Random Thought of the Day

Quote: Evenbob

If your dad didn't see combat or even any
action, there might not be a whole lot to
talk about. For many men the service was
the most boring time of their lives. It was
just another really boring job that they
couldn't wait to be over. They don't talk
it because what's there to say.

Perhaps not, but that's not the vibe I got. If it was boring, he would have said so. If it was murder, like, the monotony, the slave labor, he would have said so. I dunno, it's my old man. I get what he says even when he doesn't say it, I'm sure you know what I mean. This stuck out.

Maybe it's no more than he wanted to be a hero and he spent all his time with one thumb up his arse and the other fiddling dials at AWACS behest and he's embarrassed or bitter about it. I dunno. But that particular conversation has always stood out. Still stands out 25 years later. So now, I GOTTA find out. Been on my mind too much lately.

Quote: Nareed

Electronic warfare covers a lot of ground. It can be radar suppression missions in specialized attack aircraft. These get over enemy territory and shoot missiles, usually, at radar installations. They get shot at, too. There's electronic warfare aircraft, as I recall the Navy used a modified A-6 which carried 4 crewmen and lots of EW pods. I think they get shot at , too. Mostly they jam radar and radio signals. There's also the Navy's version of AWACS, the E-3 sentry being active until recently I think. These are kept well away from enemy territory. Or he might have been sitting at a scope inside the carrier. Fortunately, I don't think any US carrier has been attacked since WWII.

I know, and that's a bit of why I have the push I do.

I love this stuff. As I've said before, I do get into military action stories, very much enjoy virtual combat sims. And it's not just making the 30mm growl, but it's the whole shootin' match. I like knowing what an MFID is and how to switch it to different tasks, or what all the little insignias and characters mean on a HUD, or fiddle with the TACAN to change my route mid flight. I dig that stuff. And, like you said, "electronic warfare" covers the gamut. Was he messing with AN/ALQ's, or that era's equivalent? Was he more the Raytheon SLQ guy, protecting the ship itself? Did he just pack HARM's on some elses' aircraft? Or did he man a rip gun in defense of low altitude cruise missiles?

EW just covers too many areas. Maybe he designated precise targets, maybe he just double checked correspondence to ensure restricted stayed restricted. Hand of God or enhanced secretary? Who knows? I don't, but I want to. So I'll try =)

Quote: Face

Maybe it's no more than he wanted to be a hero and he spent all his time with one thumb up his arse and the other fiddling dials at AWACS behest and he's embarrassed or bitter about it.

A friend of mine was in Viet Nam in 1969 and
he never talks about it because he spent his
whole time there in an air conditioned office
as a clerk. He says if people know he was there
but he never says anything about it, they just
assume the worst. All he got out of it was a bunch
of cheap 35mm cameras he got while on leave
in Japan. He was no where near any combat.

Real war is not the Rambo stuff. One tug boat captain pulling a barge with 8 aircraft and 10,000 gallons of aviation fuel was sent to a pacified island.

Upon arrival he found that the pacification was still very much in progress and being unarmed and very explosive he beat a hasty retreat to a nearby unoccupied island.

He offloaded one of the planes and started taxiing up and down the beach going faster and faster until at one point he had to take off or crash, so he took off. He was NOT a military pilot; he was NOT a civilian pilot. He exercised initiative, that's all. He flew to the marine airfield, landing under fire and darn near took out their comshack before he realized the rudder pedals acted like brakes. He landed in his ROTC uniform because that is all he had ever been issued throughout the entire war. He then ferried marine pilots back to get the rest of the planes fueled and armed and into the battle.

No official uniform, no flying training at all, civilian or military, but no desire to sit on the sidelines waiting for the battle to end.

No Rambo,,, just someone who kept going no matter what.

Those are the real heroes of the war.

My dad told a few stories from WW2. One was how he got assigned to help clean up a ship which had body parts blown all about it from an attack.

Another was about going to see the doctor about severe constipation. Probably from sea rations. He wanted the doctor give him something to relieve it. The doctor just told him, "You'll either poop or you'll pop!" That was it. My dad wasn't too happy about that, but I guess he lived.

My brother was in Vietnam. But I've never heard him talk about it, though I've seen pictures of him out in the jungle with his unit. He was a mobile radio operator in the Marines.

>>>>>My dad told a few stories from WW2. One was how he got assigned to help clean up a ship which had body parts blown all about it from an attack.
Now its biohazard duty, but in WW2 it was get in there sailor and clean up that gooey mess. The youngest person assigned that duty in WW2 was fourteen.

>>>>>>>>Another was about going to see the doctor about severe constipation. Probably from sea rations.
Perhaps you meant C rations.
Medical care for troops returning from Iraq the first time were flown home and with families waiting on the tarmac were told if their health was anything but excellent they would not see their families. Many with horrible bleeding and pain, said excellent.

>>>>>>, though I've seen pictures of him out in the jungle with his unit. He was a mobile radio operator in the Marines.
So he never had his pack off, stood next to the person in command who was the only target with a greater priority than him. Any ambush always tried to kill the leader and the radio man in the first burst of fire.

Quote: Nareed

How about a super hero comic/movie/TV series where the audience is never told the super hero's secret identity?

Early market "research" is not encouraging.

A coworker yesterday spent 20 minutes telling me about DC/Marvel crossover comics. I told him my idea and he shrugged. "You won't know the hero as a person, they won't be a complete character." He also pointed out the secrecy rules out an origin story.

Quote: Fleastiff

Those are the real heroes of the war.

Real heroes, period. War, marriage, work, parenting, life... the ones who do when doing needs done.

/salute.

Quote: Face

Real heroes, period. War, marriage, work, parenting, life... the ones who do when doing needs done.

/salute.

If you do get your father to share, please start a new thread. I'd subscribe to that one.

My dad was in the Navy in WWII and never
talked about it. Now I'm almost glad he didn't, it
was probably boring as hell and I can
imagine anything I want. Most of the guys
I knew in the service in the Nam era went
to Korea and Germany. Two went to Nam
and neither saw action. They look back on
it with nostalgia now, but at the time they
couldn't wait to get back.

EB, you're such a Debbie Downer.

So anyway, I looked up most boring military jobs. Here's some replies off the net.

Quote:

There is a job in the Navy for non-rates (barely past the ASVAB) who do not qualify for any job. I am not sure what it's actual name is, but we just called them Chain Monkeys. Their sole job was to chain jets to the deck. They were called monkeys because even a monkey could do their job. Day in and day out all they do is put large chains on jets and twist them tight. Their job was monotonous and required no thinking what-so-ever other than tight, not tight.  

Quote:

While perhaps not advancing to states of terror, every job has its own spikes of excitement, usually self-generated. Deadlines, inspections, and overbearing superiors (or useless subordinates or peers) have a way of making just about anything interesting at times. I've seen clerks who catalog leave papers freak out when someone messes with their filing system, logistics specialists birth kittens when they couldn't find a form for paper towels, and mess cranks go ape when someone vilified their efforts. On the other hand, I've known A-6 pilots orbiting over the ship at night who fell asleep (their right-seaters threw a good elbow). My dirty little secret is a penchant for spreadsheets. The human mind has an endless capacity for creating peaks and valleys.
Janitorial work on the carrier has to be right up there, though. Maybe that's why the heads on Lincoln smell like Froot Loops.

Quote:

I was, for a very short time, an Environmental Compliance Officer on Ft. Polk, LA. My sole purpose in life was to drive around post and ensure solvent tanks were properly maintained. I did not fix them. I did not replace them. I did not resource them. I simply checked that the levels of solvent were not too high or too low. I checked to ensure that the company contracted to clean them was doing their job. I checked to ensure that the proper documents needed to have solvent tanks were present and in the right places. I checked to ensure safety equipment was available and that regular training was conducted on said equipment and what to do if the safety equipment did’t do its job. Then I filled out a report noting the days events. No one ever read my reports. I know this because I frequently used the word “matriculate” for anything I thought I could get away with. Either they didn’t know the meaning of the word, or they didn’t care, or they just didn’t read the reports.

Quote:

Washing.
Washing dishes, washing laundry, washing vehicles, washing floors, washing latrines, washing the decks of ships, washing the outsides of buildings, washing . . .
You get the picture. Perhaps you remember “Working in the Car Wash Blues,” by Jim Croce: “steadily depressing, low-down, mind-messing. . .”
Do it all day, and next day you get to do it all day again. Do it perfectly and no body notices; do it less than perfectly, and you get reamed and forced to do it over.

Quote:

Taking job to mean task, I nominate fire watch.  This is a watch where you stand on the opposite side of a bulkhead (metal wall) from a welder and stare at it to ensure that no sparking or smolder occurs for 3-6 hours. 
There are tons of other boring watches where nothing happens but, in my opinion the one where you stare at the wall is the worst.

Quote:

Shaft ally watch. This is the compartment where the shafts from the main engine protrude through the ship and attach to the screws (propellers). Your job is to make sure a single or two gauges are at the right temperature/pressure and no water is coming in the seals where the shafts extend outside the ship. You are sealed in a hot tiny area for four to six hours at a time watching a 24″ tube rotate.

Quote:

When you are deployed in the Navy, on the aircraft carrier you have to sweep a spot doesn't matter if the spots clean. Just sweep it.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-boring-job-in-the-United-States-military