Speaking of shaving in boot camp. We I arrived in Chicago at the airport, I trimmed my beard off in the restroom with a pocket knife ( which was in my carry on). I can remember seeing blood in every sink for at least two weeks in boot. We had one kid who would not shave, even told the Chief "you want me shaved you do it" bad call. Ol' Chief dry shaved him in front of the whole division, everyone was staring straight forward just like this I can tell you the shaves improved. We had a BM2 as one of our RDC who help the guys who had never shaved learn how. Out of 96 guys he taught maybe half.
Thank you for your service shipmates (that always includes the Royal Navy) & Veterans of all wars!
I was shaving back in '70, so I really had no problems with the DIs, but some certainly did. We had an inspection every morning and yes, you better have been freshly shaven. I had my gear from home, but probably lots of new soldiers didn't. We "got dropped" for every minor infraction. Getting dropped meant 10 pushups. Only 10. But they could drop someone as many times as they wanted to. It all worked to build a stronger soldier, but we didn't much like it at the time. One either smartened up pretty quick or one had the DIs constantly on their case. I smartened up really fast; life was so much easier that way.
It's really off subject but...
We were out on a field exercise the one time, digging in, etc. . In formation and at attention one doesn't move. Well Gomer Pyle decided to swat a mosquito when at attention. He had to find the mosquito, dig a 6' x 6' x 6' grave and bury it. Then after the burial the DI asked him what religion the mosquito was, so as to check and make sure the burial was proper. Of course Gomer didn't know and wasn't fast enough to make something up, so he was ordered to "dig it up and find it" and have a proper service for it. I think by then he smartened up enough to just dig the hole and find a new mosquito. I have no idea what we did that day, but I do know that he was there all day digging and filling in that hole. An entrenching tool is an exceedingly small shovel.
Last edited by ShadowsDad on Sat Apr 12, 2014 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Brian
Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
I don't recall shaving at Field Training ('summer camp' for ROTC pukes like me that served as 'basic for zeroes') ... I was 18 and didn't have any facial hair to speak of.
I don't exactly recall shaving during those years, but it was exactly like I did before and after up until just a few years ago when I started using other razors and soaps and creams and blades. Nothing's really changed except the brand names, now that I think about it.
Gary
SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
I remember all too well shaving back then, '70-'73, Co A 12th Engineers (airborne mechanized), Dexheim , West Germany. I started using cartridges then and in order to win the supernumerary position for guard duty (our company guarded the front gate and we were all strak and the best in battalion as we proved many times) one had to be the best of the best. The supernumerary position meant one got to not pull guard duty, but instead was used only in case someone got sick or some such. The supernumerary was held in reserve. It was a big deal and I always wanted it. One had to have ones $hit completely in order both physically and mentally as the questions that we were grilled with could cover anything from current world events (we could be anywhere on the planet in 24 hours so needed to know what was going on worldwide) or our job requirements. We were expected to rattle off formulas contained in our bible, The Engineers Field Manual. But back to shaving... In order to make supernumerary I'd shave against the grain with a cartridge and get ingrowns a few days later. But it was worth it so as to sleep through the night. That was the beginning of my dislike of cartridges and that dislike lasted for 40 years. FWIW, only once did I not make supernumerary... the first time I had guard duty.
Soon after, I made enough rank and had another job where I no longer needed to do that ATG shaving, but it also meant I had 24 hr duty and could be woken up at any time of the day or night. It was still much better duty despite that. There was no supernumerary for that job. Too, I never had field duty after that, I'd visit the field in my POV and deliver the mail. Just one of my duties. I was in the rear with the gear. Not quite Radar O'Reiley but close. Radar was a company clerk, I was the training & mail clerk for the company. It had many perks.
Hah! One more memory... As training clerk I had access to "stuff". We'd get CS teargas in an OD can that looked something like a tuna can. It was in the form of a sort of capsule and it would be lit with a match and burn. Not violently, just burn. One night someone went into 3rd platoons area and lit one of those capsules in an ashtray, then walked out of the room, all without being noticed. Amazingly enough ,soon after the windows went flying open and everyone came crashing out of the room. They never did figure out who did it. That was probably a good thing.
And then there was my invisible dog that we'd play with before formation.
And the time we lifted the Top Sergeants car and placed it between 2 trees so that you couldn't put a credit card between the trees and the bumpers. All he said when he saw it was, "Remove it and put it back.", just as calm as anything. Secretly I think he thought it was funny. We sure did.
Many many years, and another world ago. Enough rambling. Mostly good memories, some bad, but those bad memories have been blunted by time.
Brian
Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
drmoss_ca wrote:Quite true, you nee the captain's permission to grow a beard, which must be a 'full set'.
Chris
Not quite how I remember it. Captain couldn't give you permission to grow a beard; he could only give you permission to stop shaving and report back in two weeks. If by then the embryo beard showed signs of turning into a 'full set' you carried on. If not, you were told to "Resume shaving", to which, red as a beetroot and shrivelling with shame, you murmured "Aye aye Sir", went below & lathered up.
Michael
People say it's never too late. How wrong they are. --Felix Dennis
You were.....are.......a Jar Head?
