DCTT - good one... I did that but for bio/chem detection during my deployment. Bunch of EOD guys running around a lab and buildings in MOP3 gear, etc etc and me perched a top a short ladder with a clipboard and a whistle.. "Oh Mr Davis, you just dropped the anthrax vial and you have a 5mm breach on your suit, please play dead in 5 min, thank you!"

Hey, I had to find SOMETHING humorous in what I was doing!


and happy Easter to all!

Well, you didn't have to grab two rags and hide in an engine room only to jump out at the hose team and yell "SMOKE AND FLAMES" while waving the rags.

3/25/08
Saltpeter:

Chemical supposedly added to "bug juice" aboard ship to stifle libido, the stuff of urban legend. When arriving at boot camp you begin to hear the rumors about salt peter being added to the food. Then during our week working in the galley some of your fellow company members claim they saw the cooks adding something to the food.

The legend has been around fro many years and will not go away. I can say this for sure, the Navy does use something to stifle libido of its sailors, and it is called hard work. You spend so much time while underway working, standing watch, qualifying for new watches, drilling, and what ever else the Navy can throw at you, there isn’t time to think about women.

However, get a sailor off a ship and they will think of two things, a cool drink and a lady. Or we married guys wanted a cool drink and a phone.

hello Jim,
it is also a myth in the Army.only yo some it was in everything you eat or drank.some guys said that they also pumped in to the barracks at night,so we were breathing it.it sure did not effect alot of guys i knew.

i got both your E-Mails and PM.thanks for the info.
cheers,
Bruce

3/26/08
Wait One

I found myself using this today and thought I had better let people know what it means.

Well, to be honest there is no bizarre hidden meaning. Its means wait for a short period of time and I will get it done or get you an answer.

Just like at your place of work if the boss asks when you will get some certain task complete. You can reply “Wait one.” Then after a pause you can give him a reply.

According to Snopes, saltpeter in military food to a total myth. But, it could be a cover up of massive proportions.

3/27/08

Son of a Gun

Remember I said this is a family site!

Seriously this is another Navy phrase that dates back to the age of sail.
In British naval slang this term refers to a child of questionable parentage conceived on the gun deck, hence 'son of a gun'. However, children born on board British naval vessels to enlisted men were referred to as a 'true son of a gun'.

Admiral William Henry Smyth wrote in his 1867 book, the Sailor's Word-book:

Son of a gun, an epithet conveying contempt in a slight degree, and originally applied to boys born afloat, when women were permitted to accompany their husbands to sea; one admiral declared he literally was thus cradled, under the breast of a gun-carriage.

When a Royal Navy vessel entered a port it was common for local prostitutes to visit the ship and elicit custom from the sailors. The sailors and prostitutes then had sexual relations, usually on one of the gun decks beside the many guns carried. This was one of the few places “Sally” and “Sailor” could obtain some sort of privacy. Should the prostitute subsequently fall pregnant by the sailor, she would then attempt to obtain compensation from the father or the navy for the upkeep of the child.

This was usually not forthcoming and the father's name would be withheld. When it was fairly certain that the child had been conceived upon board one of His Majesty's vessels, the infant would be entered into the ship's records as 'child born to gun number X', the X denoting the gun position the sailor responsible for the errant behavior was allocated-to, his name being omitted to maintain probity. These children born in this manner had no father's name on any official records and the male ones were referred to by knowing sailors as being 'sons of guns', a term denoting illegitimacy and contempt.

This custom was also carried over the US Navy and even into the US Army. The term has since gone out of favor over the years. The more common term we all know has replaced son of a gun. I am pretty sure we can all think of ways to use this, so I will skip that part of the lesson.

I did not know this one... I like SOG better than SOB actually!

Well, now you know where it comes from. You can amaze all of the jr. Officers with your knowledge.

3/29/08
Butter Bar

This is a term that you NEVER say to an ensign. The rank insignia for an ensign is a single gold colored bar. A senior enlisted person, E8 or E9, can get by using this term in the open. But anyone below that might get in trouble.

The term is used for a few different reasons. First, because new ensigns are a pain. Secondly, because new ensigns are a pain, and finally because new ensigns are a pain.
Seriously it is not that bad with new ensigns. Some of them are great and come right in and do their job with little or now guidance from the Chiefs under them. Others need to be guided around by their Chiefs and other enlisted guys. Truth be know, some new sailors are just as bad, but since they are enlisted we just call them NUB.