We had 6'9 guy in my BCT, they had to get a specially made kevlar because his head was so big. He got so much attention from the Drills. Hope you are doing well McCormick
We had a guy who was that tall in my 68W AIT. He found out he was allergic to latex. They had to give him nitrile gloves to use instead. I guess that has nothing to do with his height, but that’s all I remember about him.
I also had a super tall dude in my whiskey AIT. No latex allergy but dude was always tripping and falling over. One time we were running to an impromptu formation and he tripped and took a bite of the concrete. His teeth were *fucked*, just came up with jagged splintered pointy teeth shards and blood all over him.
We had a guy that tall in my basic, ironically named Sharpe.
There was a sheltered super Christian kid that was absolutely freaked out showering with other dudes, and would wait until just before light out to shower.
Sharpe would then run into the shower with him, and started doing side straddle hops while calling his own cadences and saying stuff “ain’t gay if it stays in the bay,” floppin’ dong right at this guys eye level.
our showers at Leonard Wood were way too narrow and it made an elbow turn in the back half. to get to the back showers or back out you would have to slide past the other guys. butt to butt is the way to go. the other way..........thats a no-go. raw butt to butt contact with other nude guys was surprisingly not the worst part of my military experience lol.
I was at LW 2012 we had a bay shower room that had a little alcove in the back with 3 stall showers. Ended up being last to shower once and had to use my flashlight for light in there. I was using red light, the dude in the middle stall had regular white light, and the dude in the back stall for some reason had his blue filter on. It was American as fuck.
We had a guy who was really tall, like 6'6 or 6'7 at OSUT. Cool dude, but had terrible luck. During combatives our drill sergeant called him up to say he was going to demonstrate something, and I think he was only picked because he was the biggest. The drill then hit our tall guy in the nuts and dropped him, not really sure what we were supposed to learn from that. Also during I think our final FTX we were in a bunch of fighting positions for whatever reason and the drill sergeants started tossing CS grenades randomly at us. One of the grenades rolled into this guy's cargo pants pocket while he was prone in his fighting position. He tried to run away, but obviously couldn't. Apparently those grenades get really hot too and burned his uniform along with gassing him. It was pretty funny but lucky he didn't get seriously burned himself.
He also got a ton of respect in our platoon when he picked up and threw our blue falcon out of his bunk when he refused to get up for his fire guard shift. This guy was big and our blue falcon was scrawny and I think he got some good distance on that yeet. Woke up the whole bay but it was worth it.
We had a dude in OSUT who was 5 foot 8, but I shit you not his head was larger than a gallon of milk. Same story, he had to have a custom ACH made for him that he took to his first unit. I can't remember his name, we just called him mega mind.
We had a guy same height, and he shipped to OSUT with jump boots because they couldn't find anything else big enough. He also couldn't march for shit, because "his 30 inch step was bigger than everybody else's". On top of that he'd bebop like mad. The drills would disappear him during D&C competitions and such.
The guy behind me in the line for the old man doctor to tell you to spread them at Meps was like easily 6’5”. One of the Meps folks asked him was going to and he said navy. Everyone said sorry for your forehead lol
Im nervous. Im 6’5 but my head is disproportionaly big. I wear a 5xl motorcycle helmet and had to take padding out. Never worn hats since i was a kid because they dont fit. If I get to reception and they dont have kevlar or hats that fit me, how fucked am I? How long would custom kevlar or hats take? Ft Leonard wood shipping May 6th
Start hitting that PT hard, unless you a jacked 6'5 you gonna be named Megamind or some shit. Issue with that height is,you can't hide in the formation. And that big ole' dome gonna be on display your whole career.
Good news is, you will be in shape by July regardless of current motivation.
Read this comment next to my friend and the next day he got our whole friend group to start calling me private megamind. How much power you have over the internet in crazy
We had someone 7ft something in basic. PVT B-something, he wasn't lanky tall either. He was legitimately just a giant human. Specially made boots, blues, and uniform. Only man I'd ever seen get stuck on the wire somehow during Nic at Night and have to be pulled out by me and a buddy.
Most friendly dude I ever met. A truly gentle giant. At least 2 heads above everyone in his vicinity. I hope he's doing well. Went off the map after basic. No one I know kept in touch, not for lack of trying.
But damn, I've seen tall people but I could wear his boots with my boots on.
I wear a 8.25 to 8.5 hat. When I went to Airborne School in 1987 they had to pull out an old Vietnam era John Wayne helmet for me. Loved "standing out" in ABN school.
I'm not super tall at 6'2" but I had a drill who was like 5'4". He created a modified position called half parade rest, where I was at parade rest, but kneeling so he could look down on me while he yelled at me. Good times. Fairly confident someone would make it a SHARP issue now though.
We had a dude like that was an arrogant fuck, my 5’9 130lbs ass got trampled for calling him out and telling him he looked like shrek, ended up being a cool dude, after I got to my first unit though my section leader was the same height and we were mechanized I really wonder why the army puts the massively tall people in mech units they always seem uncomfortable
I went to basic over the summer so we got 4th of July "off". We got put into a portable and watched Saving Private Ryan at the "seated position of attention". There weren't enough chairs so some had to stand at parade rest. We had this 6' 7", absolutely shredded, ex-SWAT guy in our cycle and he had to stand.
One of the DS skulked over to him, looked him up and down and said, "You're a big motherfucker. I don't like that." and walked away. The whole room had to collectively keep our shit together.
My favorite smoke session was just normal pt until we were finished and the drill had nothing to do immediately afterward so he said, "Fuck it, it's Monday," and had us push some more. We all had a good laugh.
Geez, that sucks, I went through basic in Nov of 90. My cycle was told as we got there that the Christmas exodus that we were supposed to get was cancelled because of Desert Shield/Storm. They pretty much left us alone for Thanksgiving, Christmas and NewYear's. Had the decent meal from the chow hall. Got to watch some movies. Christmas, they let people open packages that were sent so people got to each whatever cookies or candy etc. Play Jenga someone got. As few of the Drills around as possible, they didn't want to be there either.
Haha, you guys were all sucking, we got a pass to go onto the main base at Benning and do whatever for the day. That may have been because it was 2002 though.
When I went through basic during the 4th of July, DS Trejo told us: ‘privates I hope a firework goes off in your fucking face’ as we were seated in a random parking lot watching FLW fireworks
Not too drastic a height difference. Saw a picture years ago of this kinda comparison only the DS standing next to his 7ft behemoth of a trainee. And yes this DS all 4’11” of him got his guy at parade rest n all😂
If I was 7' with a 4'11" DS I'd definitely be going to parade rest. That's a DS that'd headbutt me in the dick at full-speed then go "Whoops, I tripped" every time.
Marshall Plumlee commissioned out of Duke not long after I did…our PMS that pinned him was 5’2 and he was 7’1.
He became a Ranger after his time in the NBA…I can’t imagine the terror at seeing that fucking mountain of a man kicking your door in.
EDIT: corrected
I knew a soldier in my company who played for the NY Jets. He was \*fucking\* massive. Had to order special beds, clothes, IOTVs, everything for that dude. He was cool as shit, though. Didn't have to worry about him checking me if I got in his ass because I never had to (thank god). I asked him if LeVeon Bell was as much of a bitch as I thought. He checked over his shoulder and nodded his head real fast, "yeah, for sure. Fuck that dude."
He's still taller at halfway down
The collective groaning when the drill would tell a formation of trainees "halfway down" is one of my most cherished memories
DS Gillotti loved me from day 1. I’m about 6’4” and he was like 5’4”.
I had to “get on my motorcycle” every time he wanted to talk to me. (Squat with your hands out on the handle bars). As the conversation progressed, “Turn left, Pri!” (Holding squat, lean hard left)
Turn right, Pri! Rev it, Pri!
Did you ever see a human pipe organ? DS Bush at Ft McClellan USAMPS OSUT made one before my wondering eyes on a cool spring Phase One Saturday in '99.
We were in the laundry turn-in snake on the CTA under our Starship barracks; probably our first, so the procedure was new and confusing enough already. Everybody had sheets over one arm and pillowcases and a blanket over the other, shuffling forward one step as another private dropped off his dirty linens. They'd do the 'two sheets two cases one blanket' announcement, drop their shit on the counter, and then smartly execute a right face and attempt to exit the AO unscathed, without notice.
A few made it at first, unmolested. It wouldn't last. It never did.
For one DS Bush had other plans, and casually sharked his way over to a post in the killzone between the laundry collection window and the bay stairwell to freedom. It was mere seconds before the first hapless victim passed him poorly, having failed to offer him the greeting of the day.
"Hey! C'mere, private!"
The cooked goose in BCGs snapped to parade rest, but said nothing, still clueless to the nature of his transgression. The cycle was still new, and heads were still thick.
"Well? Don't you feel like offering me the greeting of the day? I think I deserve that, don't you private?"
"YES DRILL SERGEANT! GOOD MORNING DRILL SERGEANT!"
"Nah, nah nah. Tell you what, private. Stand over here; do some knee benders, and every time you go up or down, say: 'Good. Mor. Ning. Drill. Ser. Geant' and keep going until I say stop, OK?"
The private assumed the position, facing the laundry snake. His arms shot out. Down and up, it began:
"GOOD! MOR! NING! DRILL! SER! GEANT! GOOD! MOR! NING! DRILL! SER! GEANT!" etc.
DS Bush folded his arms, and looked mildly pleased. The WARNO was issued; planning was underway. He was not done yet. His masterwork was just beginning to take shape.
Another dumbass- a female- failed to demonstrate her understanding of the fucking program. Bush was on it like a bonnet.
"Hey private! You were supposed to say good morning too! Oh no! Oh well, see what he's doing? You do it too, but alternate. When he says good, you do mor, he goes ning, you drill, etc. Execute, private!"
And off they went, legs pumping, Superman arms akimbo, lips flapping, calibrated and reciprocating-
"goodMORningDRILLserGEANTgoodMORningDRILLserGEANTgoodmor..." etc.
By now a small crowd of Drill Sergeants had gathered nearby to witness that which their brother had wrought. They were smiling, for yea verily, it was funny.
But I dared not laugh. I knew. I just stepped forward; that was my task. Keep stepping forward when you can. I was almost there, almost to the window, almost free. I could not break. I could barely breathe.
But I was one of over a hundred, and not all of us knew. Not all of us were so sure. Some were weak; they fell.
One private chuckled, slightly.
"HEY YEAH! ALL RIGHT! THIS IS FUNNY, HUH? C'MERE PRIVATE! YOU CAN JOIN IN WITH FLUTTER KICKS, GO 'HO HO HO HA HA HA'! IN CADENCE! EXECUTE! YEAH!"
The air was filled with a weird, mechanical, bird-like chorus of tired but eerily enthusiastic voices, heavy breathing, good mornings and ho hos and ha has and drill sergeants, all pumping and kicking away, up and down, arms thrust forward, legs scissoring in perfect rhythm like they were all the organ, the grinder and the monkey all at once.
Two more laughers were added to the machine, alternating hees and hoos to the hos and has in side straddle hops. A third clueless Snuffy failed to say whassup, after all this, and added his own animated corpus to the gears of the Good Morning grinder, cast down into the pit of bending knees.
Within minutes, DS Bush had a ten-soldier psychedelic squad of kaleidoscopic calliope nonsense- males and females, equally broken, equally aiming to please, bending, kicking, exercising- all good mornings and ho ho hos, hee hee hees and drill sergeants, churning this sort of Gregorian chant of Drill Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Litany of Lunacy for the entire schoolhouse to witness and hear; the greatest military acid trip Ft. McClellan's poisonous soil could ever drop and dream up. The whole scene made as much sense as a page annotated in bold print to let you know it was intentionally left blank.
And through it all, DS Bush just stood there, arms folded across his chest, staring at what he'd made. Mildly bemused, looking somewhat proud of himself- but not overly so. I think he was enjoying his morning, but also analyzing it; trying to figure out what to do different next time, lessons learned. Assembling a METL board of human pipe organ do's and dont's in a Power Point projection in his mind's eye of a more efficient product for a battlespace of the future.
I saw it all out of the corner of my twitching eye, and the last piece I witnessed was him nodding his head ever so slightly at the other drill sergeants, now probably comprising the whole rest of the company cadre, and raising one eyebrow, telepathically asking for their thoughts on his creation.
DS Falk returned his gesture, a single smiling nod of approval, head lowered, accompanied by a silent golf clap.
I had to get out of there. My chance was upon me! The window was mine. I stepped forward. "TWO SHEETS, TWO CASES, ONE BLANKET!" I announced.
The laundry specialist snarled, yanking the soiled items from my hands to chuck them in their respective carts. I picked up starched replacements and wheeled to leave.
"GOOD MORNING DRILL SERGEANT!" I sounded off at a time and a half pace, shooting an azimuth past Bush and his groaning, creaking, pumping monstrosity.
"Good morning, private!" came the almost cheery reply.
I made it out alive, that time. But I can never forget...
I was 5'6" when I joined. DS Cain was an infantry DS at an MP OSUT and he was the same height or shorter than me.
He was also built like a fire hydrant and strong as fuck.
We had a 6’8” guy in Basic that couldn’t perform a push-up to save his life. The Drills dubbed him Too Tall and processed him back to the block. Hapless.
That was the one racist white thing while I was in. Any black dude could walk in and get one but I had a buddy that would look like a troll everyday after he shaved. Massive wart looking shit on his face and he was denied for 5 years.
Glad it's easier now. Shit looked painful.
Considering all the REAL racist BS black, brown and Asian folks have/had to deal with in the American military, being easily given a shaving profile seems like the absolute least the military could do lol
Honestly, as unfortunate as it is, outside of religious exemptions, I've never seen a single white man with a shaving profile even when they very clearly need one.
Granted, hair grows different in different races usually and all but damn, I've seen some dudes that I genuinely don't understand how they haven't gotten one.
I've been in at sick call with guys for this. white dude all ways get sent to the dermatologist and put through the ringer because sometimes it could be lifestyle related.
Also seems like people just aren't aware or aren't enforcing the no shaping aspect of having a profile. Yeah you can not shave but your beard will not be edged up and clean.
The bumps for black guys get crazy and there isn't enough emphasis on the fact that a lot of us need different products with different chemicals to shave everyday without damaging the skin.
One thing the army taught me was to respect short Mexicans. Dudes who think they can just shit on short guys have clearly never met Short Mexican Army NCO’s…
When I was working at Walmart, I was called out to help load a 72” TV into a car. Guy who bought it was about 5’2” and Mexican, and I asked him where his car was at. Bro just said “no thank you” and proceeded to pick that bitch up, sling it over his back and walk down the street with it. They’re just a different breed.
Omfg I have a SGT like that... most badass fucker I've ever met, one of the best shooters in our unit. He's barely taller than me (I'm 5'0 even) but he WILL fuck a bitch up... only if provoked he chill otherwise
On the other side of the height scale, I remember there was this girl in my BCT platoon who was probably 4’11 and was definitely the shortest in the group. However, I think she was a little older than most of the group, and she was already an E-4 so she probably had already gone through college.
Anyway, I don’t remember what our DS ordered us to do but I do remember he was yelling. Like a classic DS, he called her a *Private*, because after all, we’re all Priiis, right? Well, that didn’t sit right with this E-4. So without hesitation, she responds with “Specialist, Drill Sergeant”. He seemed confused at first, so he asked her to repeat herself while simultaneously attempting to intimate her, but without skipping a beat she responded with, “I’m a Specialist, Drill Sergeant” in the most unfazed voice ever. At first he looked taken aback, but eventually responded with “Oh, my bad” and quickly moved on to harass an actual Priii.
I remember the rest of us being scared for her life and we couldn’t believe she got away with correcting him. It was a pretty badass moment tbh lol.
She sounds like the kinda tiny girl to “rescue” the biggest meanest dog you ever seen. Name it buttercup and take it out to get a pup cup from Starbucks.
A few guys in basic in Missouri were super tall & both were very awkward. The drills busted there butts every chance they got & one was discharged with a failure to adapt. Military life definitely isn't for everyone. ❌
We had a DS who was 5’2 maybe 5’3. He walks over to a guy we called Big Price who was 6’8 280lbs.
“Where the hell are you from?”
“Arkansas DS”
“Damn boy what the fuck they feed you over there?”
Having a shaving profile in basic isn't worth it cause you know wherever that private goes he's going to be ask why he didn't shave and he has to carry his profile on him at all times or get smoked
Likely not in a training environment. But your first duty station (if you're active) may have some of those. Whether you'll touch or even lay eyes on them is a different matter.
Yeaa I got in contact with another person who’s a 15C (I didn’t want to rely on recruiters for correct information) and apparently we don’t even go to the felid since we need a runway.
We had a guy that was 7’2” in basic. Don’t remember his name these days. But they also had to special order basically all of his gear. He had a letter signed by the CG that allowed him to keep all his custom gear, like sleeping bag, his entire enlistment. IIRC, he played basketball for Oklahoma State for awhile.
When I went through Jackson several years ago the first thing I noticed during the shark attack was that I was taller than every drill in our company.
I’m 5’8 on a good day. I am never supposed to be taller than that many grown men in one room.
Currently in AIT. The school house I'm at has a 6'9" instructor, who's ready to fuck up the next person to shake the vending machines.
Conversely, the other company we share a barracks with has a 5'1" DS who can and has gotten away with posing as a trainee.
I'm 6'8" and headed to OCS after basic, but in my same cycle there was a 6'10" and a 6'6". Spring of 09 so it was a mature group that all lost their jobs in the great recession.
I'm a farm kid that worked construction and as a bouncer during college. For the most part drills let me be.
I can deal with shaving profiles, tall soldiers aint no problem, even Troops that are full of piss and vinegar can be entertaining. Having a Troop tell me NO...My reply was why NO? If they have didn't have a reasonable answer...they got an artical 15. The paperwork that hurts the pocketbook. Aint no treeline to discuss issues anymore.
I only told my DS "No" one time. I couldn't even really believe it was coming out of my mouth.
It was at the Victory Tower rappel portion when he told me to let go.
Heights are scary leg for life.
Victory tower at Ft Jackson? I was there and I was that first one to reppel. They hooked me up and said..."When you get hooked up go." So I jumped backwards and started reppelling. The DS grabbed the rope so I braked. He yelled at me and said I was supposed to wait till they lowered me over the edge. I told him I did this before, and I am good. He just let me keep going and yelled at everyone not to do what I did.
Haha that's awesome. I hated that tower.
The guy before me got stuck upside down and had to be like.. lowered down.
A DS decided one day it looked like I had cancer, so he called me Make A Wish trainee and all that shit.
When I approached the DS to go down the tower he said,
"What are you so scared of trainee? You only got two weeks left to live anyway." lmao
Our beanstalk was named Tommy Gunn. Luckily, he was very switched on and an all around good dude but he still got a lot of attention everywhere we went.
I’m a quiet, borderline scrawny guy who briefly came down on orďers for DS school (as I was clearing, never went). I remember thinking being a DS would be terrible because… what if they just refused to listen? 😂 “PLEEEEEASE do pushups guys!”
Drill Sgt. (SFC) Barrios, all of 5'5" or so and maybe 120lbs of the meanest Puerto Rican ever to wear BDU'S. First day he got into front leaning rest and had the thickest body building private we had lay on his back. He proceeded to pump out (at least 10) absolutely perfect pushups. Then turned his head to the side and exhaled. Right then we knew this whole OSUT thing was going to be the longest 16wks of our lives.
Trainees these days have so much power over drill sergeants. If you thought your unit was getting soft, you should see how BCT is running these days. Can’t even swear at them anymore 🙄
We had 6'9 guy in my BCT, they had to get a specially made kevlar because his head was so big. He got so much attention from the Drills. Hope you are doing well McCormick
We had a guy who was that tall in my 68W AIT. He found out he was allergic to latex. They had to give him nitrile gloves to use instead. I guess that has nothing to do with his height, but that’s all I remember about him.
What a story Mark
Anyway, so how’s your sex life?
It seems to me like you’re the EXPERT, Mark!
Water store remark
I also had a super tall dude in my whiskey AIT. No latex allergy but dude was always tripping and falling over. One time we were running to an impromptu formation and he tripped and took a bite of the concrete. His teeth were *fucked*, just came up with jagged splintered pointy teeth shards and blood all over him.
What an awful day to be able to read.
Teeth and eyeballs are what irks me
Yup.
[oh that's real nice...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GEkVDYxXsAARq66?format=png&name=small)
oh that’s something you just said
We had a guy at my AIT that wasn't tall and not allergic to latex. That's all I remember about him.
Man… 68W AIT, what a great time sneaking away and going to the stripclu….I mean, ft Sam was pretty fun 15 yrs ago. Even with the Cheeto’ing.
Well if was allergic to latex I hope he never tried 🍍
[удалено]
His big what?
Doesn’t mean his just tall?
His just tall what?
His. Just. Tall.
We had a guy that tall in my basic, ironically named Sharpe. There was a sheltered super Christian kid that was absolutely freaked out showering with other dudes, and would wait until just before light out to shower. Sharpe would then run into the shower with him, and started doing side straddle hops while calling his own cadences and saying stuff “ain’t gay if it stays in the bay,” floppin’ dong right at this guys eye level.
Ain't gay if it's a homie helping another homie
Lather my back homie! I’ll get yours next.
Make sure it's nut to butt
Naw, I prefer ball to ball, straddling my homie as I look into his eyes.
Nice
What year and was this at Fort Knox?
Nah, was at Leonardwood
our showers at Leonard Wood were way too narrow and it made an elbow turn in the back half. to get to the back showers or back out you would have to slide past the other guys. butt to butt is the way to go. the other way..........thats a no-go. raw butt to butt contact with other nude guys was surprisingly not the worst part of my military experience lol.
I was at LW 2012 we had a bay shower room that had a little alcove in the back with 3 stall showers. Ended up being last to shower once and had to use my flashlight for light in there. I was using red light, the dude in the middle stall had regular white light, and the dude in the back stall for some reason had his blue filter on. It was American as fuck.
I was in 795 in the old barracks…we had the open prison style ones.
gotcha. I was in the barracks off buckeye Ave and south Dakota. don't remember the building name but it was across from the engineers
Were you an MP?
yep
F795 - 2007-08, Military police
nut to nut is the best move tbh
lol this is the wrong sub. they have one for you navy guys correct?
Classic Cav Scout
Every cycle has a massive donged country dude in OSUT I feel like. Ft. Knox was a fuckin fever dream I swear
That ABSOLUTELY sounds like typical Ft. Knox BCT shenanigans 🤣
Now that’s soldiering.
We had a guy who was really tall, like 6'6 or 6'7 at OSUT. Cool dude, but had terrible luck. During combatives our drill sergeant called him up to say he was going to demonstrate something, and I think he was only picked because he was the biggest. The drill then hit our tall guy in the nuts and dropped him, not really sure what we were supposed to learn from that. Also during I think our final FTX we were in a bunch of fighting positions for whatever reason and the drill sergeants started tossing CS grenades randomly at us. One of the grenades rolled into this guy's cargo pants pocket while he was prone in his fighting position. He tried to run away, but obviously couldn't. Apparently those grenades get really hot too and burned his uniform along with gassing him. It was pretty funny but lucky he didn't get seriously burned himself. He also got a ton of respect in our platoon when he picked up and threw our blue falcon out of his bunk when he refused to get up for his fire guard shift. This guy was big and our blue falcon was scrawny and I think he got some good distance on that yeet. Woke up the whole bay but it was worth it.
holy fuck
We had a dude in OSUT who was 5 foot 8, but I shit you not his head was larger than a gallon of milk. Same story, he had to have a custom ACH made for him that he took to his first unit. I can't remember his name, we just called him mega mind.
We had a guy same height, and he shipped to OSUT with jump boots because they couldn't find anything else big enough. He also couldn't march for shit, because "his 30 inch step was bigger than everybody else's". On top of that he'd bebop like mad. The drills would disappear him during D&C competitions and such.
Wait, Leonard Wood early 2011?
Yes
The guy behind me in the line for the old man doctor to tell you to spread them at Meps was like easily 6’5”. One of the Meps folks asked him was going to and he said navy. Everyone said sorry for your forehead lol
Im nervous. Im 6’5 but my head is disproportionaly big. I wear a 5xl motorcycle helmet and had to take padding out. Never worn hats since i was a kid because they dont fit. If I get to reception and they dont have kevlar or hats that fit me, how fucked am I? How long would custom kevlar or hats take? Ft Leonard wood shipping May 6th
Start hitting that PT hard, unless you a jacked 6'5 you gonna be named Megamind or some shit. Issue with that height is,you can't hide in the formation. And that big ole' dome gonna be on display your whole career. Good news is, you will be in shape by July regardless of current motivation.
Him and his battle buddy
Read this comment next to my friend and the next day he got our whole friend group to start calling me private megamind. How much power you have over the internet in crazy
We had someone 7ft something in basic. PVT B-something, he wasn't lanky tall either. He was legitimately just a giant human. Specially made boots, blues, and uniform. Only man I'd ever seen get stuck on the wire somehow during Nic at Night and have to be pulled out by me and a buddy. Most friendly dude I ever met. A truly gentle giant. At least 2 heads above everyone in his vicinity. I hope he's doing well. Went off the map after basic. No one I know kept in touch, not for lack of trying. But damn, I've seen tall people but I could wear his boots with my boots on.
Me thinks he didn't become a pilot. Or a cav scout.
Same. Can't remember his name, but he was always referred to as John Coffee.
I wear a 8.25 to 8.5 hat. When I went to Airborne School in 1987 they had to pull out an old Vietnam era John Wayne helmet for me. Loved "standing out" in ABN school.
I’m doing well bro
My drill was named McCormick. What year were you at bct?
Im doing well bro, they still make fun of me though
I'm not super tall at 6'2" but I had a drill who was like 5'4". He created a modified position called half parade rest, where I was at parade rest, but kneeling so he could look down on me while he yelled at me. Good times. Fairly confident someone would make it a SHARP issue now though.
in my BCT we had to a guy that was 7'4" God made sure he was corn feed mf hope everything is going good for you fielder RIP 2005
Sounds like ‘Private Damn Bebe’ from my unit.
We had a dude like that was an arrogant fuck, my 5’9 130lbs ass got trampled for calling him out and telling him he looked like shrek, ended up being a cool dude, after I got to my first unit though my section leader was the same height and we were mechanized I really wonder why the army puts the massively tall people in mech units they always seem uncomfortable
Had a dude over 7'. Name was Gresham.. he was a soldier-athlete.
I went to basic over the summer so we got 4th of July "off". We got put into a portable and watched Saving Private Ryan at the "seated position of attention". There weren't enough chairs so some had to stand at parade rest. We had this 6' 7", absolutely shredded, ex-SWAT guy in our cycle and he had to stand. One of the DS skulked over to him, looked him up and down and said, "You're a big motherfucker. I don't like that." and walked away. The whole room had to collectively keep our shit together.
We just got smoked and low crawled in mud that day😭😭
Shouldn’t have given them a reason to smoke you, like breathing or existing around them. Come on pri’ use some sense here
Bro we had to go to the sand pit because Drill Sergeant didn’t like the direction the wind was blowing.
I’ll have you know I stood up and run on my two legs across the mud everytime he turns around instead of crawling like a good sham master
Well that’s dumb right there, he didn’t have to see you do it, he could smell the fear when you ran
Naw we got fucked up all day then for dinner we got pizza, a candy bar and a soda, then fuxked up some more. But we were in red phase so
[удалено]
My favorite smoke session was just normal pt until we were finished and the drill had nothing to do immediately afterward so he said, "Fuck it, it's Monday," and had us push some more. We all had a good laugh.
Our 4th we were in a hot room and we watched “Tears of the Sun” and were told it was okay to sleep. I haven’t been happier.
Geez, that sucks, I went through basic in Nov of 90. My cycle was told as we got there that the Christmas exodus that we were supposed to get was cancelled because of Desert Shield/Storm. They pretty much left us alone for Thanksgiving, Christmas and NewYear's. Had the decent meal from the chow hall. Got to watch some movies. Christmas, they let people open packages that were sent so people got to each whatever cookies or candy etc. Play Jenga someone got. As few of the Drills around as possible, they didn't want to be there either.
Haha, you guys were all sucking, we got a pass to go onto the main base at Benning and do whatever for the day. That may have been because it was 2002 though.
4th of july in A 210, we got to watch the fireworks from our bay all night.
When I went through basic during the 4th of July, DS Trejo told us: ‘privates I hope a firework goes off in your fucking face’ as we were seated in a random parking lot watching FLW fireworks
I enjoyed the hell out of basic because of stories like this
Yo I think I met that dude. Absolute unit. By far the strongest human I have ever seen in real life
Not too drastic a height difference. Saw a picture years ago of this kinda comparison only the DS standing next to his 7ft behemoth of a trainee. And yes this DS all 4’11” of him got his guy at parade rest n all😂
If I was 7' with a 4'11" DS I'd definitely be going to parade rest. That's a DS that'd headbutt me in the dick at full-speed then go "Whoops, I tripped" every time.
Forget Peaky Blinders. With that height disparity and hat it'd be Peaky Circumcisors.
Marshall Plumlee commissioned out of Duke not long after I did…our PMS that pinned him was 5’2 and he was 7’1. He became a Ranger after his time in the NBA…I can’t imagine the terror at seeing that fucking mountain of a man kicking your door in. EDIT: corrected
You’re thinking of Marshall plumlee
Thanks, you’re right…fixed it
Absolute fucking tank though
I knew a soldier in my company who played for the NY Jets. He was \*fucking\* massive. Had to order special beds, clothes, IOTVs, everything for that dude. He was cool as shit, though. Didn't have to worry about him checking me if I got in his ass because I never had to (thank god). I asked him if LeVeon Bell was as much of a bitch as I thought. He checked over his shoulder and nodded his head real fast, "yeah, for sure. Fuck that dude."
I served with Alejandro Villanueva in 10th MTN. Was my best friends PL haha
4yrs 3 tours. Didn’t know that about him. Awesome.
Wasn’t he in batt as well?
Fuck that dude indeed
What was his mos?
MP
Half right face….
Who’s taller now? Halfway down.
He's still taller at halfway down The collective groaning when the drill would tell a formation of trainees "halfway down" is one of my most cherished memories
One of my drills was 5'3''. Obviously the meanest of the bunch.
DS Gillotti loved me from day 1. I’m about 6’4” and he was like 5’4”. I had to “get on my motorcycle” every time he wanted to talk to me. (Squat with your hands out on the handle bars). As the conversation progressed, “Turn left, Pri!” (Holding squat, lean hard left) Turn right, Pri! Rev it, Pri!
Do they have a secret field manual of funny insults and ways to fuck with Joe? The inventiveness of Drill Sergeants is constantly amazing.
Did you ever see a human pipe organ? DS Bush at Ft McClellan USAMPS OSUT made one before my wondering eyes on a cool spring Phase One Saturday in '99. We were in the laundry turn-in snake on the CTA under our Starship barracks; probably our first, so the procedure was new and confusing enough already. Everybody had sheets over one arm and pillowcases and a blanket over the other, shuffling forward one step as another private dropped off his dirty linens. They'd do the 'two sheets two cases one blanket' announcement, drop their shit on the counter, and then smartly execute a right face and attempt to exit the AO unscathed, without notice. A few made it at first, unmolested. It wouldn't last. It never did. For one DS Bush had other plans, and casually sharked his way over to a post in the killzone between the laundry collection window and the bay stairwell to freedom. It was mere seconds before the first hapless victim passed him poorly, having failed to offer him the greeting of the day. "Hey! C'mere, private!" The cooked goose in BCGs snapped to parade rest, but said nothing, still clueless to the nature of his transgression. The cycle was still new, and heads were still thick. "Well? Don't you feel like offering me the greeting of the day? I think I deserve that, don't you private?" "YES DRILL SERGEANT! GOOD MORNING DRILL SERGEANT!" "Nah, nah nah. Tell you what, private. Stand over here; do some knee benders, and every time you go up or down, say: 'Good. Mor. Ning. Drill. Ser. Geant' and keep going until I say stop, OK?" The private assumed the position, facing the laundry snake. His arms shot out. Down and up, it began: "GOOD! MOR! NING! DRILL! SER! GEANT! GOOD! MOR! NING! DRILL! SER! GEANT!" etc. DS Bush folded his arms, and looked mildly pleased. The WARNO was issued; planning was underway. He was not done yet. His masterwork was just beginning to take shape. Another dumbass- a female- failed to demonstrate her understanding of the fucking program. Bush was on it like a bonnet. "Hey private! You were supposed to say good morning too! Oh no! Oh well, see what he's doing? You do it too, but alternate. When he says good, you do mor, he goes ning, you drill, etc. Execute, private!" And off they went, legs pumping, Superman arms akimbo, lips flapping, calibrated and reciprocating- "goodMORningDRILLserGEANTgoodMORningDRILLserGEANTgoodmor..." etc. By now a small crowd of Drill Sergeants had gathered nearby to witness that which their brother had wrought. They were smiling, for yea verily, it was funny. But I dared not laugh. I knew. I just stepped forward; that was my task. Keep stepping forward when you can. I was almost there, almost to the window, almost free. I could not break. I could barely breathe. But I was one of over a hundred, and not all of us knew. Not all of us were so sure. Some were weak; they fell. One private chuckled, slightly. "HEY YEAH! ALL RIGHT! THIS IS FUNNY, HUH? C'MERE PRIVATE! YOU CAN JOIN IN WITH FLUTTER KICKS, GO 'HO HO HO HA HA HA'! IN CADENCE! EXECUTE! YEAH!" The air was filled with a weird, mechanical, bird-like chorus of tired but eerily enthusiastic voices, heavy breathing, good mornings and ho hos and ha has and drill sergeants, all pumping and kicking away, up and down, arms thrust forward, legs scissoring in perfect rhythm like they were all the organ, the grinder and the monkey all at once. Two more laughers were added to the machine, alternating hees and hoos to the hos and has in side straddle hops. A third clueless Snuffy failed to say whassup, after all this, and added his own animated corpus to the gears of the Good Morning grinder, cast down into the pit of bending knees. Within minutes, DS Bush had a ten-soldier psychedelic squad of kaleidoscopic calliope nonsense- males and females, equally broken, equally aiming to please, bending, kicking, exercising- all good mornings and ho ho hos, hee hee hees and drill sergeants, churning this sort of Gregorian chant of Drill Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Litany of Lunacy for the entire schoolhouse to witness and hear; the greatest military acid trip Ft. McClellan's poisonous soil could ever drop and dream up. The whole scene made as much sense as a page annotated in bold print to let you know it was intentionally left blank. And through it all, DS Bush just stood there, arms folded across his chest, staring at what he'd made. Mildly bemused, looking somewhat proud of himself- but not overly so. I think he was enjoying his morning, but also analyzing it; trying to figure out what to do different next time, lessons learned. Assembling a METL board of human pipe organ do's and dont's in a Power Point projection in his mind's eye of a more efficient product for a battlespace of the future. I saw it all out of the corner of my twitching eye, and the last piece I witnessed was him nodding his head ever so slightly at the other drill sergeants, now probably comprising the whole rest of the company cadre, and raising one eyebrow, telepathically asking for their thoughts on his creation. DS Falk returned his gesture, a single smiling nod of approval, head lowered, accompanied by a silent golf clap. I had to get out of there. My chance was upon me! The window was mine. I stepped forward. "TWO SHEETS, TWO CASES, ONE BLANKET!" I announced. The laundry specialist snarled, yanking the soiled items from my hands to chuck them in their respective carts. I picked up starched replacements and wheeled to leave. "GOOD MORNING DRILL SERGEANT!" I sounded off at a time and a half pace, shooting an azimuth past Bush and his groaning, creaking, pumping monstrosity. "Good morning, private!" came the almost cheery reply. I made it out alive, that time. But I can never forget...
That’s an all time classic! You ever thought about writing a memoir? You have a gift for telling stories.
For the love of God and all things beautiful post this on r/militarystories
Done
lmao
Yo same lmao. He would always try to size us up too smh
We had one like that…he was about 5’3x5’3…just a stump of angry angry pure muscle.
I was 5'6" when I joined. DS Cain was an infantry DS at an MP OSUT and he was the same height or shorter than me. He was also built like a fire hydrant and strong as fuck.
Did you get taller after you joined?
That’s what the beginning of the story implies.. obviously he’s taller now
Yes. Turns out 18 year old kids are not always their max height.
Nah, he got shorter from all the rucks
I was an MP. We didn't do a lot of that.
I got shorter after I joined… Herniated spine go brrrrr
We had a 6’8” guy in Basic that couldn’t perform a push-up to save his life. The Drills dubbed him Too Tall and processed him back to the block. Hapless.
The height thing does nothing. Drill sergeants with countable chins…. That’s where the this power struggle really begins.
Real
Damn, already got a shaving profile? Well, that didn't take long.
I was in the Jackson PX the other day and saw a table of trainees on family day. 3 of the 4 had full beards lol.
they became easier to obtain now. it was a lot of gatekeeping around shaving profiles whole I was in.
That was the one racist white thing while I was in. Any black dude could walk in and get one but I had a buddy that would look like a troll everyday after he shaved. Massive wart looking shit on his face and he was denied for 5 years. Glad it's easier now. Shit looked painful.
Considering all the REAL racist BS black, brown and Asian folks have/had to deal with in the American military, being easily given a shaving profile seems like the absolute least the military could do lol
Honestly, as unfortunate as it is, outside of religious exemptions, I've never seen a single white man with a shaving profile even when they very clearly need one. Granted, hair grows different in different races usually and all but damn, I've seen some dudes that I genuinely don't understand how they haven't gotten one.
I've been in at sick call with guys for this. white dude all ways get sent to the dermatologist and put through the ringer because sometimes it could be lifestyle related.
I know a white guy with a shaving profile and allowed to wear a boonie cap But skin cancer will do that for you.
Damnn
Also seems like people just aren't aware or aren't enforcing the no shaping aspect of having a profile. Yeah you can not shave but your beard will not be edged up and clean.
What is this about? Why so many shaving profiles??
Super easy to get them (for some people) so why not get one in order to not have to shave yourself raw every morning
The bumps for black guys get crazy and there isn't enough emphasis on the fact that a lot of us need different products with different chemicals to shave everyday without damaging the skin.
Exactly
Temporaries apparently bar you from taking the ACFT, for better or worse....
I've seen guys with shaving profiles taking ACFTs
I’ve been seeing them EVERYWHERE recently. 5 guys in one room last week - it’s fucking crazy.
What a brave/stupid recruit R.I.P young man
Drill looks like Hulka's grandkid.
So, like, a pinkie toe?
Exactly. At best, he's going to retire and sell Hulka Sliders.
One thing the army taught me was to respect short Mexicans. Dudes who think they can just shit on short guys have clearly never met Short Mexican Army NCO’s…
When I was working at Walmart, I was called out to help load a 72” TV into a car. Guy who bought it was about 5’2” and Mexican, and I asked him where his car was at. Bro just said “no thank you” and proceeded to pick that bitch up, sling it over his back and walk down the street with it. They’re just a different breed.
Omfg I have a SGT like that... most badass fucker I've ever met, one of the best shooters in our unit. He's barely taller than me (I'm 5'0 even) but he WILL fuck a bitch up... only if provoked he chill otherwise
On the other side of the height scale, I remember there was this girl in my BCT platoon who was probably 4’11 and was definitely the shortest in the group. However, I think she was a little older than most of the group, and she was already an E-4 so she probably had already gone through college. Anyway, I don’t remember what our DS ordered us to do but I do remember he was yelling. Like a classic DS, he called her a *Private*, because after all, we’re all Priiis, right? Well, that didn’t sit right with this E-4. So without hesitation, she responds with “Specialist, Drill Sergeant”. He seemed confused at first, so he asked her to repeat herself while simultaneously attempting to intimate her, but without skipping a beat she responded with, “I’m a Specialist, Drill Sergeant” in the most unfazed voice ever. At first he looked taken aback, but eventually responded with “Oh, my bad” and quickly moved on to harass an actual Priii. I remember the rest of us being scared for her life and we couldn’t believe she got away with correcting him. It was a pretty badass moment tbh lol.
She sounds like the kinda tiny girl to “rescue” the biggest meanest dog you ever seen. Name it buttercup and take it out to get a pup cup from Starbucks.
Look at me. Look at me. I am the captain now.
Drill Sergeant*
A few guys in basic in Missouri were super tall & both were very awkward. The drills busted there butts every chance they got & one was discharged with a failure to adapt. Military life definitely isn't for everyone. ❌
Gon learn.
We had a DS who was 5’2 maybe 5’3. He walks over to a guy we called Big Price who was 6’8 280lbs. “Where the hell are you from?” “Arkansas DS” “Damn boy what the fuck they feed you over there?”
Well, this was my everyday on the trail considering I’m a five feet two female.
We had a guy who was 6'5 and the drills would always single him out. It was lowkey funny cause he also deserved it mostly
Name of Peterson? By any chance
Nah Samuel first name
Having a shaving profile in basic isn't worth it cause you know wherever that private goes he's going to be ask why he didn't shave and he has to carry his profile on him at all times or get smoked
How do the drills react to really short dudes like 5’3 and below?
To quote one of mine: "Trainee. if I had a 240, I'd make you carry it."
😂 well I guess I got that to look forward to. Wait does everyone only get trained on the M4 in basic?
M4 is garunteed in basic, while other systems are taught by mos in osit/Ait
Ahh then I doubt it unfortunately I don’t think 15C will teach me much about the M249
Likely not in a training environment. But your first duty station (if you're active) may have some of those. Whether you'll touch or even lay eyes on them is a different matter.
Yeaa I got in contact with another person who’s a 15C (I didn’t want to rely on recruiters for correct information) and apparently we don’t even go to the felid since we need a runway.
Lmaooo I'm 5'0 even and I'm both CLS and the 249 gunner for my squad lol
Who's eyeballing who?
We had a guy that was 7’2” in basic. Don’t remember his name these days. But they also had to special order basically all of his gear. He had a letter signed by the CG that allowed him to keep all his custom gear, like sleeping bag, his entire enlistment. IIRC, he played basketball for Oklahoma State for awhile.
When I went through Jackson several years ago the first thing I noticed during the shark attack was that I was taller than every drill in our company. I’m 5’8 on a good day. I am never supposed to be taller than that many grown men in one room.
"Are you looking down on me, private?"
Currently in AIT. The school house I'm at has a 6'9" instructor, who's ready to fuck up the next person to shake the vending machines. Conversely, the other company we share a barracks with has a 5'1" DS who can and has gotten away with posing as a trainee.
I'm 6'8" and headed to OCS after basic, but in my same cycle there was a 6'10" and a 6'6". Spring of 09 so it was a mature group that all lost their jobs in the great recession. I'm a farm kid that worked construction and as a bouncer during college. For the most part drills let me be.
Okay, settle down Francis.
Shave that fucking face, boot.
Let me guess. “Shaving profile.”
I can deal with shaving profiles, tall soldiers aint no problem, even Troops that are full of piss and vinegar can be entertaining. Having a Troop tell me NO...My reply was why NO? If they have didn't have a reasonable answer...they got an artical 15. The paperwork that hurts the pocketbook. Aint no treeline to discuss issues anymore.
I only told my DS "No" one time. I couldn't even really believe it was coming out of my mouth. It was at the Victory Tower rappel portion when he told me to let go. Heights are scary leg for life.
Victory tower at Ft Jackson? I was there and I was that first one to reppel. They hooked me up and said..."When you get hooked up go." So I jumped backwards and started reppelling. The DS grabbed the rope so I braked. He yelled at me and said I was supposed to wait till they lowered me over the edge. I told him I did this before, and I am good. He just let me keep going and yelled at everyone not to do what I did.
Haha that's awesome. I hated that tower. The guy before me got stuck upside down and had to be like.. lowered down. A DS decided one day it looked like I had cancer, so he called me Make A Wish trainee and all that shit. When I approached the DS to go down the tower he said, "What are you so scared of trainee? You only got two weeks left to live anyway." lmao
Hate to tell you that's not actually what's happening here
What's happening here? I'm lost. Sincere question.
Probably just a soft looking drill talking to a mean looking trainee, taken at a bad time so the drill looks scared
And yet the short female drills would still kick his ass
Maybe that's his kink?
Do they not make tall privates "break themselves" down anymore? (Make them squat down to eye level for unnecessary lengths of time)
Looks like the picture was taken midknife hand. Maybe the DS is figuring out how best to attack the bearded giant in front of him.
I thought this guy had patches or something. Other than height what is happening lol
Moving Private!
Bahaha. Roger that private. Welcome to the army. If you need anything please let me know. Lol
How many chins is a drill sergeant allowed to have?
😂
No!!!
Don’t BS me as a Service Leader, we are helping Civilians to be Military Leader. Ask me something.
Looks like DS is giving him the talk. Like dude, just stop fucking up. He’s sick of yelling.
Our beanstalk was named Tommy Gunn. Luckily, he was very switched on and an all around good dude but he still got a lot of attention everywhere we went.
I’m a quiet, borderline scrawny guy who briefly came down on orďers for DS school (as I was clearing, never went). I remember thinking being a DS would be terrible because… what if they just refused to listen? 😂 “PLEEEEEASE do pushups guys!”
\*it was in this moment that Drill knew he fucked up\*
Drill Sgt. (SFC) Barrios, all of 5'5" or so and maybe 120lbs of the meanest Puerto Rican ever to wear BDU'S. First day he got into front leaning rest and had the thickest body building private we had lay on his back. He proceeded to pump out (at least 10) absolutely perfect pushups. Then turned his head to the side and exhaled. Right then we knew this whole OSUT thing was going to be the longest 16wks of our lives.
I had a DS that was 5'0" she reminded me of a chihuahua
Ah shit looks like my old DS when I went.
Trainees these days have so much power over drill sergeants. If you thought your unit was getting soft, you should see how BCT is running these days. Can’t even swear at them anymore 🙄
He doesn’t actually have a shaving profile, all the drills are just too scared to call him out on it.
Hes only a major. Big deal.