I have told this true story several times for clan but here it is for all. For obvious reasons, it sticks in my brain.
Back in the late 60's I was an Electronic Warfare Repairman, making about 200$ a month. I think it happened at Columbus AFB, Mississippi but it might have been Guam.
Anyway I was on-call one weekend and a B-52 being prepped for nuke alert had a communication jammer problem. I got called out, went to the shop, got the appropriate tools and equipment to repair it. I jumped in the shop truck with my stuff and went out to the alert area.
On the way, I drove by where the Base RC Club flew on weekends and resolved to stop and observe on my way back. As you might imagine, I was in no position to afford a hobby I would have loved.
So I replaced the jammer and checked it out thoroughly on all its frequencies. We were officially required to use a dummy load for this instead of doing free radiation testing but because that would turn a one-man one-hour job into a two-man eight-hour job nobody official 'noticed' it. A quick return to readiness was the driver for all we did. Probably still is.
So I stopped on the way back and watched admiringly for a bit as those RC planes flew, twisted, dove, climbed, etc. Then I happened to notice a pile of two broken to bits planes off to the side. I asked another bystander what that was all about and he told me they just went berserk, out of control about half an hour ago.
Quickly putting 2 and 2 together (I were young then) I realized I had jammed them into the ground. I slunk off quietly hoping nobody had noticed the ECM (Electronic Countermeasures) logo on the side of the truck. A little investigation would have revealed my part in this tragedy and I could in no way afford to pay damages.
So what is your funny military service story?
Edited by Captain_Underpants53, 07 June 2021 - 06:28 AM.