If you are struggling, please see the suicide prevention numbers at the bottom of this post.

If you are looking for Story of the Year and other type posts, links are at the bottom of this post.

February is over. We had a great time with the drunken AMA. I'm also going to use the opportunity to announce another special event that should hit the subreddit soon. When it does, it will be made an...

We had a barely verbal agreement between the squad leaders and I. They did the hand wavin', artillery callin', honorable duties befitting a virtuous 20-year-old Corporal. I bore the burdens of the ilk of machine gun, RPG, thermal camera, scope, AT mine, long gun. The glorious leaders never had the time to stimulate our targets at war games, so I was always welcome to commandeer their ammo as I...

We've all had this one. You bring in lunch or a soda, and when chow time comes, it's not there.

I tried everything.

I spray painted the cans safety yellow, so nobody would know what was in there.

I took a 12-pack out to the bench grinder and used the wire wheel to take the paint off of the cans.

I bought a lockbox, just to put a soda in it, and left it in the fridge. I found it open with a note...

I met a lot of guys during my enlistment. Really great guys, and real complete douche bags. There was one kid that I met named Jack Fullred (not real name). Jack was just an absolute, sweetheart, that I would bum, smokes from, and he would bum smokes for me. We would go down to the brothels, and he would buy money for me, and the next trip I would buy money from him. We served together in the...

Summer 1974. Lahr, BRD.

Troopies on break, sitting out in the sunshine in view of the runway, bored.

Jet engine sounds are coming close. A Starfighter? Not this time.

The jet comes into sight but the profile is not one we're familiar with.

Then someone asks, "Is that effer slowing down????"

It was slowing down. A lot! Then it stopped. In mid-air, it stopped.

Then that efferstarted moving...

As I mentioned in another post, my family tended to the Navy, rather than the Army. My dad served on a destroyer in WWII, my brother was a chaplain in the Naval Reserve (spending time with the Marines and the Coast Guard), and his son -- my oldest nephew -- was in the Seabees for a few years during and after college. This is about my nephew.

My nephew enlisted in the Seabees some time during his...

For the non-navy types:
GM1 = Gunner's Mate 1st Class Petty Officer (E-6)
SK2 = Storekeeper 2nd Class Petty Officer (E-5)
OS2 = Operations Specialist 2nd Class Petty Officer (E-5)
SN = Seaman (E-3)

At one point, I was attached to the base security team. With this assignment came a lot of, let's say interesting training. One such instance involved them making some scenario training videos. They...

So me and my ex retired from the army. We have 3 kids and one on the way. We live together as of right now. We decided to buy an apartment 3 years ago, but due to my credit, we decided to only put her under the mortgage. So that we can pay less and have a better rate. She also has 100% VA benefits. For the past 2 1/2 years i have been paying for the bills and taking care of our children. We are...

Here is one of my earliest stories that I ran across while doing research for my book, that was reposted a couple of years ago. I still feel queasy riding on any plane with a prop. Hitting turbulence reminds of this flight. The "something" I tore was my fucking esophagus. The hole in it is still there 30 years later, and it still hurts like hell every time I vomit.

One of the things about being in...

I'm not sure what Navy Boot Camp is like now, but I went through back in the late 80's in San Diego, and I had a completely different experience than anyone else in my company.

My stepfather was a pilot in the Air Force, and I had years before decided that I wanted to work on airplanes. I had been in Civil Air Patrol for years, progressing to a fairly senior position. My rank and experience in...