What's so bad about the Air Force, you ask ? Not a thing. Matter of fact, I considered going that route at one time. But then, ......I decided I didn't want to be mistaken for a Greyhound bus driver.
Seriously, my father is retired ANG and my older brother is still active as an Air Force LTCOL. As a kid, I loved gawking at the old F-102's in the hangar at McEntire. Sleek and mean with sharp angles all over and that old delta wing design.
As a real little kid, walking in front of it's looooong pitot - static probe used to intimidate me.
I've always been the blacksheep of the family, what can I say ?
Turned my back on the Gamecocks in favor of football tradition at an early age. Opted for adventure instead of better base golf courses......
I'm with you on the bell bottom issue, though. The navy got rid of those back around 1999, all except for the service dress blue uniform. The term dungaree does not even exist anymore. They are "utility" uniforms which more closely resemble the coast guard's underway working attire. The service dress blue is still bell bottom, but then again the whole trouser leg is very baggy.
Navy hangs onto tradition more than the other services. Ancient traditon and terminology is engrained into the everyday routine. Sometimes you think about the way we do things and it seems sort of cool that history never really got relegated to the past. The use of a bosun's pipe, marking time with a brass bell, making 12 o'clock reports to the Captain, Captains Mast (Article 15 NJP) are just a few that come to mind. ......There are so many obscure traditions you continue without even conscious thought. One I almost always observed was to "show a leg". This practice dates back to when mariners brought their wives along for company. In the morning, sailors were rousted from their slumber but women would not be disturbed. To display a non-hairy, non-masculine lower leg from the covers would prevent unwanted harrassment. Today the tradition is used to let shipmates know you heard reville and you'll drag your own carcass out of your rack in a few moments.
01-25-2005, 05:23 PM
Just as I stand up for the USAF, I'll have to say that there's nothing wrong with the USN either....just different roles. But I do agree with the bell bottom statement however I very seldom see any Navy folk actually wear those...
"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism, but under the name of liberalism, they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program until one day America will be a Socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened."
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