Traditions, Lore, Jargon and Trivia ...

[Guns Garrett]

I am a sucker for interesting, but usually useless information of military tradition and such - often most useful in bar bets.  I used to have a whole bucketload of stuff like this, but unfortunately I never wrote it down, kept it all in my head, and some evidently seeped out.  All of us have so much of this type of knowledge from our varied service and experiences; I think it would be fun to share.  Mine was mostly Naval- or Marine-related, but I'll start off with a few I've retained.  Some may be familiar to some:

Leatherneck - A Marine, from the leather stock worn around the neck in the early 1800's uniform, supposedly to protect from sword cuts.  Kept the head erect, too.

Tar - a sailor, who used tar on his braided hair (pigtail) to keep it from coming loose, possibly getting caught in rigging.  Also the reason why the traditional sailor jumper uniform (crackerjack) has the wide collar on the back (originally a separate piece) - to keep the tar from staining the shoulders and back of the uniform.  Originally (up till the 1920's) even the "summer white" jumper had a black/navy blue collar so the tar would not show.

Binnacle List - List of personnel not fit for duty, or "Sick List".  Name comes from the list, usually compiled by the Ship's Cook before watch.  He would write down the names of the sick, and place it in the ship's binnacle, which housed the ship's compass.  The binnacle was watertight, and located near the helm on the quarterdeck, the Captain's "office" on deck.  There, the list would be protected from the weather, and available to the Captain when he first came up on deck at beginning of watch.

"Shake (or Show) a Leg" - In the old days of the Royal Navy, some men were allowed to take wives along, or, in other cases, would bring aboard a "wife" for the evening from shore leave.  At the beginning of watch, the Ship's Cook, or Bo'sun would go through the berthing area waking the on-coming watch for duty.  He would often call out "Show a leg!" so the man would stick his leg out of his bunk or hammock, and the man performing the wake-up call would not cause a faux pas by grabbing a shapely, feminine one.

Grog - another holdover from the Royal Navy.  Water did not keep well on long sailing voyages, and in 1740, VAdm. Vernon (nicknamed "Old Grog", due to his wearing a cloak made of "grogram" [grosgrain?]) instituted the issuance of rum added to the water ration of British sailors.  Sugar, lime juice (hence the nickname "limeys"), molasses, and other ingredients were added.  Over time the distribution of the rum ration became encrusted with elaborate ritual. At 11am the Bo'sun's Mate piped 'Up Spirits,' the signal for the Petty Officer of the Day (POD) to climb to the quarterdeck and collect (1) the keys to the spirit room from an officer, (2) the ship's cooper, and (3) a detachment of Royal Marines. In procession, they unlocked the door of the spirit room, and witnessed the pumping into a keg of one eighth pint of rum for every rating and petty officer on the ship aged 20 or more and not under punishment. Two Marines lifted the keg to the deck, standing guard while a file of cooks from the petty officers' messes held out their jugs. The Sergeant of Marines poured the ration under direction of the Chief Steward, who announced the number of drinking men present in each petty officer's mess. The rest of the rum was mixed in a tub with two parts water, becoming the grog provided to the ratings.  At noon the bo'sun's mate piped "Muster for Rum", and the cooks from each mess presented with tin buckets. The Sergeant of Marines ladled out the authorized number of "tots" (half-pints) supervised by the POD. The few tots of grog remaining in the tub ('plushers') were poured into the drains ("scuppers").  Sadly, this tradition ended in the US navy in 1862, and the last issue of grog in the RN ("Black Tot Day") was 7/31/1970.

scuttlebutt - Today, this refers to a drinking fountain/water cooler, and also gossip/rumor.  The two definitions come from the same origin.  A "butt" is a wooden cask or barrel, containing 2 hogsheads of liquid, or about 126 gallons.  This was commonly used to store water aboard ship.  To "scuttle" means to cut or bore a hole in a vessel.  So to "scuttle a butt" meant to cut a hole in the barrel, to dispense water.  Basically the same as "tap a keg".  So when time came to issue the water ration to the crew, a butt would be scuttled, and the men would gather around to draw their ration, drink, and talk about last night's shore leave, complain about the Chief, where's their next destination, start rumors, conspire to mutiny...  This "scuttlebutt talk" became what we call today "water-cooler talk."

Splice the Main Brace - an offiically-santioned, celebratory issue of liquor or grog to the crew, for a special "job well done", usually a battle victory or getting through a dangerous situation.   The "main brace" was part of the rigging of a sailing vessel which carried the greatest amount of strain, and held the masts in place.  It was a thick rope, or hawser, about 4" in diameter, and very difficult to work with. Being such an important part of the rigging (the ship would be disabled without it), it was often the target of enemy gunners who wished to capture, rather than sink a ship.  If the main brace were severed in battle, the best and ablest seamen would be sent aloft, to "splice the main brace".  They would perform this difficult task, in the thick of battle; exposed to shot, shell and Marine snipers, while suspended above a tossing and pitching deck, and unforgiving ocean.  Those who successfully performed the repairs and survived, were given a reward of extra grog, or a shot of whiskey.  This tradition still occasionally happens; shot-down Navy pilots are often given a "shot of medicinal brandy" after rescue at sea.

I'm rather embarassed that most of what I've written is Navy related and not Marine.  Perhaps something someone else adds will jog my memory...

[Guns Garrett]

A few more, short ones:

Head - bathroom, latrine, potty  In sailing vessels, arrangements were made for disposal of waste by benches with holes cut out sticking out over the side of the ship.  These were located at the furthest point foward, or "head" of the ship.  Ships usually sailed more-or-less with the wind (wind from aft), so the stench of the "procedure" would not blow over the deck.

housewife - a sewing kit, for repairing tears, sewing buttons.

"Old Gimlet Eye" - nickname of MajGen Smedley Butler, USMC, 1881-1940, aka "The Fighting Quaker".  Most decorated Marine of all time, including two Medals of Honor (Veracruz, Mexico and Haiti).  He was said to have a "piercing" stare that could freeze water, stop a charging carabao (Philippine water buffalo), and make the most hardened Marine sergeant cry.  He served in the Span-Am War, Boxer Rebellion, the "Banana Wars" in Central America and Carribean, and WWI. After retiring in 1931, he wrote "War is a Racket", a damning indictment of US foreign policy and intervention.  A "gimlet" by the way, is a thin, sharply-pointed steel rod (think skinny knitting needle, with a loop on the end) used to punch down into the primer/flash hole of a gun to pierce the powder bag and clean out the fuse hole, before the fuse was inserted.

gig line - on a uniform the line created by the right edge of the shirt placket, right edge of the belt buckle (wearer's right), and edge of the trouser fly.  It MUST be absolutely straight and vertical; otherwise you'll look like a "soup sandwich", or some other more colorful DI's description.  Thankfully, DIs stopped "adjusting" gig lines (usually with a fist or boot) in the late 1970's.

"The President's Own"- The Marine Band (not 'a' Marine band), stationed at Marine Barracks, 8th and I Streets, Washington, D.C.  The legend is that President Thomas Jefferson so enjoyed their playing that he made an "arrangement" with the Marine Commandant, that in time of war, that the Band NOT be sent out, but remain in Washington.  To this day, the Marine Band is the ONLY Marine Corps unit that can only leave the Capitol at the specific orders of the President.  They still wear the distinctive red uniforms of the traditional Field Music.  There is also the Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps, nicknamed "The Commandant's Own".

[St. George]

Even more can be found in the book - 'Swear Like A Trooper' - by William Priest.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Niederlander]

The officer commanding the Marine detachment that captured John Brown - Colonel Robert E. Lee
His volunteer Adjutant - Lieutenant J.E.B. Stuart
Lieutenant U.S. Grant's Best Man - Lieutenant James Longstreet

A couple of modern ones:
"Sticks" = Somali civilians, short for stick people, due to starvation caused by fighting warlords
"The Dish" = Mogadishu, Somalia

[Guns Garrett]

"The officer commanding the Marine detachment that captured John Brown - Colonel Robert E. Lee"

Senior Marine Officer present: Lt. Israel Greene, who resigned his commission in 1861, and was appointed Major, Adjutant of the Confederate States Marine Corps.

Another "turncoat Marine": Lt. Richard Henderson, son of former USMC Commandant Archibald Henderson "The Grand Old Man of the Marine Corps"


TRIVIA QUESTION TIME:
The Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal ("Good Cookie"), adopted in 1896, is given to Enlisted Marines for each consecutive 3-year period of honorable service (aka "3-Years' Undetected Crime Award').  The suspension ribbon is a dark red or maroon color, with a narrow blue stripe running down its center.  The medallion is bronze, 1 1/4"diameter, a Marine gunner is depicted serving a naval gun. This scene is encircled within a rope, and beneath it is a scroll bearing the motto SEMPER FIDELIS. Encircling the rope are the words UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS. The whole scene rests upon a foul anchor with its crown tilted to the right. The encircling anchor chain is within the raised rim of the medal. The medal is suspended from a miniature rifle at the bottom of the ribbon.

QUESTION:  What type of rifle is it?   The first to submit the correct answer can claim a free drink at the Longbranch - on the House.

[St. George]

6mm Remington-Lee.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[St. George]

'LEG' - Non-Airborne-Qualified Personnel.

During WWII - qualified Paratroopers were allowed to wear their Class A trousers 'bloused' inside their Jump Boots, as a distinguishing device and as a reward for their hard training.

The other soldiers had to wear their trousers in the normal fashion and were required to wear their dress shoes - the trousers thus hung 'straight down'.

Believe me - it mattered to 'troopers - as did the unauthorized wearing of Jump Boots by the non-Airborne-qualified, and many an MP or Officer suddenly found himself barefoot if discovered around the bars of Phenix City or Columbus wearing paratroop boots for their 'cool factor', since the 'troopers would forcibly remove said footgear.

The problem was that a lot of those MP's had washed out of Jump School, so feelings ran somewhat 'high' and there may have been some baiting involved.

Thus - a 'Straight-Leg Outfit' was a standard-issue Infantry unit - wearing leggings over their field shoes and trousers - and they continued to do so until the advent of the 'double-buckle' boot in late 1943 - early 1944 that replaced the field shoe and leggings.

These terms are still current, and though all soldiers now blouse their trousers in the field - only Airborne blouses their Class A's.

'DAT' - 'Dumb-Assed Tanker' - no explanation necessary...

'CANNON COCKER' or 'REDLEG'  - Artilleryman - Originally, they wore a red stripe on their trouser legs.

'GREEN BEANIE' - Special Forces Soldier

'TABBED' - Ranger-Qualified Soldier

'DARK SIDE' - Special Operations guys - all services

'YELLOWLEG' - Cavalry Trooper

These lists go on and on and on.

The anthropologically interesting thing to watch or listen to is when a bunch of GI's, Gyrenes, Swabbies, Coasties and Zoomies all get together and talk - all using their individual slang - and how well 'they' understand one another, and yet it's still a closed language to the uninitiated.

Hand gestures are included for reference and emphasis - and they're understood, equally well.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Pony Racer]

St G. is right - my sisters routinely get annoyed at family gatherings when the 5 brothers get together 2 USMC, 1 USN and 2 USCG and we starting chatting about work and work related issues.

They are often found saying - "you can't obviously understand what he just said due to all the slang and acronyms"  That is usaully followed by another brother then giving the common terminology blow by blow to the uneducated/uninitiated.

"TABBED" is now also commonly used for meaning one got into a special school.  For example when I got one of the few USMC Command and Staff slots for USCG officers back a few years ago the Lt Col I reported to congratulated me on being the "Tabbed Coastie"

PR

[St. George]

For the Army - 'TABBED' means that you've earned your Ranger Tab - the Black and Gold cloth arc that spells 'RANGER' and goes above any organizational shoulder sleeve insignia on the left shoulder, and stays there.

What's unusual to the uninformed is that many troopers in the Ranger battalions aren't 'Ranger-Qualified' or even 'Airborne-Qualified'

They'll eventually be sent to Ranger School, and Jump School - but their current duty assignment is with the Ranger Batt's - usually as Infantrymen, and they'll undergo 'Pre-Ranger' first, before they get orders assigning them to the Schools.

Believe me - you do 'not' want to be non-qualified in those battalions...

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Niederlander]

We called artillerymen "Gun Bunnies".  Of course, Infantry were "Grunts".  (Give a grunt two ball bearings in an empty room, he'll break one and lose the other.)  Sailors are "Squids" (Corpsmen excepted, of course!)  The amphibious fleet is the "Gator Navy".

[Guns Garrett]

St. George - You are 66.6666...% correct . . .

In the Marines, "Airwingers" were looked down on by "the rest of the Corps" because aircraft mechs didn't blouse their trousers - because they were required to wear "boondocker" or brogan-styled low-top boots, that just came up to the ankle.  In Boot Camp, if the recruits screwed up enough to make the DI embarrassed (marching like a mob, too many coming in last on a Company run, too many "unq's" on the range, etc.) the DI would direct everyone to take their blousing garters off, and roll up the platoon guideon, and wrap all the garters around it, so no one would know who the platoon was.  So if you saw a Marine with unblused trousers, you knew he was some kinda Sh#tbird.  What you learn in Bootcamp continues into the Fleet...  Anyway, most Marine "wing-wipers" started getting high-topped flight boots in the early '80's, so now everyone has bloused trousers - except the Seat Mechs (Navy AME) - they still have to wear the low-topped "LOX boots" (they can be kicked off in an emergency in case of a liquid oxygen spill on your foot).  Yeah, and we still call 'em "Sh#tbirds" (affectionatly, of course)

Aviation Ordnancemen - "BB Stackers"    Avionics Techs/Electricians : "Tweets"      Hydraulicsmen:  "Bubble-Chasers"
Metalsmiths: "Tin-benders"  Jet Engine Mech: "Mongo", or "Suck/Blow Specialist"    Helicopter Mech: "RotorHead"    
V-22 Mech: "Confused"
Non-Aviation Marine:  "Poor B^stard"  
"Admin types" (S1, S2, S3, S4) - "Office Pogues" [which, by the way brings up]:
"Pogey Bait" - Candy - Often used as a bribe to get one of those "office pukes" to do you a "favor" - take you off the duty roster, skip out on Field Day, "misplace" a Charge Slip till after the weekend, look the other way while you use the First Sergeant's phone to make personal call, etc.  (not that I ever did any of that, mind you).

[Don Nix]

As  an old meber of the MP Corp, ,the MPs were the only  troops allowed to wear class A's bloused besides Airborne.
Since many MPs are  airborn qualified it was no problem.This was in the  60s and 70s.

But my Dad who served with the 82nd Airborne said the same thing about the blousing of boots. I am sure the battled berween the MPs and the AB troops was epic.
I

[St. George]

Ah - but those are sort of 'Branch-Specific' titles and not generic.

I'll add:

JARHEAD - ostensibly, the Marine's haircut was so short, you could see the threads on the skull where his cover acted as the cap

DOGGIE/DOGFACE - Infantry's all-too-common, hang-dog facial expression from being over-worked and poorly-used

THOUSAND-YARD STARE - needs no real explanation - see above

GLIDER-RIDER - WWII-pre-Korean War Glider-qualified soldier - common in postwar Airborne units to see a Waco Glider superimposed over Jump Wings - unauthorized, but cool

SNOOPY - USAF Forward Air Controller (my old one lives two blocks away - imagine our surprise - both recognized each other's voice)

PUFF the MAGIC DRAGON - C-47 converted to gunship - 'really' impressive

SPAD - A1E Skyraider aircraft - even more impressive, since they flew a 'lot' closer

PRAIRIE FIRE - saying 'that' over the radio meant you were having more of an adventure than planned

ONTOS - USMC six-barrelled motorized 106mm recoilless rifle - we 'always' wondered if they drew straws to reload the things

CHANCRE MECHANIC - Medic

PILL ROLLER - see above

WING KING - USAF Wing Commander

WHITE MICE - Vietnamese MP's - from their white helmets

Then - there are the ones deemed 'not fit for polite company' and those seem to be the most memorable - probably because they were the ones learned first...

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[St. George]

By that time - restrictions on wearing bloused boots had waned - it was at it's most serious during WWII and Korea, and it was 'serious'.

'Everyone' wanted to 'look' like a Paratrooper - not everyone made the cut - but some Legs and even Officers would try by donning the obvious trappings - the most notable of which were the boots.

Justice was swift and sure...

A 'trooper's Overseas Cap had a circular 'Glider patch' on the side - sewn underneath was a silver dollar - even the Officers did this - and said silver dollar was a 'real' - full-sized one.

It did two things - made the patch stand out and made for a great 'surprise' when whipped across a guy's face in a bar.

When the Garrison Belt was worn - oftentimes, the back edges of the brass-framed belt were sharpened.

Thus, one could pull the belt, wrap the leather around the hand and have themselves a handy flail - 'just in case'.

Remember - Paratroopers were the only guys who were issued switchblades...

The back edges of the 'trooper's Ike Jackets has drapery hooks, so as to fit underneath the trouser belt - giving a 'smooth' and well-turned out look, with no blouse showing.

Later, 'troopers would get their Ike Jackets tailored, and have the front buttons sewn down and a side zipper installed under the armpit - to further ensure that nothing was baggy or wasn't 'STRAC' - ever, and they'd fashion small chains to use to weight the bloused trousers perfectly.

This may sound silly to some - to civilians, especially - but being a 'Paratrooper' back then meant that you really were the best - the training 'was' harder and longer and far more diverse, washout rates were high (where do you think all the MP's came from?) and PRIDE was instilled in their DNA.

No one else was being asked to do their job and most couldn't on their best day - but they could and they did.

They had every right to create and enforce such rules of 'Tribal Dress' and to pass on their newly-formed traditions.

Airborne!

Scouts Out!

[Trailrider]

From the USAF in the 1960's:

"SACumcized" - Indoctronated into the Strategic Air Command way of doing things...whether you wanted to be or not! 

"BMAT" - pronounced "Bee-mat" - Short for Ballistic Missile Analyst Technician: enlisted troops technically trained for one of the ICBM's then on duty, i.e., Titan, Atlas E or F, and Minuteman I & II.  (Often referred to as "Brooms, Mops and Assorted Trash" as a lot of what they did involved sweeping the missile maintenance hangers, etc.)

"Capsule Drivers" - Minuteman missile launch officers - two to a Launch Control Facility (LCF) - two capsules (4 officers) were required to turn their keys to launch missiles.  Capsule drivers usually got all the press publicity, as "the brave young men with their fingers on the buttons of nuclear distruction" or some such cr@p!  Other than the primary duty of standing by for the order everyone hoped would never come, launch officers primarily answered the phone, cleared maintenance teams onto the remote Launch Facilities (LF's...where the actual missiles were located), or studied for their Masters degrees from Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT).  In other words (according to us maintenance types), anything a trained chimpanzee could be trained to do! 

"MIMS" - MIssile Maintenance Squadron - actually, in the 1960's a 600-man squadron, about the size of an AF group.  Later split into 2 squadrons, then still later recombined.

"MIMS Hood" - at the 341st Strategic Missile Wing, troops assigned to the 341st MIMS wore black wool baseball caps with their fatigue (work) uniforms.  Operations squadrons (launch officers) wore other colored baseball caps in the field. The term "hoods" was also used...we were the "bad guys" who wore the black hats. 

So far as blousing trousers over boots or not, the MIMS troops did.  There was not so much a matter of pride or style as to keep cold air from blowing up your legs in winter, and insects out in the summer!

"Wing Weenie" - headquarters troops

"N3B" - Parka used in the sub-zero cold encountered in winter (which lasted from mid-September to the end of June!  After that, it could and did get up to 100+ for about a week!)

[pony express]

Since I was assigned to an admin unit, the only "rangers" I was around were the "Chairbourn Rangers"

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

What's brown & comes outa the back of a buffalo?

[WaddWatsonEllis]

 I'm not even touching the Buffalo bit,

But here is a couple of more miliarisms

Scum Gutter Grabber  ... Non SCUBA qualified

Leg ... non-airborne (I think someone discussed this)

And lastly, if one wanted to maintain, one had to retain a 'rigid flexibility' ...

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Here's a site Mr. Google found for me;

http://www.allwords.com/Slang_Military_Slang_Jargon.php

I'll try to find some Canuck military words;  I was part of creating a term that is now in dictionaries of Canadianisms.  I was artilley, and we were familiar with the old terminology of naming guns by the weight of shot.  Like a 25 pounder.  We drank way too much when I was young, and needed a way to specify the size of the bottle we were working on;

For example;  "26 pounder", or "40 pounder"

Here is a wiktionary of Canadian military slang.  Notice that there is a lot of American influence;

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Canadian_military_slang

I can recall others, like;

RING BINDER; - cheese
BODY BUILDER; - peanut butter

There are pages & pages of stuff at "army.ca/words...."

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Since St. George mentioned DAT (Dumb-Assed Tanker) which is NOT all that true, 

I'll mention one we DATs used: "Track Grease" - slow Grunts

And by the way, we haven't been DATs (except to NON DATs OK, a big group) since the early 80s ... we're


C-DATs - Computerized Dumb-Assed Tankers.