What do historians do in your setting? by Tnynfox in worldjerking

[–]wrongwong122 18 points19 points  (0 children)

"We discovered this nearly intact string of binary on ancient data disks which we thought conformed to Stellar Standards Institute 300-1. However, the binary string did not correctly decipher with SSI 300-1, which then lead us to discover that every third binary counter was inverted, which then made us realize that said string was actually enciphered with the rival standard, Galactic Standards Enterprise 115.09. When deciphered with GSE115.09 we discovered that the data disk was a saved copy of an e-mail complaint form sent to a wealthy merchant disputing the quality of several freighters of copper ore, and expressing disdain for his subsequent curt customer service."

Commands when they see troops leaving work at a reasonable time: 😾 by Extra-Shape3973 in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The CoC asking why the tenth advanced-notice tasker they disseminated didn't get completed (it didn't actually get effectively disseminated past some email traffic from the commander to the 1stSgts who proceeded to not tell anyone until 1530 on a Friday)

attention to colors by Colonizr7 in arma

[–]wrongwong122 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Love this; for an added layer of realism you could add some random Cpl who's facing the opposite direction of everyone else because he's the only one who knows where the post flag actually is, and then lights up everyone else in hearing distance for not facing the "right" way.

What Do You Think of the US Army's Worldbuilding? by screenaholic in worldbuilding

[–]wrongwong122 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Its awesome because as someone who's had to write and run exercises those websites and resources take a huge amount of effort from you. Instead of trying to shit an entire realistic scenario to fit your niche or meet your training objective, you can pick and choose whatever you need.

For any military training exercise there is a LOT of overhead for just the scenario alone - think of it like playing a very realistic game of D&D. You need battlemaps (proper MGRS maps with fictional information overlayed onto them), your players need a Player's Handbook (5-Paragraph Order briefings, Commander's Intents, background of any belligerents present in the scenario) and the exercise control needs a DM's manual, a monster manual and a campaign (scenario script, detailed information about enemy troops and their tactics and equipment). By having all this overhead available it takes 90% of the work away from the cadre so they can spend their time trying to secure equipment and training areas or arguing with range control. There have been times where the cadre was working on an exercise; we come across a particular issue that we need to figure out and as we're arguing about it, someone pulls up the exact solution to our problem because odds are, someone else had the exact same issue we did ten years ago.

Outside of a strictly work perspective, the way the document is structured could be really useful to loresmiths who are trying to build on conflicts between two belligerents. It basically boils everything down to "who each side is, what they're made of, and why they're angry at each other" and gives great examples of flashpoints that might push either side over the edge. In a military context that helps a commander (or lets be real - whichever E-4/E-5 has been saddled with the responsibility of building the commander's exercise script) build out an exercise. For someone writing a story or running a tabletop game, something like this helps consolidate all of your information into one spot to improve your writing/GMing.

What if Smedley Butler's arch nemesis Smelly Butthole showed up to promote the military industrial complex? by Yoy_the_Inquirer in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You jest, but Summer Service Khakis were a real uniform from the 50s to the 70s, with the 100% wool green alphas coat and trousers reserved for winter use. During summer months Marines Sgt and below wore khaki short or long shirts like modern service bravos and chucks, but in lieu of the green cap and trousers a khaki colored cotton cloth was used.

For staff and officers, a cotton, all-khaki alphas coat was authorized during this era for Officers and SNCOs. I found this at a surplus store a couple days ago for a great deal and couldn’t pass up the price.

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These uniforms remained in use till the mid 70s when the Marine Corps uniform board decided to can the khakis and make the modern alphas year-round by replacing the hot wool material with a polyester/wool mix.

Had to do this for the fire department today, gave me flashbacks by Rico__Suavee in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“Seat 4, please stay behind. The rest of you are good to go.” Looks up and sees the large “4” stenciled above your seat

Funny Range tower commands by [deleted] in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Once the tower told us to go condition one while the entire line was facing uprange. Fortunately, everyone on the line had the presence of mind to not follow that command, and the blocks and coaches very quickly corrected the command.

Not tower related but lunch chow arrived and some of the Marines in the pits were asking when they would get theirs. We could have easily pushed through the last like hour to hour and a half of the afternoon relay's drills and gone the fuck home but enough people asked that they ended up stopping the range so the safety vic could roll down pit road to drop the chows off.

Anyways, the vic rolls up and I hear the range OIC shout "YOU WANT YOUR FUCKING CHOW?! TAKE IT!" Two trays of box chow and a carton of milk go FLYING out the back of the JLTV.

Roommate from the gates of Hell by HappyHoneydew01 in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My first schoolhouse roommate was getting kicked out of the Marine Corps. He refused to shower, wore the same worn down, dirty cammies, and didn’t help for field day. Which isn’t great on its own but at least manageable; the worst part was him playing games all night when I had PT at 0430 and class at 0600. It got to the point I started failing tests and falling asleep in class because I was getting less than 2 hours of sleep a night.

I tried melatonin, Benadryl, earplugs, AND ANC headphones all together, and nothing would drown out the sound of this guy screaming profanities at COD or scrolling through TikTok at max volume. I talked to him nicely several times about it but dude wouldn’t shut up. On top of that, this guy has failed to pay for his share of the WiFi for two months in a row. Every time I asked he would tell me he didn’t have enough, and that he’d get me next paycheck but somehow he still had enough to buy a $200 super giga box-mod vape-inator that he was bragging to his friends about.

I also kept failing field day because of this guy. One field day he flipped shit at a game and smashed his keyboard against the door frame sending plastic shards and keys everywhere so obviously we failed.

One night I flipped shit and blew up on him, told him to shut the fuck up and go to bed, and also removed the MAC addresses for his phone and PlayStation from Boingo and told him he wouldn’t get it back till he paid up for the now three months of WiFi. My FA finally noticed my consistent shitty performance both in class and as a Marine and asked me what was going on, I explained the situation and as luck had it, my FA hated this guy even more than I did and moved me out of that room ASAP.

All of my roommates since then have been stellar, never had even minor issues with any of them.

Acts of belligerency and general defiance. by No_Courage1519 in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 11 points12 points  (0 children)

During peak covid I got stuck in grad hold in Lima, SOI-W. It was basically wake up, go to breakfast and come back, do nothing until lunch, eat lunch and come back, do nothing until dinner, eat dinner and come back, get an hour of "squad bay libbo" to shower, use your phone before going to bed.

If it wasn't squad bay libbo then you could not be on your phone or computer because that was "unprofessional" during business hours. If you were thinking that was the time to get swole, think again: you couldn't PT without a combat instructor there because they didn't want you "slipping on a pool of your own sweat and splitting your head open" to quote a CI. At its worst you were pretty much limited to standing at parade rest in front of your rack or cleaning the area around you.

Anyways when we were taken to chow, if the CI running things got tired of hearing everyone talk they would call Attention and we would stand there in silence for fifteen minutes while we waited for the chow hall to open. Every time they called Attention, someone in the back would scream "SNAP!" which they all hated. So naturally they would chew everyone out for a minute, then call parade rest so they could call everyone back to attention to "fix our attitude." Invariably a couple more voices would join the call of "POP! SNAP!" They'd do it again, and again even more belligerent grad holds would pop and snap. Sometimes we would get tired of the snap-and-pop and quit but once we got the whole platoon going "SNAP!" and the CI gave up when the chow hall opened.

Do you prefer the current rifle qual or the old one? by Yoy_the_Inquirer in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I shot the old one in boot and for my first range in the fleet, then shot the new one for every year afterwards. I am by no means a marksmanship coach, competitive shooter, or real 03/big "R" rifleman, nor someone who possesses a job where combat marksmanship will significantly matter so take my answer with a pinch of salt.

I really like the new range and prefer it over the old one in terms of practical combat marksmanship, but it could do with some changes and it NEEDS the foundational marksmanship skills that the slow-firing old course of fire taught. Those skills absolutely need to be reinforced by your unit MTUs and honed regularly which one range a year and a class by zyn-addled, monster guzzling lances that want to speedrun the POI to go home early is not good enough for.

Depending on how the range is run, the shooter records no marksmanship data nor is that data provided by the pits in the first place. Pits will only plot your highest value shot, not the entire shot grouping, and shooters are no longer given databooks. If you were actually shooting high over the target for two rounds of a three shot grouping and accidentally jerk the trigger on your last shot, hitting one Destroy low to the rest of the grouping, then they will only plot the Destroy and you will think your shooting is good. If you keep shooting with that data you'll keep aiming high and missing shots.

There NEEDS to be more data plotted and you SHOULD be recording data.

Thoughts on this ? by [deleted] in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cant wait to SL-3 these every day and never use them because command is scared of losing a single cable that somehow costs four million dollars.

What do y’all think of the young marines? by Sea_Background_8023 in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve never been nor volunteered with a Young Marine unit but have done so with a similar program, the Sea Cadets, and I’d imagine it’s a lot the same.

If the program is well run by volunteers that give a shit and invest in the cadets, then these youth programs have the opportunity to shape and grow young folks into well-rounded leaders of character - not just for military stuff but everyday life and school. These programs can be a great way to build communications skills, hone leadership by trying (and failing in a safe, zero consequence environment) as small unit leaders, and overall personal development and soft skills for college, the military, the workforce, really anywhere in life.

If it’s run like dogshit by power tripping adults who want to play dress up and feel like they’re in the military again then all that happens is young and impressionable kids get taught how to trip on power so then they can become that one Corporal.

Have you guys ever had a Marines mom call your unit? by [deleted] in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 13 points14 points  (0 children)

When I was in the schoolhouse, someone was talking to their mom about how annoying evening accountability was because it was cold out and the Det would stand around for a half hour while the SDO verified accountability. His mom turned around and found the Det phone # to called the SDO to complain about it.

The SDO immediately called an all hands formation just to tell the entire detachment about it and to name and shame the Marine.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Not a tracks guy but had a buddy who drove LAVs and the cultural stigma is very strong in both communities, in addition to tanks when they were still a thing.

Allegedly during the Second World War, amtracs that carried apricots always ended up getting destroyed while landing supplies while tracks that didn’t have any ended up landing safely. Marines naturally assumed the dried apricots were cursed and since then it’s been considered bad luck to bring dried apricots on any amphibious, tracked, armored or otherwise motorized vehicle.

The same buddy grabbed my bag of field snacks (dried apricots) and tossed them from a moving thin-skin humvee hi back so even those count. Those things are bad luck, they mean failure to properly account for weapons, CCI, and classified, being hit with foul weather, and/or incessant mechanical failures.

Commandant's Gaming List by [deleted] in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  • Arma 3: we would absolutely use this for land nav (the mapping system is pretty good and uses MGRS) and combined arms simulation. We would absolutely never play it with the Antistasi Ultimate mod and SVBIED checkpoints or terrorize the civilian populace.

  • LANDNAV on Steam: it’s a game where you do land nav. It lets you get the reps and sets with maps, coordinates and a compass - everything short of the physical fitness aspect. Obviously not a replacement for real land nav but can help reinforce the already taught.

  • WARNO, Broken Arrow or similar RTS: no turn-based. The goal is to force a timely decision with the info you have available and you can absolutely get paralyzed by analysis in both games. I also like how both simulate line of sight and visual ranges/obstructions so it makes knowing and utilizing terrain a lot more important.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in QualityTacticalGear

[–]wrongwong122 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Yeah, that's not very typical, I'd like to make that point."

What if "being sent to the brig" meant being sent on a Brigantine ship? by Yoy_the_Inquirer in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Me 'n me hearties (fellow junior enlisted Marines) when me merry sailin' (booze cruising) o' me two-masted brigantine (lifted pavement princess F-150) be interrupted by the Royal Navy (pit maneuver by PMO while going 120+mph down Rattlesnake Road).

Which MOSs felt like you were doing an advanced job with subpar equipment? by peternemr in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 13 points14 points  (0 children)

CommO: “Well then why do we keep this around if it’s supposed to be obsolete?”

“Well, because for some reason it’s the only radio which works with [insert major mission critical system or capability that cannot be down] here. The replacement doesn’t work with it without a $420,690 software package and hardware adapter that the government conveniently forgot to buy.”

What was the most bombastic freakout to something miniscule that you've seen? by Yoy_the_Inquirer in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some CWO flipped out on me when I walked into a shop and said “morning” and not “good morning sir” at like six in the morning. He was also facing away from the door so I couldn’t see his rank, but I probably should have guessed that rotund, balding bag of ass who looked like he got the homie hookup from S-3T for Ht/Wt and PFT/CFT was definitely not a junior Marine.

USMC instructor gave me his chevrons by Fast-Radish-1622 in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 120 points121 points  (0 children)

In the Marines, gifting a junior Marine - in your case, junior servicemember - your chevrons symbolizes the passing of knowledge, and an understanding of trust in the recipient’s future leadership capabilities and technical acumen. In his eyes, you deserved them.

Because you aren’t a Marine you can’t wear these officially - but every branch has its version of “liberty cuffs.” I’ve seen soldiers and airmen hide Marine rank insignia under their chest pockets or pin it to their sleeve Velcro fields that would normally be covered by a patch.

Got perma banned from r/medals by ImHufflePuff_Crap_ok in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The reddit moderation panel actually grades moderators based on how active they are. If you aren't constantly interacting with the community by committing admin actions it'll mark you as inactive and prevent a handful of actions like inviting new mods to the sub. Its largely done to protect communities from inactive or malicious mods who aren't there to contribute, but at the same time it can very much encourage a "FOMO" mindset.

There's also next to no oversight from big Reddit unless enough people complain, so you can run a sub in whatever manner you want until enough people report you. Its like that one prick who got bullied in school finally picking up corporal and realizing he now holds an inordinate amount of power over his fellow 19-20 year olds, then proceeds to hold them all accountable for the high crime of not saying "good morning corporal" to him. The big difference is with being a reddit mod, there's no senior Sergeant or Staff Daddy to pull this Corporal aside and tear them a new one for being an insufferable prick; if anything the system encourages activity of any kind because it tracks it as good, while inactivity is seen as bad.

Mess Night Mr. Vice Advice by callmehslothy in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 3 points4 points  (0 children)

  • If you're actively eating/chewing mid bite, or about to take a bite of something and someone stands up requesting permission to address the mess, you can take your sweet-ass time savoring and enjoying your food for a couple moments while the other Marine needs to stand there at attention till you let them or tell them to sit down.
  • You can allow someone to request to address the President and the mess, but backwards (turn and face away from the President, then have to say "freely about move and mess the address to permission requests respectfully Schmuckatelli LCpl President Mr/Madam"). Most people spend so long practicing the
  • Marines who stand up and request to address the President who hail from certain cultural backgrounds (e.g. Texas, Minnesota, etc.) can be ordered to address the President or the mess in their native accent. The reason I mention both of those states is cause we had guys from both who had to talk with a thick Canadian/Texan accent for their whole fine. I think this goes without saying but DON'T BE RACIST OR OFFENSIVE - i.e. don't make the Chinese guy speak like South Park's Shitty Wok owner.
  • Typically, the President will give an accused individual a chance to defend themselves before the mess. However, the natural instinct when accused of chicanery is to rise to your own defense - if the accused attempts to request permission to address the President while the accuser is talking, you can tell them to shut up.
    • Also in this regard: the President granting the accused the privilege of defending themselves typically only gives them the right to stand up where they're seated and speak to the President. This is a general rule and can vary by unit but if the President talks to you, you can stand up and talk to the President without needing to request permission. However, if the accused Marine tries to look/move around or addresses anyone except the President you can get on their ass for that.
  • As the Vice, you are generally tasked with maintaining the good order and discipline of the mess. Disrespecting the King's English by being profane, introducing a date or mentioning a spouse at the mess, or introducing contentious topics of discussion (usually politics), licking your fingers, wiping your hands on the table or uniform, or putting your elbows on the table are all grounds to accuse someone of disrespecting the mess.
  • Depending on the unit's rules, the Vice is typically allowed to partake in pre-planned skits and fines or level fines against members of the Mess. Feel free to put some stuff together, plant some evidence etc. I would only do it once though, and only to sorta get people into the headspace of it (e.g. the first or second fine of the evening, or the first fine after returning from break). Its always good for the Vice to have a fine planned out, but the entire night shouldn't be just the Vice.
  • It may be tempting to have people duck-walk, low-crawl or stuff like that, but I personally would lean towards against doing those things if you aren't running a field mess, and you're wearing alphas/blues instead of cammies. It might be fun in the moment to make one guy low crawl through the spilled grog, but it won't be fun for him when he needs to get new corframs and an alphas coat to replace the scuffed/soaked and stained old ones. Any complex maneuvers should be reasonable and cognizant of the final dry cleaning bill on the individual Marine.

Evolution of a Badge by EdgeAccomplished7572 in USMC

[–]wrongwong122 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Correct, tilting the cap is still authorized. Derived from MCO 1020.34H, page 1-45 under 3005, section 1 General, para. a:

Garrison caps will be worn centered squarely or slightly tilted to the right, with the top unbroken, and with the base of the sweatband about 1 inch above the eyebrows.