Unique things that the military knows

Pima

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Okay since Nuke wanted us to expand these threads to life after the academy, there are somethinga that I have enjoyed for decades and now our DS at AFROTC is requested that we send him

COMBAT CORN
This is old fashion popcorn made in a pot with oil.

Popcorn
Oil
Jalapenos (jar...sliced)
Seasoned Salt

Take your biggest pot, fill it with 1/4 in of oil, put about 2 TBLSP of jalapenos with juice...saute until lightly crispy (starting to get golden brown)...add the popcorn to cover all of the oil...pop as usual. when done immediately season with the salt.

BEWARE...the more jalapenos and juice the spicier it is! It also has a kick, it might not seem spicy right away, but a few seconds later you will start coughing! It is very addictive!

SHOE SHINING TIPS

I will leave the specific directions to Bullet and others...all I know is you need to have:

Cotton Balls
Water
Lighter
Shoe Polish

And it takes hours...I guess that is why corframs exist!
 
I LOVE combat corn. Even though spicy food kills me, I will eat the blackened jalepinos straight from the batch! They soak up all the butter and deliciousness YUM!
 
Brasso works great on the glass of your watches too!

(my dad taught me that)

Kiwi shoe polish is what my dad always used...

but my Marine ex hubby used Kangaroo wax from korea.. and a lighter to light it on fire (while on the boot)before he would polish them). (you gotta be quick blowing it out, after it started on fire))
 
White shoes and toothpaste

For those lovely white leather shoes the Navy still enjoys, as well as the white cap cover, Arm & Hammer baking soda and peroxide toothpaste (all white, no minty green stripe!) on a dampened soft cloth, lightly rubbed in and wiped off, will take out or lighten scuffs and dark marks. Doesn't work on corfams.

For ball point ink on 100% polyester CNT trow, a spray of anything alcohol-based, such as hairspray, will dissolve the ink and most of it can be blotted out.

I've spent many an hour in our laundry room at home helping midshipmen attack some uniform emergency. I've also had to help them understand the difference between a Clorox bleach stick and a Shout stain remover stick ... a graphic demonstration on an old dark t-shirt did the trick.

Ah... fond memories of shaving fuzz from CNT uniforms, clipping Irish pennants from buttons and seams, re-ironing creases, shining brightwork, hours on shoes. Five years out of uniform, and I STILL do that stuff, can't go out the door without those little things taken care of. Still have the shoe shine kit and lint roller in the office desk drawer.
 
Irish pennants <<< LOL

my ex carried a tiny pair of scissors in his wallet for cutting those darned things off :shake::shake::shake: (of course his wallet was worn in his sock when in any uniform other then Cami's, safely stored under the shirt suspenders). :shake::shake::shake:
 
They are not suspenders, they are garters:shake:

Nothing funnier than to watch the DH putting them on...I am chuckling now. I would bet a hundred bucks Bullet doesn't miss those!

Another thing to add onto the list...the Korean Mess Dress shirt
 
Yes, cotton balls (without the seeds all in them, if you can avoid it), lighter, water, and polish.

I was a fan of Fire Shining.

1. Take your can of black shoe polish (not a fan of parade gloss), open the can.
2. Pour water in the top part of the can.
3. Put cotton ball in water, soak up water and then squeeze it out.
4. Rub the wet cotton ball in the polish, get a good coat on the cotton ball.
5. Begin to rub the cotton ball on the shoe, get a pretty nice, not too thick coat on. Rub for awhile.
6. Take lighter and place flame over shoe, running the flame slowly, but not TOO slowly over the shoe.
7. Take second cotton ball with no polish on it. Soak in water and squeeze out water.
8. Run this clean cotton ball on shoe.
9. Repeat this over and over....it will be a mirror.

That's how I did it, and still do it.

Make sure you don't hold the flame in one place, or it will burn the shoe.




You'll develope your own technique.




Another thing we learned....floor waxing and buffing (and then the development of rodeo buffing, and phantom buffers, along with some prants that go with phantom buffers).
 
Instruments of torture: Shirt stays!

Ahh, the little grasshoppers going off to Navy this summer will learn the Mysteries of the Shirt Stay.

I remember one plebe who put his on backwards, got himself rubbed raw, suffered in silence and cellulitis got going. That was a very strange conversation with his parents.

Yep, the little scissors for IP's, that's what the Swiss Army Knife little scissors were for, as far as I knew.
 
They are not suspenders, they are garters:shake:

Nothing funnier than to watch the DH putting them on...I am chuckling now. I would bet a hundred bucks Bullet doesn't miss those!

Another thing to add onto the list...the Korean Mess Dress shirt

If we're talking about the ones from your socks, we called them "shirt stays".

Now do I have a story regarding shirt stays.

As a swab we learned one day how to wear shirt stays. We learned while wearing shorts (no, you don't typically wear shirt stays with shorts). We were given a head break. Needless to say, with 4 shirt stays, it wouldn't be easy to sit on the toilet...but I did. So, I did my business, stood up to flush and looked down in the bowl. I noticed something dark in the bottom under some "stuff". Then it dawned on me... when we weren't covered (wearing hats) we kept our covers (hats) tucked in the back of our shorts/pants. Being so concerned with my shirt stays, I completely forgot to remove the cover from my shorts. Instead, during swab summer, I did my business all over my LONE cover. Well, I was scared. I flushed it 10 times, but it did no good. I went back to the buckhead (wall) and stuck out my "paw". My cadre came over.

Cadre - "What is it Swab LITS?"
Swab LITS - "Sir, Swab LITS' cover fell in the toilet Sir."
Cadre - "Ok, where is it?"
Swab LITS - "Sir Swab LITS didn't realize Swab LITS' cover had fallen in the toilet until after the fact. Sir."

Well, the cadre took me to get a trash bag, put the hat in the bag, told a few cadre on the way down to laundry, threw it in the washing machine and that was that. After the laundry was done, and we went back to get the cover, my cadre told me I didn't have to wear it (I guess he really started to understand the trauma that hat had endured), and I could get a new one. I wore a CGC BEAR hat for a day until they got me a new one. I had to explain what happened to a few cadre who saw the CGC BEAR cover and wanted to know why I wasn't wearing what everyone else was.

So....don't do any of that. Member your cover when hitting the head.

Males, this goes for urinals too.
 
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Swab lits and his cover

:jump1:

LITS, hilarious, I am still laughing with a few snorts for good measure. Thank you for a medicinal stress-buster of a story.
 
Ahh, the little grasshoppers going off to Navy this summer will learn the Mysteries of the Shirt Stay.

They're not unique to Annapolis, as I sent two packages of the "stirrup" type to New London last summer. :wink:

The "clip" type have a tendency to come off and snap you in the most unfortunate way.

:cool:
 
They're not unique to Annapolis, as I sent two packages of the "stirrup" type to New London last summer. :wink:

The "clip" type have a tendency to come off and snap you in the most unfortunate way.

:cool:

I can attest to that last line!

Guys, in addition to the risk of snap back, the shirt stays will take the hair off of the sides of your legs.
 
:jump1:

LITS, hilarious, I am still laughing with a few snorts for good measure. Thank you for a medicinal stress-buster of a story.

Great story Lits...

I can just see the look on your face.. was really OH SH****

My hubby did that at Boy Scout Camp... BUT it fell into a porti-potty... He chose not to fish it out... LOL

SO the CG calls them Covers too!... cool....
 
Little Grasshopper

Hornetguy, exactly right. My aging brain couldn't recall the name, but it is indeed, the "Karate Kid" movies and Kung Fu TV series (VERY ancient) where Venerable Elder martial arts character types use it to address the young initiates.

Not necessarily a military, Navy or academy usage, just good fun. Ahh, Little Grasshopper, watch and learn!
 
Reminds me of karate kid. Basically the equivalent of apprentice, or youngin', etc. Generic term, not a new Academy term. :thumb:

Much farther back than that.

Think Kung Fu, an early-mid 70's TV show.

Kwai-Chang Caine was called "grasshopper" by Master Po, as a term of endearment and as a reminder of how much he had to learn.
:cool:
 
Luigi, you start quoting from "Chico and the Man" now and you'll be really be dating yourself!
 
Chico and the Man

:thumb:"LOOOKING GOOOD!" Chico-- The Late Freddy Prinze..
Dad of the current teen Hearthrob Freddy Prinze Jr.
 
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