Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Conversationally Speaking...

Ethan participated in a conversation at his last National Guard drill. Participants were himself, another private, and a staff sergeant who is a medic, has been for 35 years. For those not militarily blessed, here's a glossary; MOS=job in the Army, 64-W=the designation for combat medic, and 11B (also called 11-Boomer here)= the designation for infantryman.
I'm sharing this with you because I thought it was a hoot. Your mileage may vary.

Pvt. 11B "What's your MOS?"

Ethan "64-W."

Pvt. 11B "A medic? Geez, why? How hokey is that? (etc, etc)"

SSGT (listening nearby to conversation that shouldn't have been happening in chow line, anyway) "What's YOUR MOS, private?"

Pvt. 11B "11-Bravo, Staff Sergeant."

Ethan "64-Whiskey, Staff Sergeant"

SSGT "Oh, are you one of my medics?"

Ethan "Yes, Staff Sergeant."

SSGT "Well, 11-Boomer, what's the effective range of a (names a weapon.)"

Pvt 11B "I don't know, Staff Sergeant."

SSGT "64-Whiskey, what's the effective range of an IV?"

Ethan "I would guess, Staff Sergeant, the length of the tube?"

SSGT "See here, 11-Boomer, Pvt. Peterman seems to know what's going on. Do you?"

Pvt 11B (think Eeyore speaking, here) "No, Staff Sergeant"

SSGT "And, 11-Boomer, which private here has chosen an MOS that is 75% female?"

Pvt 11B (still channeling Eeyore) "Pvt. Peterman"

SSGT "And, 11 Boomer, who's gonna have a date on Saturday night?"

Pvt 11B (Eeyore again) "Pvt Peterman"

SSGT "Get your chow."

4 comments:

Kristi said...

Thanks for sharing...that is pretty good.

Genuine Lustre said...

LOL. Thank goodness my MS1 son is 18 and can do his own paperwork. He brought home a 1/2 thick stack of papers had something to do with security clearance for getting on a website -- it was complete Greek to me.

Can I send you his swearing-in picture Melody?

Elephantschild said...

Sweet.

Good show, Ethan.

Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake said...

Oh, you gotta love the 'Lev'n Bang-bangs. One of my buddies is a mortarman who once shared, "You know, when I signed up, everyone I knew kept telling me I didn't seem like the infantry type. I never quite understood what they were getting at. Siiighhh."