The Military Feel Good Thread - Post anything

This is/was the chapel at RTC Orlando which is now a community of neighborhoods. The water tower was known as the doorknob to hell because we left the chapel and walked past the tower back to the boot camp side. Boot camp was easy for me especially in 1977 so the hell description didn't apply. Plus, I only went to divine services once. We could sleep if we didn't go to church.

navy27.jpg
 
This is a little off topic but it's about grit and determination so not totally irrelevant for this forum. And I have been posting for months, so some of you have followed my DS's journey (TWE from USMA, USNA still pending, AROTC scholarship at Plan B).

DS and I lived in Germany from when he was born through 6th grade. FutureDH (former long distance DBF) was in the US and the Chicago Blackhawks were doing awesome. We watched all the games/Stanley cup online together. This peaked DS's interest in hockey, so FutureDH sent him all the gear necessary across the ocean and said I should sign him up for hockey school and let him try it out. Hockey in Germany isn't like here, it's pretty elitist, not many rinks, no pond hockey, only travel teams, no house leagues, it was kind of terrifying showing up there for the first time. DS was 11 at the time and all the other kids were about 5 or 6 y.o., some needed chairs in front of them for balance, DS was def the oldest kid there. My kid couldn't really skate well either and looked like Big Bird on skates. I asked him it if bothered him being the biggest kid out there and he said "I don't care, I just want to play hockey, Mom". Three months later, DS had improved greatly but was still eons away from "good". At the end of the school the coach said to us, "he needs to find a different sport, there is no way on earth that he will ever catch up with those who have been on skates since they were tiny kids. No way ever." Deflated but not totally defeated, he found a recreational outdoor rollerblade hockey league which was fun but just not what he wanted. Ice hockey was his dream.

A year and half later in 2014 we moved to the US, to the great white north of the US, to a region with a long history of hockey and the coolest, oldest rink in North America (it won Kraft Hockeyville 2019). We signed him up for house league hockey. The season was already underway when he started. The team was expecting a german, mini Wayne Gretzky, but instead they got Big Bird who could barely skate backwards and was pretty slow. He was probably the worst player on the team but had the best attitude. He was determined to not only catch up but bypass any doubt that anyone had.

The hours and hours and hours he has put in since then! Not just the practices and the games but the thousands of shots he has taken at his own net in the street, the weight lifting, the exercises, the running, the roller blading, the pond hockey, the hand / eye coordination drills, the summer camps, the improve your skating workshops, the thousand of miles spent on the road to get to those games and tournaments. Voila and within a few seasons, he was one of the strongest players and best skaters on his high school team.

Fast forward to today (six years later)....sadly this afternoon is his very last game of his high school hockey career. And it's in the championship game of the Michigan state finals.

Don't ever give up on your dreams! Put your mind to it and you can achieve almost anything.


EDIT: He also went from mediocre/struggling in school in Germany to being an honor student in the US. But this post isn't meant to boast about my kid's sports or academics, it's about putting your mind to something and getting to where you want to go! Good luck to all the candidates and appointees out there is SAF land!
 
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FrauTeufelshund said:
This is a little off topic but it's about grit and determination so not totally irrelevant for this forum. And I have been posting for months, so some of you have followed my DS's journey (TWE from USMA, USNA still pending, AROTC scholarship at Plan B).

DS and I lived in Germany from when he was born through 6th grade. FutureDH (former long distance DBF) was in the US and the Chicago Blackhawks were doing awesome. We watched all the games/Stanley cup online together. This peaked DS's interest in hockey, so FutureDH sent him all the gear necessary across the ocean and said I should sign him up for hockey school and let him try it out. Hockey in Germany isn't like here, it's pretty elitist, not many rinks, no pond hockey, only travel teams, no house leagues, it was kind of terrifying showing up there for the first time. DS was 11 at the time and all the other kids were about 5 or 6 y.o., some needed chairs in front of them for balance, DS was def the oldest kid there. My kid couldn't really skate well either and looked like Big Bird on skates. I asked him it if bothered him being the biggest kid out there and he said "I don't care, I just want to play hockey, Mom". Three months later, DS had improved greatly but was still eons away from "good". At the end of the school the coach said to us, "he needs to find a different sport, there is no way on earth that he will ever catch up with those who have been on skates since they were tiny kids. No way ever." Deflated but not totally defeated, he found a recreational outdoor rollerblade hockey league which was fun but just not what he wanted. Ice hockey was his dream.

A year and half later in 2014 we moved to the US, to the great white north of the US, to a region with a long history of hockey and the coolest, oldest rink in North America (it won Kraft Hockeyville 2019). We signed him up for house league hockey. The season was already underway when he started. The team was expecting a german, mini Wayne Gretzky, but instead they got Big Bird who could barely skate backwards and was pretty slow. He was probably the worst player on the team but had the best attitude. He was determined to not only catch up but bypass any doubt that anyone had.

The hours and hours and hours he has put in since then! Not just the practices and the games but the thousands of shots he has taken at his own net in the street, the weight lifting, the exercises, the running, the roller blading, the pond hockey, the hand / eye coordination drills, the summer camps, the improve your skating workshops, the thousand of miles spent on the road to get to those games and tournaments. Voila and within a few seasons, he was one of the strongest players and best skaters on his high school team.

Fast forward to today (six years later)....sadly this afternoon is his very last game of his high school hockey career. And it's in the championship game of the Michigan state finals.

Don't ever give up on your dreams! Put your mind to it and you can achieve almost anything.


EDIT: He also went from mediocre/struggling in school in Germany to being an honor student in the US. But this post isn't meant to boast about my kid's sports or academics, it's about putting your mind to something and getting to where you want to go! Good luck to all the candidates and appointees out there is SAF land!
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Undefeated until today. We lost 4 to 1. To a prep school that costs $87,000 a year to attend and who recruit from everywhere. Sad my kid's hockey career had to end like this. Not to a team that was truly better but one that just had more resources. Feels worse than a TWE! Onward!
 
Well I remember one Labor Day when Vietnam Vets marched in a fire dept. parade. It was in the late 80's at a volunteer fire dept. parade & drill on long Island. I used to go to all of the FD parades then & this was the 1st time I ever these vets at one. The vets were all in camo's, kinda full grunt mode & as they approached the reviewing area where the grandstands were, almost everyone in the crowd was applauding! I thought at the time that is was nice since they never got that when they came home.
Anyway as the hot afternoon wore on, a motorcycle gang showed up & started to drink beer heavily. I was a captain of an engine company & we had the refreshment stand where they were. The cops started to slowly come together & when I saw them all take off their shields & put them in their pockets, I had all my guys stand together in the middle of the stand. Well it was a short but fierce fight with lots of tears (from the mace spray) & the good guys winning. Times have changed...to say the least!😇
 
Wishful said:
Well I remember one Labor Day when Vietnam Vets marched in a fire dept. parade. It was in the late 80's at a volunteer fire dept. parade & drill on long Island. I used to go to all of the FD parades then & this was the 1st time I ever these vets at one. The vets were all in camo's, kinda full grunt mode & as they approached the reviewing area where the grandstands were, almost everyone in the crowd was applauding! I thought at the time that is was nice since they never got that when they came home.
Anyway as the hot afternoon wore on, a motorcycle gang showed up & started to drink beer heavily. I was a captain of an engine company & we had the refreshment stand where they were. The cops started to slowly come together & when I saw them all take off their shields & put them in their pockets, I had all my guys stand together in the middle of the stand. Well it was a short but fierce fight with lots of tears (from the mace spray) & the good guys winning. Times have changed...to say the least!😇
Click to expand...
Wait, which were the good guys in this story?
 
This will be an awesome piece of snivel gear. I want one.

The mitten shell should be constructed from a waterproof laminate with a water-repellent leather palm and feature a suede "nose wipe" on the back of the thumb, according to the solicitation. It should also be insulated and seam-sealed to provide full waterproofing.

www.military.com

Trigger Finger Mittens on Marine Corps Cold Weather 'Snivel Gear' Wish List

This search for better cold weather clothing comes at a time when the U.S. military is intensifying its focus on the Arctic.
www.military.com www.military.com
 
Morning thoughts while enjoying a cup of coffee...

That young soldier with the bandoleers of 7.62 around his chest looks like he is holding a M-60. I can't figure out how he has the belt of ammo strung around the weapon. I would think he is just "holding" it in place which makes me wonder if this picture was staged. Hmmm.

Also, for those who are not familiar with the experience - that is actually a lot of weight he has strung on him.
 
USMCGrunt said:
Morning thoughts while enjoying a cup of coffee...

That young soldier with the bandoleers of 7.62 around his chest looks like he is holding a M-60. I can't figure out how he has the belt of ammo strung around the weapon. I would think he is just "holding" it in place which makes me wonder if this picture was staged. Hmmm.

Also, for those who are not familiar with the experience - that is actually a lot of weight he has strung on him.
Click to expand...
Yep...23lbs without bipod if my ancient memory serves, just for the weapon...and that much ammo...strung like that? He's moving from location "A" to "B" and it's not a hot zone. You couldn't employ all that; especially wrapped around the weapon.

Looks cool though...although, as you said...HEAVY.

Steve
(was the M-60 guy during a six-week USAF appreciation program with the army at Fort Carson)
 
Devil Doc said:
View attachment 8681
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That thing that they are jumping off of is called the "Boat Boom" and it is normally stowed (secured against the ship) but
when extended is a pretty tricky balancing act to walk on and the vast majority of shipboard sailors will not ever set foot
on it.

I once went out on one and then slid down a line to our boat for a middle of the night emergency boat run in Rio de
Janeiro. And that was pretty much the safest part of the trip. . .

But that's a Sea Story for another day
 
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