Bear _Nenno: I am almost certain that OSUT was not in existence in my particular time/place of military and I can’t see where it would have occurred, either. After Basic there was about 6 months of AIT school for me, then permanent party at Knox Hall/Ft Sill. Never left Sill in my three years of duty. I had 34L/Y MOS’s (BCS/Tacfire computers) and also Firefinder repair (forget the MOS of that one), all in Knox Hall. I never heard the term OSUT nor knew anyone involved with such.
We never had any female-education stuff but AIT was co-ed, so to speak. Almost like typical school but wearing BDU’s and if you lived off-post there was no duty whatsoever if you did not fuck up any. Basic was my last day of living on-post, ever.
Artillery had/has many, many MOS’s, including Forward Obser and the most basic Artillery was 13B, aka ‘gun-bunny’ (as opposed to Infantry 11B aka Bush Beaters). I have no idea about training and/or how the stuff is broken down nowadays, but there are likely different MOS’s for the different guns (?). All the various MOS’s that were ‘technical’ lived in same barracks/apartments, and only once did we have to assemble/reassemble rifle for proficiency, iirc. No shooting/rifle stuff at all in AIT. After my schools, I only touched a rifle every few months at most, and usually just for the heck of it. We had LOTS of free time. My ‘office’ took care of the computers/radars that the civilians (Norden/Litton/etc) used to test their software updates, and we also sent out the software to whoever needed it. If we wanted to shoot a rifle, we could get one for a day from various armories, we had to call around as technically I was attached to Ft Monmouth (Signals). Minimal paperwork and absolute counting of rounds issued/brass returned.
I will try and find out about the A/C on cattle-trucks (could’ve been present) and also if weapons are ‘issued’ the same way nowadays and will get back with you as soon as I can. Sorry for the slight hijacking from FMJ topic, folks.
You guys had it easy, we routinely had to have a bayonet between our teeth 24/7 as well as carrying a pinless grenade in our left hands at all times.
We weren’t allowed to wear socks and we were regulary inspected to see that we had the regulation amount of ground glass in our boots.
Discipline was harsh, execution for a first offence of looking at a non com “in a funny way”…
and afterwards our zombie bodies had to make a forced march of one hundred and twenty miles, in full battle order, carrying a two hundred and eighty pound Bergan, underwater, WHILE THEY SHOWED US LIVE FOOTAGE OF THEM SHAGGING OUR WIVES AND GIRLFRIENDS !
Several of the recruits I was with in Basic (1973) had live rounds they took from the range as souvenirs. It isn’t hard to get a couple of rounds, you just don’t fire everytime and put one in your pocket. The Brass is weighed at the end of training to determine if there is enough left from the issue amount, it is plus or minus a few ounces. If you were caught with one the punishment would be relatively severe to set an example.
However if you were in the barracks you did not have a weapon, they were kept locked up in the armory. But if you were on bivouac you would probalby have your weapon with you.
I wasn’t trying to sound all Yorkshireman, you know; I doubt what I did was any tougher than what American or British infantrymen went through. Just different.
Cattle cars for troop transport were common in the era of that film. I rode in one from Da Nang airport to Tien Sha when I first arrived in 'Nam. It was very hot and very disconcerting.
The Marine Corps does not, strictly speaking. When drafted you are drafted into the “Armed Forces of the United States.” In the mid/late 1960’s, when I was drafted, the Navy and Air Force did not need personnel from the draft, in large part due to the fact that many who were about to be called enlisted in those branches, in most cases to avoid serving in the Army (read: infantry). The Marines did not secure a lot of men via the draft for a couple of resons. First, it is a much smaller organization and second, there are always those who want to be Marines. However, the Marines did take some. I was one of 113 inductees on May 12, 1969. The Marines needed two. To this day it remains the only raffle I ever won.
BTW, some who enlisted into the Navy, perhaps to escape hazardous/unpleasant duty, ended up being attached to Marine Corps units as Corpsmen. To say they had it rough would be a gross understatement.
After a few times watching this scene, I realized that at this climactic moment Hartman said “What is this Mickey Mouse Shit,” or something like that w/ Mickey Mouse.
Great connection to hyper-cynical last moments of film.
It’s a rail car, truck or trailer used for transporting livestock or goods. It can be as crude looking as spaced wooden slats bolted to a steel frame. Inside there will be some chains and ropes for securing. No seats, no suspension, no air conditioning.
