so...there are no cooks in the armed forces?

"Says right in here on my DD-214, in the box marked Primary Specialty Number "62350, Services Specialist". Yup, I was a USAF cook from '85 until '89. Our (unofficial) Motto: "Death From Within" "

I was always a bit concerned that 'USAF Services' was not only the cooks but mortuary affairs.
 
When I found out my range buddy was retired SEAL, I naturally wanted to ask him a lot of questions, without going "golly gee whiz" . So I keep the questions to a minimum and never ask him about actual missions. But I did ask him what the toughest thing about training was, and his answer surprised me. He said, "the cold, it's the great demoralizer". He also said it was the major reason for most quitting or not making it.
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I believe that. As a "grunt" rifle Marine in Viet Nam, the "wet cold" was one of the most painful things we had to endure. I can not imagine what the SEALs
had to endure. And they were specifically trained to endure the cold.

Walter
 
20 minutes in 60 degrees water, 5 minutes of intense cardio to warm up, back into the water. Repeat for hours on end. Fun eh?
 
so...there are no cooks in the armed forces

I served in the Navy from 1962-1983, there were definitely Cooks. They were called Commisarry Men. (CS)
 
Now they are called 'Culinary Specialist' still CS. I guess Mess Specialist was not PC unless they actually made a mess. I heard one time the rice was moving. Good thing I don't like Navy rice that much. I go for the mashed potatoes.
 
hehe...on name Mess

I jsut retired in 2004 after over 28 years of service....

call one of the young SGTs now a cook or Mess SGT and they come unglued...lol

ITS FOOD SERVICE SPECILIST of FOOD SERVICE SGT they will tell you..lol
 
I was in the Big Three (WWI, WWII, Korea-Vietnam[each counts for a half, commie-fighting is too easy])! I took down over a thousand with a dull kitchen knife. Potatoes, that is.
And when the firing began, you didn't find me cowering in the dark corners. I was where the bullets were thickest.
Under the ammunition truck.

Signed,
Field Marshal John Smith, Ex-Ranger, Ex-SEAL, Ex-Airforce, Ex-SAS, Ex-MI6, Ex-CIA, Ex-OSS, Excelsior, Ex-wife, VC, Legion of Merit, Navy Cross, Medal of Honor, 11 Silver Stars, 20 Bronze Stars, 45 Purple Hearts, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
Served under: Patton, Montgomery, Eisenhower, Gen. Grant, Lee, Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, George Washington, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon Dynamite, Andrew Jackson, Alexander the Great, Duke of Wellington, Duke of Marlborough, Julius Caesar, Hannibal.
 
My godfather was a dentist in the Army, later National Guard. WW2, Korea. Now that's engaging the enemy. The enemy the cooks left behind. :rolleyes:
 
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Just read "No Mean Soldier" by Peter McAleese, who was in the British and Rhodesian SAS, and worked for various PMCs throughout Africa. Turns out fake soldiers are an epidemic, causing companies to fail because they didn't check out backgrounds. How can it be so easy? Military personnel should be given some kind of identifying trinket during and after service.
 
I know in 1968 I screwed up in AF tech school and was given an option (threatened) to be transferred to be a cook or in the Air Police. So, back then I know the AF had cooks. I know a WWll vet who was a cook in the field and was pushed into a combat infantry unit. Worked with a guy who said he screwed up in the Navy and he was re-assigned to be a cook. Personally, the week I did KP in basic was enough for me. Cooking (and cleaning up) is hard work.
 
I served in the 196th Light Infantry Brigade May 67 to May 68. I was a Heavy Weapons Gunner most of the time. I ran into one phony that told me how he and his buddies had to stop a "Banzai Charge" by lowering the muzzle of their 175MM and firing directly into the human wave. When I asked about the difficulty in reloading a 175MM in that position he said "No problem it was belt fed" He also claimed he could hear the NVA shouting "Banzai" very curious since it is not a Vietnamese word. Even more curious because the 175MM crew is as deaf as the 106MM Recoilless Rifle crew
BTW We did have a cook in Heavy Weapons. His name was Bisbee and he actually transferred to a combat platoon. He served with honor and courage for the rest of his tour. I think he might have the opposite problem of telling family about his service on a machine gun when he was actually a cook.
 
I never figured the USAF as having snipers! Iwas in the service for 10 years from 1956 through 66 and in both the US Army and USAF.

In the army first at age 17 I went through basic and ordnance training. While at Fort Dix awaiting a flight to Germany in June of 56 I went over to the mess hall for breakfast and was like number four in line. This was a Sunday morning and I planned to tour the base and go to a movie in the afternoon. A few minutes before the doors were to open a cook in white scame o the door and pointed to me and two other young troops and said we were now servers and to come inside.

My task was to serve ham slices with a long fork. I was doing OK until a young black corporal with two rows of ribbons and a feisty attitude apperaed in front of my station. I seved him the one piece as instructed and speared another piece for the next soldier. The corporal asked for, rather demanded, a second piece of ham. I repeated my original instructions and invited him to return for seconds. He said NO aand demanded another piece and I stood my ground and no food was being served.

Another cook in whites appeared and demanded to know why the line was held up. I explained the demands of the little corporal and the cook said to give him another piece and get the line moving. I demurred and told the cook that he had given one instruction and was going to change it for a corporal with an attitude. The cook insisted i give the Corporal the ham and went back to the kitchen. I gave the ham to the whiner and the next soldier said that since I had given him one how about he be given two pieces as well. I smiled and said why not! Very shortly I was out of ham and called "Ham up!" and the cook came out to see why I was out of ham so quickly. I told him that he had changed the rules which entitled everyone to two ham slices.

The cook of course blew up and when he regained his composure let me know that I was wrong to believe he had changed the rules. I insisted that it was so and unfair to favor one guy with an attitude to get away with that. With that the cook shouted that I could not talk to him like that since he was an NCO! I let him know that I saw no stripes on his uniform and that I was still right. He remove his paper cap an grabbed a marker and wrote his name, rank and years of service (14) and crammed it on his head again, tearing the top out in doing so. He insisted that I issue only one piece of ham and I went back to work.

After the line was done and the door closed we servers and KP's were allowed to eat. Another cook came over and let us know that we were the servers for the noon meal and gave us the time to be there. We said yeah sure, no problem. As soon as we were out of earshot we agreed that the main exchange snack bar was where we would eat lunch. I was not looking forward to sparring verbally with the ticked off cook NCO with 14 years service. :rolleyes: So ended my last Sunday stateside for 30 months.

I could tell you about being an AP Auxiliary in the USAF but that will have to wait. I have a couple of good cooks stories to but I will have to see about how to work firearms in them. :cool:
 
I never figured the USAF as having snipers!
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Our newspaper did a story earlier this year on a former local CHEERLEADER who is now a USAF Sniper. Are we the only branch that allows female snipers?
 
So far as I know, Yes-- it's the first time I can remember hearing about a woman allowed in an offensive combat position (unless all she really does is travel around and shoot competitions for the AF)
 
(unless all she really does is travel around and shoot competitions for the AF)
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According to the article, she and her husband are both in Iraq, assigned to a Security Police Unit. She was professional in the interview. Wouldn't say how many (if any) shot's she had taken, or at what ranges.

When I worked Air Base Ground Defense I thought of a few times I wished we had a few sniper's assigned, or just optics on our M16's.

On a side note: I got to tell you about Nick. He is a night shift electrician at my current job. When he found out I was former AF, he started telling me about his adventures as a Navy SEAL. Or, what he could that wasn't "classified". Seems the "Government sealed his records". I really believe ol' Nick is a vet, and maybe even was a SEAL. But some of his adventures are so wild even Chuck Norris wouldn't make a movie about them....
 
Got a cousin who was a Navy cook. Maybe he still is, I haven't talked to him for years - last time I saw him was when his ship stopped in Tampa and he came and spent two nights with us. That had to have been 4 yrs ago..
 
My step-dad was a Marine cook in WWII.

Question: How in the hell do you meet so many interesting people in such a short time???
 
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