As requested...I'm Smiling Canadian AMA (almost)
- Thread starter Smiling Canadian
- Start date
Smiling Canadian
Veteran X
To be very honest I really wish everybody here would just take 1 giant step back and calm the fuck down. We are all just random internet people. There is really no need for the level of vitriol from both sides.
I do wish however that people would post actual thoughts and positions and defend those thoughts and positions in a rational way. REEEEEEEEEE and lol emojis aren't a position.
Smiling Canadian
Veteran X
Very little. I did not like the gameplay. I was a RB6 and battlefield guy.
Faith in myself.
Please expand on this one and give some specifics of what helped you.
Smiling Canadian
Veteran X
Handgun would be a toss up between Browning High Power and Sig 226. Neither have ever let me down.
Long rifle would be hands down Sig SSG3000 in .338 Lapua. I know there are better rifles out there now but again this never let me down.
Other rifle not really a rifle...HK MP5 almost any variant. Hands down my absolute favorite.
Smiling Canadian
Veteran X
Every one that joins the Legion is also taught a trade or skill that is transferable to civilian life. I was trained in welding, metal fabrication, and machining. There are carpenters, electricians, computer techs, programmers, chefs...the list is almost endless.
Having a marketable skill when leaving the military I think is key to a healthy transition to civilian life. If you don't have to worry about finding quality gainful employment, that is one large stressor (if thats a word) removed right off the bat.
They also use to have a money management branch that would look after investing your wages if you wanted. And they are fucking great. 18 years in and only my last 5 making over $100,000 I Left with just shy of 5 million dollars after taxes. A lot of guys don't take advantage of this and left with whatever their last paycheck was.
They also had a decompressing period before you could leave. You go to a different facility where you are still technically in the Legion but the rules are more like civilian life. you come and go as you please. Talk to some professionals and former Legionnaires about life after the Legion etc.
I missed out on this last part because I was medically discharged and chose to forgo the decompression because I had had enough decompressing in the hospital and rehab.
Smiling Canadian
Veteran X
If I have missed any questions post again please. Also if I haven't repped you its because I'm out of rep.
Smiling Canadian
Veteran X
First Gulf War my spotter and I had to make a gallon of water last 9 days. Towards the end I stopped peeing.
This is a great reply, and the reason I don't participate anything beyond 1-liners here anymore.
Smiling Canadian
Veteran X
Commence fapping (BTW this is my first ever selfie...instagram here I come)
This was from a press photog that snapped this in Beruit in 1983. I'm actually mostly blocked in this pic. You can see my leg and my long gun.
A buddy sent me this a while back. This would have been mid to late 80's.
This was posted on my Legion forums a long time ago. 1978 I think.
This was from a press photog that snapped this in Beruit in 1983. I'm actually mostly blocked in this pic. You can see my leg and my long gun.
A buddy sent me this a while back. This would have been mid to late 80's.
This was posted on my Legion forums a long time ago. 1978 I think.
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Smiling Canadian
Veteran X
Back in my time you could count on at least 120 days in a combat zone per year. My longest deployment was actually 21 months straight. South America as part of the war on drugs.
How much of that is still classified and have you ever considered a book?
Smiling Canadian
Veteran X
Probably all of it because it involved so many agencies from the US. My wife was always after me to write some of my stuff down. I think it's best if my stories just die with me. Nobody needs to relive some of that shit.
SC - this thread made me think of my uncle -
My uncle served in the marines. He is still alive and in good shape but it wasn't an easy transition for him. I remember being a little kid. Believe it or not, the draft was announced lottery style during the evening news for those that don't know.
My uncle was just a kid pretty much. Early 20s. Recently married. High school track coach and teacher. He used to babysit me. He would let me stay up late and watch scary movies. Dracula, The werewolf, all that.
We had a deal that if they came home, I would run into bed and pretend like I was asleep. They knew what was up. They would come home. I would try to scurry upstairs and look like I was asleep. I am sure he was down there laughing and pointing. My mom would get a scolding voice - but not really. Great uncle.
It turns out he enlisted. He watched as young kids were being drafted and it didn't sit well with him. He figured if they were going to send people, he needed to take his turn first. Maybe it would save a kid from having to go.
I didn't see much of him for a few years. I heard stories. Saw a couple of pictures. We made a tape and sent it to him. He came home. I received a giant plastic machine gun. It had a bipod, belt fed ammo, a working plastic grenade launcher, it shot sparks - it was amazing. Not long after also, some boxes of stuff came along with it. His fatigues, hats, a bayonet, shoes, t-shirts, a camo jacket. I loved that closet in the basement. I would try to put the stuff on. Swam in it.
I asked about my uncle and I was told "he is tired from the war". I didn't get to see him for quite some time.
I found out later that he had tried to go back to his job teaching like nothing had happened. If there was a loud noise like someone dropped a notebook and it made a bang - he would hit the ground and try to get under a desk or something for cover.
He took time off. Eventually, I got to see him and I asked if he was ok. "Sure, just tired from the war" he would say.
He eventually went back to teaching. He was a much quieter man. He also muttered and talked to himself. He did regain some joy in life. He had a white German shepherd. He fathered my cousins, two girls. He bought a cabin up in Northern Wisconsin. He would spend the entire Summer up there while the rest of the family stayed down at home a few hours away. Giving the occasional visit during the Summer.
I remember once when I was a teenager, I broke out all his old stuff and put it on for Halloween. I decided that a dead Vietnam vet was a good halloween costume. When I told him all he said was "Oh - now what would you want to do that for?" and shook his head in a "dumb kid" fashion.
As I got older, I would go spend time with him in the Summer. I would help winterize the place for winter and open the place up for the summer. Cleared a lot of trees, chopped a lot of wood and we fished for Musky etc on the lake. We had a jeep, ATVs, a mini bike - there were only 3 other houses on the big lake and it was also on a reservation so it would never be developed. It was quiet and so much fun.
We got to talk a lot up there. I knew the topic of Vietnam was not an easy one for him and never really grilled him too much. We all just left it alone.
He still lives the same way. His sense of humor really came back with the arrival of grandchildren. He is still an amazing shot. He qualified as expert when he was a Marine. He is a dead-eye on the lake if there are any beaver around.
My nephew ended up joining the army a few years back. Clearing IEDs in Afghanistan. He got a purple heart when they got their asses blown up in their MRAP. He is fine. Before that, though, my uncle found out and made a phone call to him. I talked to my nephew later because I wanted to know what my uncle said. Apparently, his advice was reduced down to one thing. "Never volunteer for anything".
My uncle served in the marines. He is still alive and in good shape but it wasn't an easy transition for him. I remember being a little kid. Believe it or not, the draft was announced lottery style during the evening news for those that don't know.
My uncle was just a kid pretty much. Early 20s. Recently married. High school track coach and teacher. He used to babysit me. He would let me stay up late and watch scary movies. Dracula, The werewolf, all that.
We had a deal that if they came home, I would run into bed and pretend like I was asleep. They knew what was up. They would come home. I would try to scurry upstairs and look like I was asleep. I am sure he was down there laughing and pointing. My mom would get a scolding voice - but not really. Great uncle.
It turns out he enlisted. He watched as young kids were being drafted and it didn't sit well with him. He figured if they were going to send people, he needed to take his turn first. Maybe it would save a kid from having to go.
I didn't see much of him for a few years. I heard stories. Saw a couple of pictures. We made a tape and sent it to him. He came home. I received a giant plastic machine gun. It had a bipod, belt fed ammo, a working plastic grenade launcher, it shot sparks - it was amazing. Not long after also, some boxes of stuff came along with it. His fatigues, hats, a bayonet, shoes, t-shirts, a camo jacket. I loved that closet in the basement. I would try to put the stuff on. Swam in it.
I asked about my uncle and I was told "he is tired from the war". I didn't get to see him for quite some time.
I found out later that he had tried to go back to his job teaching like nothing had happened. If there was a loud noise like someone dropped a notebook and it made a bang - he would hit the ground and try to get under a desk or something for cover.
He took time off. Eventually, I got to see him and I asked if he was ok. "Sure, just tired from the war" he would say.
He eventually went back to teaching. He was a much quieter man. He also muttered and talked to himself. He did regain some joy in life. He had a white German shepherd. He fathered my cousins, two girls. He bought a cabin up in Northern Wisconsin. He would spend the entire Summer up there while the rest of the family stayed down at home a few hours away. Giving the occasional visit during the Summer.
I remember once when I was a teenager, I broke out all his old stuff and put it on for Halloween. I decided that a dead Vietnam vet was a good halloween costume. When I told him all he said was "Oh - now what would you want to do that for?" and shook his head in a "dumb kid" fashion.
As I got older, I would go spend time with him in the Summer. I would help winterize the place for winter and open the place up for the summer. Cleared a lot of trees, chopped a lot of wood and we fished for Musky etc on the lake. We had a jeep, ATVs, a mini bike - there were only 3 other houses on the big lake and it was also on a reservation so it would never be developed. It was quiet and so much fun.
We got to talk a lot up there. I knew the topic of Vietnam was not an easy one for him and never really grilled him too much. We all just left it alone.
He still lives the same way. His sense of humor really came back with the arrival of grandchildren. He is still an amazing shot. He qualified as expert when he was a Marine. He is a dead-eye on the lake if there are any beaver around.
My nephew ended up joining the army a few years back. Clearing IEDs in Afghanistan. He got a purple heart when they got their asses blown up in their MRAP. He is fine. Before that, though, my uncle found out and made a phone call to him. I talked to my nephew later because I wanted to know what my uncle said. Apparently, his advice was reduced down to one thing. "Never volunteer for anything".
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bowl of blood
Contributor
thanks for your service. not to be picky but you have any fail stories about gear? i'm curious because i work on this stuff and the most useful stories are from field users, despite the fact that we tend to only interact with brass/peons (i still remember the first time a serviceman said thanks to us they'd been putting metal to meat. engineers are not accustomed to being told we kill people). i feel like there's too much shit we pack up send over and the guys throw it under their bunk and never look at it again.
