. 50% gets you a lot more things.

 

I wish I could say that surprises me but based on what my son-in-law has experienced over the last 7 years (25U, E-5) it doesn't. He's at Fort Bliss right now and ready to do anything to get out of there.

He was approached about applying for a WH Comms position in 2014 but declined so he, my daughter and grandkids could go to USFK for two years. They approached him again a month after they arrived in Hell Paso and he was so glad to see them! Don't yet know if he's going to DC but my daughter, who once said she'd rather go to Fairbanks than DC, is praying for the move.

God bless and thanks!

 

My son-in-law lost his right testicle because the docs in the field didn't think the extreme swelling was all that important. By the time he was airlifted out of the field the blood flow had been interrupted for five days.

He says anyone who wants government health care should consider whether they're willing to give up a nut.

 

I've seen this multiple times. They always make this same mistake. Just to let everyone know, there's definitely s fair amount of dudes missing a nut in the military. Just in case the thought crossed anyone's mind.

 

Wow. I didn't know it was a thing. Sheesh.

 

Hey @Dark_Leome, this is a good piece of detail for your work.

 

Dark_Leome you are going to have to develop your own lingo for your ship as well. Ships are multi-level mazes where everything looks the same and it's all the same color. In the Navy everything was grey. You have Port and Starboard instead of left and right. Fore and Aft instead of front and back. Topside and below decks for up and down. Rope is called line and metal cable is called wire rope. You don't have ceilings you have overheads. No stairs they are called ladders. No doors they are hatches. Windows are portholes. The floor is the deck. Your bed was your bunk and the bathroom is the head. Rumors are called scuttlebutt. The kitchen is the galley which also had the scullery where you wash all the dishes. Any type of paperwork is called a chit. Junk food is geedunk. Kool aid is bug juice. The trolls that work below decks are called snipes. Submariners are called bubbleheads. Ship wide communication is over the 1MC and the famous alarm you hear on ships is called a klaxon. EFMingo probably knows all about Turco and Pad eyes. The house mouse delivered mail and other menial task. When a hatch was closed it had to be dogged to maintain water tight integrity and some hatches had to be dog zebra meaning they had to be kept closed at night so that light from the ship did not give away your position to any enemy fleet. and on and on and on....

You see what I am saying. Someone new to the ship would get lost as hell if you told them to go down two levels then over three compartments to the port side then head fore until you hit the ladder by the galley. keep going below decks until you see the geedunk machine turn starboard go four compartments until you start running into snipes. Don't listen to their bullshit scuttlebutt just head aft until you hit the bulkhead.

Look up naval compartment number system and you can use something like that.

 

Huh, my tinnitus has gotten really bad (relatively) in the last six months or so. Almost thirty years out of service, but it was the primary registered hazard for my line of work (the guys in the tents with the triple strand and all the antennas). The other was tripping over headphone cords, I shit you not.

Semper fi do or die gung ho gung ho gung ho!

 

Boots want to act up? Fall asleep on duty? Send them to clean pad eyes and pump hydraulics for the day with powerline. You get used to watching grown men and women cry after a while. Nothing a little pain therapy can't fix for those who can't keep in line.

Washing jets can be good too. Got a corporal not pulling his weight and treating his juniors like garbage? Fine. Go wash jets. Sit soaked in soap, water, grease, hydraulic fluid, and fuel until you figure yourself out.

I may not know the ship well @Dark_Leome , but I damn sure know the flight line. If your ship is a carrier, or has loading docks for freight, I can help you with that.

 

No better method to instill humility.

I've said the "we've got plenty more" line quite a few times, and it brings quite the smile to my face to hear others say it.

 

There is a Megadeath song about a guy that snuck on to an Army reserve base and stole tank.

 

I forgot about that song--thanks!

 

This was somewhere between 1987 and 1989. If you go into the Denver Post archives I'm sure it's there. I kinda doubt it's available online just because it's so old.

ETA: I was wrong. It was in 1992. Had to be 'cause my daughter was an infant. The Colorado Springs Gazette has it in archives too. It was a big story for a couple of days.

 

Back then anyone could get on base. Cheyenne Mountain was still secured but Fort Carson? Not so much. One of my favorite bars was on Carson.

 

You guys should go look at The Army's Fckups' Facebook page. I think you'll like it.

 

@Dark_Leome

I'm going to amend some of this.

Hannah's book Home Front was very enjoyable but the first time I listened to it I was surprised that in her dialogue concerning Baghram none of her characters used either curses or typical Army complaints in the language used by everyone I've ever known who has been there done that. The story was good enough that I could let that go but the lack was definitely noted.

On the other hand, the percentage of the US population that has any knowledge whatsoever of the military is what, 4%? I know it's a single digit percentage. So the vast majority of her readers wouldn't recognized the oddity.

In my experience as a daughter, sister and mother of military men, and hanging around cavalry bases as a kid, there are two kinds of men who enter the military: those who want to do a specific job and those using the military as a ladder rung. The former can and sometimes do become the latter.

Case in point: my youngest and his battle buddy.

My son worked throughout his high school years and a year after graduating to build enough strength and endurance to perform well on the NSW Entry PST. The requirements are:

Mandatory/recommended
Swim 500 yards in >12:30/ >8
Push ups: 42 / 80-100
Sit ups: 50 / 80-100
Pull ups: 6 / 15-20
Run 1.5 miles: 11:30 in boots / >10

All of that back to back with a few minutes in between to move locations or whatnot. One doesn't saunter into a recruiter's office and immediately go on the draft list. When my son started working with the mentors he was meeting or slightly exceeding all the requirements except the swim, which he aced immediately (we found a swim coach who knew the combat side stroke. Never thought that would be a big challenge.)

His battle buddy on the other hand grew up in a bad San Diego neighborhood and is using the Navy to get out.

The guys there for a specific rating (or MOS for Army) tend to be more serious about everything. Not that they don't cut up, trust me. They just have a different perspective.

If your military has a draft you need to keep in mind the differences between volunteers and draftees.