Of similiar experiences. Only Bill might have first hand knowledge of this event... in fact, I think he's the 4th guy from the left in the third row...
Second Army Tennessee Maneuvers. The Layout. Company F, 347th Inf Reg., 87th Inf. Division, stands by for inspection by the Commanding General, Major General Percy Clarkson. (8 May 43) Signal Corps Photo: 164-007-43-989 (Sgt. J. A. Grant)
Yeah, I know it looks like pointless regimentation and make-work, and certainly there were elements of that - but if you wanted to be able to quickly inspect a hundred or so men, and ensure they had all their kit and it was serviceable (and they'd cleaned it up and repaired or replaced it after extended training events) it's hard to beat a layout inspection. The pointless identical layouts mean you can pass down that line pretty quickly and swiftly note discrepancies, which your clip-board toting First Sergeant will be writing down - to the woe of the Non-Commissioned Officer who's troop didn't have all his kit, or it was laid out improperly...
Second Army Tennessee Maneuvers. The Layout. Company F, 347th Inf Reg., 87th Inf. Division, stands by for inspection by the Commanding General, Major General Percy Clarkson. (8 May 43) Signal Corps Photo: 164-007-43-989 (Sgt. J. A. Grant)
Yeah, I know it looks like pointless regimentation and make-work, and certainly there were elements of that - but if you wanted to be able to quickly inspect a hundred or so men, and ensure they had all their kit and it was serviceable (and they'd cleaned it up and repaired or replaced it after extended training events) it's hard to beat a layout inspection. The pointless identical layouts mean you can pass down that line pretty quickly and swiftly note discrepancies, which your clip-board toting First Sergeant will be writing down - to the woe of the Non-Commissioned Officer who's troop didn't have all his kit, or it was laid out improperly...
And to said troop from afore-mentioned NCO, as shite does indeed roll down hill. LOL
We did, but...still many of my buds didn't make it home and I have spent my life since then pushing against the guilt that came with that.
Remember that when our Warriors come home now.
Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
No combat-ready outfit ever passed inspection, and no inspection-ready outfit ever passed combat.
...and then there are Triple Threats:
SAMI - Saturday AM Inspection (in room, by assorted Richard Craniums of the college kid and Commissioned persuasion)
IRI - In-Ranks Inspection, complete with the M-1 whose stock you have sanded down and re-stained/polished for the umpteenth time while hoping the idiot who snatches it from your hands doesn't drop it on your foot or break his own nose with it, thereby bleeding all over your parades.
Parade - 40 squadrons-worth of college kids, 95% of whom never see anything but the back of the next poor slob's cranium, marching out to prove to the taxpayer that we're doing something for the bill.
Lessons Learned:
SAMI: It isn't worth sh**ting in a shoe box to avoid a trip to the crapper during the Friday night upperclassmen's Freshman feeding frenzy. Don't hide your pets in your laundry bin, especially the scaly ones.
IRI: Don't daydream, especially if it involves Monty Python skits
Parades: Don't stare at the bright white trousers.
Ah, those were the days...-Attila
When I commanded a separate battery that shared a motor pool with one of my sister battalions in the DIVARTY, I would schedule my motor pool inspections for the same day as the battalion scheduled theirs - that way my NCOs would be keeping an eye on their own stuff, rather than it being "borrowed" by the other unit, and since my guys were going to have to be keeping an eye on their kit anyway, might as well have the inspection then, too.
The purpose of this stuff isn't to be an end in itself, it's a tool. And, as such, can always be abused and misused.
I guess my post went right over your head.
Sorry I can't write what I mean or feel.
Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
The balance between utility and bullshite.
LOL
At ease! The Colonel has left the room.
It also made me take my future underlings' complaints less seriously when I held them to a higher standard than they'd become accustomed to....Muuuuuuwaaaaahahahahaha! ;) The one exception I allowed as an O-6 was my Chief--the USAF version of a CSM--who even I didn't f**k with...with good reason. No rational commander would, anyway. Great guy, hard as woodpecker lips, and the standard by which I measured everyone else, including myself.
Inspections to check for presence of brand-new toothbrush, unopened tube of toothpaste, brand-new can of Kiwi, and unused pack of blued, double-edged razor blades, and three pairs of socks rolled with the heels facing to the left -- nah.
Although the latter type *did* insure a ready pool of warm bodies for the weekend KP roster.
And that didn't involve floor polish. Just some spit 'n elbow grease and a touch of patience.
Plenty of Kiwi.
Kiwi, nothing but Kiwi for me.
Next question -- who can still *wear* the web belt without extending it out to the last eyelet?
And I used a can of Kiwi on each Cochran just getting a decent *base* for the "spit and polish"...
Cotton balls?!? No freekin way! Cotton balls leave micro-scratches in your finish. Nothing less than an all cotton, well worn and plenty often washed, piece of tee shirt will do.
If you can't tell the color of your eyes and count the teeth in your smile in the reflection off your boots when held at an arm's length distance, you aint done it right. And, it better not just be the toe of your boots. The toe, the heel, the uppers, and all those tween the crease areas behind the toe too.
Spit shining is like rifle cleaning. It's a zen thing.
Of course, I doubt I ever spit shined a pair of boots while in the service. All my spit shining experience comes from attending Army Navy Academy at Oceanside my junior year.
Did lots and lots and lots of rifle cleaning though. And lots more after that too.
I always hated inspections but did understand and appreciate the purpose for them. Some could get crazy stupid, like IG inspections. In those, it could be assumed that such things as "paint the grass green, the roads black and the sidewalks white" type orders would be coming down from On High.
Criminey, has this thread gone off the rails or not?...-Attila
I preferred the old "H" style suspenders. The adjustment tab on the "Y" style suspenders always gave me a cyst in my back where it rubbed. Never had that problem with the older ones.
It flows for me.
Now, the True Civilians® might be confused...
As to suspenders, my first duty station was 3MarDiv in '79. The only warbelt suspenders around were those some enterprising Marine had managed to steal from a dogface while in Korea for training.
Grim/Attila: for shame, using cotton balls and/or t-shirt. BEST EVER rag for getting the "ready for Area Tour Inspection by the Field Officer of the Day" shine was to use the maximally rinsed and de-chem-ified Bltiz cloth (not the rouge cloth, the other half of it). it was so good for getting the shine on it, that half the time i would only get gigged for my haircut (Central Area tours only please, none of that shilly-shallying in North Area for me!)
Being Air Force, I pretty much never had an inspection after Basic Training, other than when I went to NCO Leadership Academy.
There was more then one way to fight a war. When going to a detachment, Manila, Saigon, Seoul, Taipei, we wore civvies and the only question was who my tailor was. And, we had a clothing allowance.
The secret is to NOT PUT THEM ON after using the panty hose. That's what was probably freaking out your roommates...brutes.
What may have bothered my roommates was I did not drink alcohol, use illegal drugs, curse, and raise hell like so many did back then. Not drinking and drugging caused me to work many extra hours to fill in for those who did and were unable to do their job properly. I was a medic and lived one parking lot away from the Emergency Room so I was the closest, soberest worker on short notice. My recreation activities were square dancing, volksmarching, and eating. Photographing stained glass windows in churches was a big hobby of mine.
Josh of Basehor
Let's see if *that* wakes Maggie up.
And I can still buckle my web belt. Haven't changed the length of it since I
stole itsigned for it in 1968...Gaiters were a pain, though.