The Website

I have doing some upgrades to the site. To the average Joe Schmoe this will be transparent and not noticed. Most of it is java script and some other security features that prevent stupid people from stealing from me. I like to look at it as looking after my investment. All in all, we should be able to enjoy each others company as if we are in the same home now.

Salty Language

Salty Language

by Col James W. Hammond Jr., USMC (Ret)

In the (not so) old Corps, the first time a "boot" referred to a vertical partition as a "wall" or said that he had spilled something on the "floor," he incurred the unmitigated wrath of the nearest drill instructor. To gain the attention of the miscreant, the DI would smash his swagger stick on the top of the boot's pith helmet accompanied by a very loud bit of enduring advice, "That's 'bulkhead' [or 'deck']. If you draw the pay, you speak the language!

"Marines are "Soldiers of the Sea," and it is right and proper that conversation be sprinkled with nautical expressions. In "The Leatherneck," his introduction to "Fix Bayonets," the late Colonel John W. Thompson Jr., USMC (Ret) described the many men making up the 4th Marine Brigade about to see action at Belleau Wood in June 1918: "And there were also a number of diverse people who ran curiously to type, with drilled shoulders and a bone-deep sunburn, a tolerant scorn of nearly everything on earth. Theirspeech was flavored with Navy words, and words culled from all the folk who live on the seas and ports where our war-ships go." He was describing Marine professionals who, like all professionals, have a language peculiar unto themselves.

A language is a living and evolving thing. As we go to more strange and distant climes, some foreign words creep in. Some are transitory and don't survive. Marines still go to the "head" to "pump bilges," although there was a generation or two who went to the benjo for the same thing. I've always liked the story of the world-traveler Marine sitting in a bar in Athens who politely summoned the waiter and ordered a beer with "Garcon, iddy-wa, una botella de cerveza bitte."

But over the years I have detected not just a lessening of the use of nautical terms among the naval services, but almost a complete lack of them. This is more than 25 years ago when my son came home from the United States Naval Academy his Plebe Christmas. He had been raised on "deck," "bulkhead," "overhead," "ladder," "galley," etc. He called his Boy Scout equipment "782 gear," but he was no longer using those descriptive terms because they weren't in use at the Academy.

After he graduated, I spent a dozen years in Annapolis on the staff of the Alumni Association of my alma mater. I was appalled at the lubberly-ness of the staff, faculty and midshipmen at the Academy. Fortunately, the Marines on duty there kept the tradition of nautical language alive. It must be paying off because every year the allotted "boat spaces" for Marines on graduation are oversubscribed.

But I am not concerned with Navy per se, but rather our Corps of Marines. I equate it to the reply an old gunnery sergeant gave to the lady who upon hearing the legend that the quatrefoil on the cover of Marine Officers' frame caps stems from days of sail when Marines in the "fighting tops" could identify their officers on deck by the chalked cross on their caps and not fire on them, asked, "What about the Navy Officers?" "Who cared?" snapped the gunny."

Language is both spoken and written. "The Marines' Hymn" says, "We are proud to claim the title of United States Marines." There are Army officers and soldiers, Navy officers and sailors, Air Force officers and airmen, but we are all Marines. That is why Marine is always written with a capital "M."

We must be careful not to allow our own professional culture to be corrupted by the words of other services. The Army says 1600 (sixteen hundred) hours. We say 1600 (sixteen hundred). It is a small but subtle difference. Many years ago at a large East Coast Marine base, an over zealous "police sergeant" neatly painted on the "deck" in front of a regimental headquarters building: "NO PARKING AFTER 1600 HOURS." The commanding general, or "CG," came by and saw the offending sign. He dashed into headquarters, burst in the office of the commanding officer, or "CO," and began holding "school-of-the-boat" (the most basic instruction one can give to the landlubber) on the colonel.

He said, "In the Army, it's 1600 hours; in the Navy, it's 8 bells; in the Air Force, I think it is 'when Mickey's big hand is on 12 and hislittle hand is on 4,' but in the Corps, it is 1600. Get that abomination corrected immediately!"

Most Marines knew the motto of our Corps before they went to boot camp, or they probably wouldn't have gone. It is "semper fidelis" - always faithful. Shortened to "semper fi," it is a bond of respectful recognition between and among Marines. One Marine greets another with it. When they part company, each says to the other, "Semper fi." Informal memos or e-mails between Marines usually are signed "Semper fi" or just S/F. But there used to be a darker side. Used by Marines to members of the other services orcivilians, "Semper fi, Mac," said with a sneer, had a sinister connotation. It could mean anything from "I got mine; the hell with you!" to "I did fine; how did you do?" An old "China Hand" once told me that on payday night in Shanghai cabarets, it meant, "You buy the fifth; my girl is drunk already!" I much prefer the version denoting mutual respect among a "band of brothers" than the cynical version.

Some words and phrases have found their way into common American usage through the Marine Corps. Some are of foreign origin. "We have fought in every clime and place." Others were Marine-coined.

The best example of a Marine-coined word in widespread use is "gizmo." "Gung-ho" is of Chinese origin, via Col. Evans F. Carlson of the World War II Carlson's Raiders. Going back several campaigns, we find that "boondocks" comes from the Tagalog "bundok" or mountain jungles of the Philippines. "Honcho" came back from Korea and Japan.

Another word that is sacred to our Corps is "Doc" - the corpsman who wear our uniform, joins with and cares for us in combat. Many years ago I had a "Stateside" battalion during the time that doctors were drafted for two years of service. My battalion surgeon (billet title since he wasn't really a "cutter") came to me with a complaint. The young Marines were addressing him as "Doc." Since he was a professional man, he felt he deserved the respect of being addressed as "Doctor." I told him that evidently he was not ready to be addressed as "Doc" inasmuch as that is the highest honor that a Marine can bestow upon a "squid."

The language door swings both ways. We have allowed civilian language to corrupt our pure nautical expression. While a landlubber may refer to a ship as "it," a true "soldier of the sea" knows that a ship is a "she." Likewise, it is a real nautical bust, both orally and in writing, to precede the name of a ship with a definite article. A ship is a distinct personality, and referring to the Lexington is as improper as referring to me as the Hammond. She is Lexington. Many readers will argue that the definite article is used in professional naval publications, and I invite their attention to the fact that those journals have professional editors and writers, not naval professionals. Finally, one serves in not on a ship. If it is the latter, you are in deep trouble. To a precise reader or listener it conjures up the vision of your sitting on the keel of a capsized vessel.

How did this departure from salty language occur? I alluded to the traumatic change to the nautical nature of the Naval Academy, at least in my observation. Emphasis was more on turning out graduates who could go on for advanced degrees. "Techies" and their bastardization of English for computer talk followed. This was compounded by flooding the faculty with academics holding advanced degrees from campuses of the '60s. This sizeable group of civilians avoided being part of the naval culture.

Over the past quartercentury, the leadership of half the naval service has eroded much of the base of salty-language usage. If those at the top don't lead the way, it is a military axiom that those below won't follow.

But how did the decline of the use of salty language creep into our Corps? Drill instructors still drill into recruits the use of "deck,""bulkhead," "ladder," etc., although perhaps with a less emphatic way of getting their attention then in the (not so) old Corps.

For one thing, more Marines are married these days, and many live ashore among the civilian community. These Marines try to blend into the civilian community rather than flaunt their pride of being a Marine. Their use of salty language becomes one of the first casualties.

Even today it is a matter of pride to sport a regulation haircut, spit-shined shoes, proper civilian attire and, of course, salty language. Itis gratifying when some stranger at a cocktail party says, "You sound like you're a Marine."

Another reason for the decline of salty language is that many young Marines are "cool." Nautical talk is not cool, computer talk and jive talk are. Unlike the Navy with its many technicians, "every Marine is a rifleman" and has the privilege of displaying pride in the language of his profession. It is a privilege not available to others.

How can we restore this eroding tradition? Like everything else in the Corps, it begins at the top. Senior officers should use salty language at every opportunity and hold school-of-the-boat on their subordinates who don't. Top staff noncommissioned officers should do likewise.

Tradition is not something that can be ordered. It must have solid roots to survive. Marines should want to show that they are a different breed and be willing to demonstrate their uniqueness at every opportunity whether among other Marines or among civilians. That's what it is about personal pride in being a Marine.

More than 50 years ago, during the Cherry Blossom Pageant in Washington, DC, 10 junior officers from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps were detailed as escorts for princesses from 48 states and the territories of Alaska and Hawaii. Most of the Marines were strangers to each other.

At the end of the ceremonies a musical tribute to the gallant escorts of the lovely princesses was announced. The band struck up a medley of "The Caisson Song," "The Air Force Song," "Anchors Aweigh" and "Semper Paratus." At the first note of "The Marines' Hymn," 10 Marine lieutenants scattered among the audience were on their feet as 20 heels clicked as one. An officer from another service paid them a high compliment. In a stage whisper audible to all, he said, "Those s.o.b.s!" That's what it is all about - exhibiting your pride in your Corps every time you can.

About 30 years ago there was the tale of an old Sergeant Major who retired and had a nice job, although he was putting in long hours. He had another problem as well, or at least his boss and co-workers thought so. He still said "deck," "bulkhead," "overhead," etc. The boss made him an appointment with the company psychiatrist. The sergeant major arrived, and the doctor, who was of the Freudian school, directed him to lie on the couch.

Doctor: "Do you lead an active sex life?"
SgtMaj: "Sure!"
Doctor: "Tel me about it."
SgtMaj: " What do you want to know?"
Doctor: "Your last affair, when was it?"
SgtMaj: "About 1950?"
Doctor: "You call that active?"
SgtMaj: looking at his watch: "It's only 2115 now!"

Draw the pay; speak the language.
Semper fi.

Home (Expletive) Home

My home in which I live, is a lean-to (trailer) made for 1 maybe two Homo sapiens.
It has roaches and ants, in which, I can not figure why they are there, I have no food in my lean-to and I clean every Thursday.
I moved in about a month ago and will be moving out in about a month.
I must move out soon for my job will take me away from the "great" State of North Cackle Lackey.
I have a mattress and two folding chairs and recently brought in my microwave that I had bought from a pawn shop, all for a total value of about 300 dollars (the mattress is a "bed in a box" which was new).
My alarm clock was an argued over piece from my last divorce and unfortunately is about to die.
I have papers lining my floor, bills and payments on one side and job related crap on the other.
My military garb fills a corner and I have boxes not yet emptied to be filled again soon scattered throughout the lean-to.
The lean-to is relatively quiet except for when it rains because of the tin roof and my young neighbor wants me to learn his great music taste (I think he wants me to learn by kinetics, because it vibrates the lean-to, well).
There are holes in the walls and a breeze is present when the door is closed.
This is not me ranting and raving, this me just telling it how it is.

2006 Birthday Ball

I probably will not have the photos up on my site for quite some time, but I have link to view the "professional" photographer's website.

http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prsm.dll?eventthumbs?event=0B6G0056
(Which should be a good link for at least a couple of weeks.)

I had a great time again this year. Next year I will be in utilities so that should be cheaper.

Free stuff (links) I would like to share

Please share this with your units and families. Thank you!

Free Stuff for Troops

http://www.operationhomelink.org/
- Free computers for spouses or parents of deployed soldier in ranks E1 - E5.

https://store.primediamags.com/soldier2/service_member_pg.html
- Free magazines, up to 3 choices, for deployers.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/2/prweb106818.htm
- Free mail/gifts sent to children of deployed soldiers.

https://www.operationuplink.org/
- Free phone cards.

http://anysoldier.com/ForSoldiersOnly.cfm
- To sign up for sponsoring soldier care packages for theater.

http://wwwappreciateourtroops.org/forourtroops.shtml
- To have commander sign up for mugs for unit troops.

http://www.operationshoebox.com/
- Free shoebox care package.

http://www.treatthetroops.org/
- Free cookies.

http://bluestarmoms.org/airfare.html
- Lowest airfare available.

http://bluestarmoms.org/care.html
- Free care packages.

http://66.241.249.83/
- Free air conditioners/heaters.

http://www.heromiles.org/
- Free air travel for Emergency Leave, and for the family members of injured soldiers to travel to Medical facility.

http://www.bluestarmothers.org/airlinespecials.php
- Airline discounts for R & R.

http://www.booksforsoldiers.com/forum/index.php
- Free books, DVD's, CD's.

http://prayercentral.net/engage/militaryprayer/daily.php
- Daily prayer and scriptures.

http://www.militarymoms.net/sot.html
- Free care packages (your family member signs up to have sent to you).

http://operationmilitarypride.org/smsignup.html
- Free care packages.

http://www.soldiersangels.org/heroes/submit_a_soldier.php
- Get adopted to receive stuff.

https://www.treatsfortroops.com/registration/index.php
- Free gifts and care packages.

http://www.emilitary.org/forums/index.php?s=c200230df4b511793b37d9fa7072b056&showtopic=354&pid=664&st=0&#entry664
- Free bible, Christian video, and book for spouse/family members of deployed troop.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Nov2004/n11232004_2004112312.html
- Free shipping/packing materials for shipping to troops.

The Fun of Repeating Duty Stations

I still am a fan of the East coast rather than the West, but after you been to one station twice or more, you tend to lose interest in the fun of exploring a "new" world.
Granted there has been many road improvements since I was here last, but the same drama that was here before is still here. Not much has changed.
This includes that everyone always hates their current duty station and the last was always the best.

FY 2006 APPROVED SELECTIONS TO STAFF SERGEANT

R 220729Z SEP 06FM CMC WASHINGTON DC(UC)TO AL MARADMIN(UC)UNCLASSIFIED//MARADMIN 461/06MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MM//
SUBJ/MCBUL 1400. FY 2006 APPROVED SELECTIONS TO STAFF SERGEANT//
REF/A/MSGID:DOC/MMPR-2/11MAY2006//AMPN/REF A IS MCO P1400.32D, THE ENLISTED PROMOTION MANUAL.//
POC/J. A. MCLAUGHLIN/MAJ/HD MMPR-2/-/TEL:DSN 278-XXXX
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. APPOINTMENTS FOR MARINES LISTED IN PARAGRAPH 2WILL BE ISSUED TO FILL VACANCIES IN THE SELECTED GRADE IN THE ORDEROF SENIORITY. MONTHLY PROMOTIONS WILL BE ANNOUNCED BY SEPARATEMARADMIN MESSAGES.
2. THE FOLLOWING SELECTEES WERE APPROVED ON 21 SEPTEMBER 2006.
(FOR PROPER ORDER READ LEFT TO RIGHT):

STAFF SERGEANT

NAME_______SSN/IMOS/SRNO/MCC
W_______ TB ___4/6434/ 115/1JH

Click on the link(title) for the whole message.

Let me tell you about TPS Reports, Part II

The military has a lot of paperwork. In fact, the government bought all these computers so now we can have more paperwork because it is so much easier than handwriting. ( If that last sentence made sense, you need my job.) I have a problem at the moment, I am currently living in a "temporary" room and awaiting for my paperwork to come back so I can move off base. Well, my "temporary" room comes with a roommate. I don't like roommates unless she smells good at least half the day. I rate to have my own space of 270 square feet. The room I am in is 150 square feet. Do you see a problem?

I am getting off track with this.

My paper work has been "lost" 4 times thus far. How does one lose 20 sheets a paper stapled to a bright blue folder and has all my "personal info" in?

There are other stipulations that I fall under, but what is the point of listing them here? The point is, I rate to live off base, give the extra pay I need to secure a home to rent.

(Yes, I am ranting. I just wish I could rant about something else at the moment.)

Jacksonville, North Carolina

The city has changed and not changed at the same time. There is this spaghetti of roadwork outside the bases that make the transition fun. Unfortunately, the only bars I frequented when I was here in the '90s were strip clubs. Well, now I am all strip club out and had to find a new hole in the wall.
I think I may have that bar. It is Rena J's. The crowd constantly changes and the bartenders all have one thing in common. I take that back, one of them is not as endowed as the others.

The base has done some improvement so I look forward to that. The command is like all others, it is a change from the last one. I met the Sgt Maj and he seems nice enough for me.

The big question in everyone's mind when I talk to them is the obvious one, promotion? The list comes out in a few weeks, then we can all talk about it.

Talking

Is this really talking?

I read another blog ,in which the writer was saying this is talking. I put in my 2 cents there already.

The thing is I believe I write as I would talk, but I am writing. This is a one way conversation with the benefits of comments after I have already made my points. Granted, I read your comments more often than I post to the blogs and sometimes my opinions will sway one way or the other, but my opinion is still quite solid after it all.

(Could be the "German" in me, but I am quite stubborn.)

Still this is argument is hardly worth having, can you hear me? I think not. And if you have never met me before, you wouldn't know how I stress my sentences. It probably would help if you knew what I sounded like and I could probably put in sound, but why? I see no reason for it.

So the point I am making is this is not talking.

Recovery

The recovery today has been a little rough. I had my "last, last going away party" last night/morning. The night was fun and unfortunately I cannot tell all here. When you see me next, you can ask how it was. I might be able to remember most of it.

See you all soon!

Knockin' me out with those American Thighs

(Note: This was posted in another blog that I have. I felt I needed to share, a little.)
Since being in Japan, I have been missing a good (or bad) woman with a figure that I can hold on to. One, that these thoughts bring to mind:

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow
Don't stop, {I'll} soon be here

If you change your mind, I'm the first in line
Honey I'm still free, take a chance on me

She looked good, she looked fine
And I nearly lost my mind

Oh won't you take me home tonight 
Oh beside your red firelight

And I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you
I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you

I'm not content to be with you in the daytime
Girl I want to be with you all of the time

Small Pox

This last Thursday I received the Small Pox vaccine.
I have been avoiding it for the last 10 years and I feel I have been doing a good job at it.
Officially, Small Pox was eradicated from Earth September of 1979. But, someone kept some of it and it may be used against us in some sort of biological weapon some day. So to keep "us" in the clear "we" get vaccinated against it. The vaccine we get is not small pox, it something else that is in the same family. Yes, disease has families too.
I am at the point where my arm throbs with pain and itches like crazy. I talked to a few other people and I am not alone in this stage. The good part is I should be in the clear by the time I get back to the US.

Let me tell you about TPS Reports

Well, that title won't mean anything to you if you haven't seen Office Space. The last few days have been getting a little too asinine about paperwork. Here is the scenario:

I needed to open purchase 4 resistors. These resistors are special in which no part number is associated with them and I need to have them manufactured.
I got the quote, I received the open purchase requests from supply, and I have all the proper specification paperwork.
So I turn in the paperwork, and
They(supply) say: 'You need a justification. '

So I go back to my shop and write a justification and have my boss sign it. I return to supply and
They say: 'You have the wrong open purchase paperwork.'
I say: ' You gave me this paperwork.'
They say: ' It doesn't matter, you need the new and improved paperwork.'

So I go back to my shop and re-write the open purchase request and get it signed by my boss.
I return to supply, and
They say: 'You need to have the Division Officer to sign off on this and the Aviation Maintenance Officer sign off as well.'
I say: 'Both officers are fully aware of this including your officer, because the subject pertaining to this open purchase has been brought up every Wednesday for the last 2 months.'
They say:'You could be lying.'
I say:' I am not, let's ask your officer if he is aware of it and fore go this extra paperwork.'
They say: 'It doesn't matter we are not going to accept the paperwork without their signatures.'

So I go back to my shop and write up an endorsement page to add to my paperwork. I get it all signed off and I return to supply.

I turn in the paperwork and they don't even look at the justification or the extra signatures I just got. They took it to the "inbox" for their officer and told me to have a nice day.

All the paperwork, I recieved from supply, except the endorsement page which myself and another Marine created. This wasted 3 days of my life. This is why I have been pissed off lately. There is more bullshit paperwork I do, but this last scenario is a perfect example of wasting good time for something that didn't need to be that complicated.

This Year's Board

This year there is 18 allocations for Staff Sergeant in my MOS(Military Occupational Specialty). There is 12 Sergeants in the Above Zone (we were passed over at least once prior) which I am in. 23 Sergeants are in the Zone, I didn't bother with the Below Zone.
So I am looking at about a 50 - 50 shot this year, not very good, but I have done everything I can to make me look more outstanding than the rest of them.

Where's George?

I found or you could say I received a dollar bill with this stamp on it. It was a stamp that said "Where's George" with an internet site address. So what do you do with that?

I spent it.

But not before checking the website out first.

Here is the link:

http://www.wheresgeorge.com/report.php?key=5950eddf8cf2ff70564887d5f77bc3fd1f855299ba8565c0

DD the Life a of a Designated Driver

I just got back from my DDing for the night. You know everything goes well when everyone is sober. But, somewhere between 11pm and 1 am things get a little fuzzy and rules start to change.

This was my birthday present to my friend, who I won't say the age because she would hit me for it. Everything turned out well, she and our friends got "plastered" silly and didn't have to worry about JPs(Japanese Police) or the MPs (Military Police).

I am going to bed and I don't feel like waking up until the cows all come home.

A Poem for My Marine

No better friend, no better love

A bad boy yet a good man
Strong inside and out
With a gentle heart and hand
Too easy it is to fall for him
And see your future in his eyes
Not worrying then of times to come
Not thinking of goodbyes
So there you stand with dogtags on
Worn close around your neck
Waving goodbye to him and praying
For the day that bus comes back
Then its lonely nights in bed
Waiting for the phone to ring
Dreaming of the times you've had
Remembering everything
You wait for letters sent by him
And cherish every word he writes
Reading them each over again
To help get through the lonesome nights
You wake up to midnight phone calls
To hear how he has been
And say "I love you" enough times to last
Until you talk to him again
You do your best to tough it out
Without a shoulder on which to lean
Smiling while thinking of how it feels
To fall in love with your Marine!

By: Amanda D.

Controlled Venting

This not a complaint. (per se)
I am currently in the mix of 18 to 19 hour shifts for me. At the moment, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
I am a supervisor for an electrical shop in the avionics division and also a CDI. Which means I have the best of both worlds when my rank comes in question.
There is this thing called a DIFM, remember "Office Space", it may be similar to TPS reports.
We have "green side" training which is stuff every Marine must do either annually or fiscally(calendar year).
Then, there is this thing called Airspeed. The theory is work smarter not harder, it is a theory.
I have my own room in the barracks, but share a head (a joining toilet) with a annoying , stupid and ignorant person who has a job anyone with an ASVAB score of 31 can do.
There is some more, but these are the big ones at the moment.

Collateral Duty Inspector

I finally took all my tests for my CDI stamp. This stamp is important and I will explain it in the simplest terms I can.

Normally, there is 2 workers or technicians that fix and troubleshoot any aircraft parts (gear) and once the work is done a verification process takes place. This verifier is the CDI. The CDI checks the gear to see if it Ready For Issue (RFI), checks the tools, and verifies any publications used were the correct ones or correct processes were used. One complete "run" of the gear will be in the presence of the CDI.

The CDI is also responsible for accuracy of the tool count and count of any consumables used. The CDI has some more jobs and responsibilities, but for a basic understanding of the role I think this will suffice.

At my last command, I was a QAR (Quality Assurance Inspector) which is similar to a CDI, but is two steps above.

Since this is an important role in the grand scheme of things, extra responsibility, the amount of "free" time I have will mostly likely drop to a minimum. Such is life.

It is also a possibility that I may go on a short float or boat det. If this is the case, I may not find out until the day of. Which is standard Marine Corps policy. (This is only a joke, if you never have served.)

What I do know as fact, is I will be rewriting the CDI test for my shop. QA has informed me since I found all the mistakes in the test and scored a 100 percent, this would make me the perfect candidate to rewrite it.