mrbsox
11-30-02, 07:54 PM
Just some winter time memories...
Late March, early April, 1978
Ft. Drumm, upper state New York for Cold Weather training.
Being from Tenn, I knew what snow was, and Winter. But this was something new. 30 to 40 below at night, and snow 2 to 3 ft deep. This was just too cool. An 81 MM (0341) Plt, we had Yukon tents, sleds, snow shoes, Micky Mouse boots, double sleeping bags, all this neat cold weather sh!t to play with. It was just like playing Army :D.
And I was having a blast. I always liked to cold, adapted well to it too. Stay dry, that's the key. Easy to do when its below zero, just stay dry. We had **** happen in the field. Stupid ****, you know, but different. Had one of our guns setup on an ICE patch. Seemed solid, dug it in with E-tool so baseplate was firm, fired OK. All was well for a few days, till oneday, their base plate broke through the ice. Gun, gun team, and all standing in about 2 ft of water. Funny as all hell, just glad it wasn't my gun :D.
But after about 2 weeks in the field, we were starting to get kinda RIPE. We had pretty well burned anything in hollering distance to stay warm. Ammo boxes go up real fast, but burn out real fast too. Learned that those little stoves they give you SUCK. But, any way..... 2 weeks, and the word comes around one morning .."GET YOUR MESS KITS OUT. WE'RE GETTING HOT CHOW"
OK, 20 below that night, nothing but 'Cs' for 2 weeks. Hot chow is a real motivater. Were all standing around, kicking our feet to keep them warm, the wind's picking up a bit, but we got "HOT CHOW" on the way. An hour or so later, (after ditching into the tent to make some coffee), we hear the Artic Cats in the distance. Getting louder, closer, louder, ...further, softer, louder, closer. And then they're there. Breakfast gets there about 1030 hours, or so. Big green cans hauled out of the back, lined up on make shift tables, and "Mess Men" to serve it too. Too good to be true.
So, they pop the tops on those cans, and the steam just sends everyone into a feeding frenzy. HOT scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage links, bacon, Coffee. "LINE UP, SINGLE FILE, Pvt's FIRST" Gunny hollers. "YOU KNOW THE DRILL". Push and shove, more cans come out of the Cats, more steam, finally the lowley Lcpl gets up there, why has everyones ENTHUASIASM vanished ??? As soon as those scrambled eggs FREEZE to my F@#*ING mess kit lid (yep, our kits were still -20).... Off to the tent for heat tabs.
Ya gotta love it when Uncle Sam tries to take care of ya !!!
:marine:
Late March, early April, 1978
Ft. Drumm, upper state New York for Cold Weather training.
Being from Tenn, I knew what snow was, and Winter. But this was something new. 30 to 40 below at night, and snow 2 to 3 ft deep. This was just too cool. An 81 MM (0341) Plt, we had Yukon tents, sleds, snow shoes, Micky Mouse boots, double sleeping bags, all this neat cold weather sh!t to play with. It was just like playing Army :D.
And I was having a blast. I always liked to cold, adapted well to it too. Stay dry, that's the key. Easy to do when its below zero, just stay dry. We had **** happen in the field. Stupid ****, you know, but different. Had one of our guns setup on an ICE patch. Seemed solid, dug it in with E-tool so baseplate was firm, fired OK. All was well for a few days, till oneday, their base plate broke through the ice. Gun, gun team, and all standing in about 2 ft of water. Funny as all hell, just glad it wasn't my gun :D.
But after about 2 weeks in the field, we were starting to get kinda RIPE. We had pretty well burned anything in hollering distance to stay warm. Ammo boxes go up real fast, but burn out real fast too. Learned that those little stoves they give you SUCK. But, any way..... 2 weeks, and the word comes around one morning .."GET YOUR MESS KITS OUT. WE'RE GETTING HOT CHOW"
OK, 20 below that night, nothing but 'Cs' for 2 weeks. Hot chow is a real motivater. Were all standing around, kicking our feet to keep them warm, the wind's picking up a bit, but we got "HOT CHOW" on the way. An hour or so later, (after ditching into the tent to make some coffee), we hear the Artic Cats in the distance. Getting louder, closer, louder, ...further, softer, louder, closer. And then they're there. Breakfast gets there about 1030 hours, or so. Big green cans hauled out of the back, lined up on make shift tables, and "Mess Men" to serve it too. Too good to be true.
So, they pop the tops on those cans, and the steam just sends everyone into a feeding frenzy. HOT scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage links, bacon, Coffee. "LINE UP, SINGLE FILE, Pvt's FIRST" Gunny hollers. "YOU KNOW THE DRILL". Push and shove, more cans come out of the Cats, more steam, finally the lowley Lcpl gets up there, why has everyones ENTHUASIASM vanished ??? As soon as those scrambled eggs FREEZE to my F@#*ING mess kit lid (yep, our kits were still -20).... Off to the tent for heat tabs.
Ya gotta love it when Uncle Sam tries to take care of ya !!!
:marine: