Let’s Say It Right

In October 1969, the U.S. Command in Vietnam issued a directive titled "Let's Say it Right" to the American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN). The directive forbid military press officers from using certain terms and provided a list of acceptable terms in their place.

For instance, instead of referring to "free firing zones" in which anything that moved was considered enemy and could be fired at, officers were supposed to say "pre-cleared firing zones." And instead of "lull" they were supposed to refer to "light and scattered action."

A military spokesman said that the directive was actually just a "style sheet" whose purpose was to "get everyone using similar words."

Some more of the "no-no" words (as AFVN officers described them) were listed in this NY Times piece:

New York Times - Jan 11, 1970

GI Press Service - April 1971

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 04, 2016 - Comments (5)
Category: Languages, Military, 1960s

Honor

Not weird, as many of you are well aware, but worth passing on. A day in November is not the only time we should remember to say:
To all of you who served or are serving in the military, thank you for your service. Your sacrifices should never be forgotten.

Posted By: Alex - Fri May 13, 2016 - Comments (0)
Category: Emotions, Military, Money, Patriotism

The Draft and Army IQ

Following up on Chuck's mention of "military intelligence" in his latest column, this short article from 1951 noted the (perhaps unexpected) effect that a military draft has on the average IQ of GIs.

St. Petersburg Times - Oct 13, 1951

Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 25, 2016 - Comments (10)
Category: Intelligence, Military, 1950s

Speed of aircraft carrier

Example from 1960 of the military's gift for stating the obvious.

No luck in tracking down the referenced pamphlet. Doesn't seem that the Navy saved copies of all the thousands of pamphlets it published over the years.

The Sikeston Daily Standard - June 3, 1960

Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 13, 2016 - Comments (7)
Category: Military, 1960s

Anti-Aircraft Dumpling Cannon

February 1967: Munich resident Helmut G. Winter was sick and tired of the noise of military aircraft flying low over his house. So he built a catapult and started launching Bavarian potato dumplings at the planes.

In one week he launched 120 dumplings. He never managed to score a direct hit. But eventually both the West German Luftwaffe and American pilots conceded defeat and agreed to a flight path that avoided his house.

Reportedly, he gave the Americans a model of his dumpling cannon as a gesture of thanks, inscribed "As a souvenir and a warning — Helmut G. Winter, The Bavarian Dumpling Shot." I bet this model has now been lost or thrown away, instead of being in a museum where it belongs.

Cincinnati Enquirer - Feb 20, 1967

Newsweek - Mar 13, 1967

Newsweek - Mar 13, 1967

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Mar 1, 1967

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 30, 2016 - Comments (7)
Category: Military, 1960s, Weapons

The MRE Diet

Army researchers are conducting a study to try to improve the healthfulness of MREs (meals, ready-to-eat), and they're looking for volunteers.

To qualify to participate, you need to live near Natick, Massachusetts and be willing to eat MREs (and nothing but MREs) for 21 days.

But the researchers say the lack of variety won't really be that bad because they've managed to come up with a book of recipes using only MRE ingredients. Recipes include "everything from specialty beverages ('Canteen Irish Cream Latte') to main dishes ('Bunker Hill Burritos') to desserts ('Fort Bliss-ful Pudding Cake')."

More info: Army Times.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 31, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Food, Military, Science

Ready on the Home Front

What do you think would happen today if you got ahold of live telephone operator and shouted, "Army Flash!"

The amazing thing is how much more there was to the civil defense system than the old cliche about the warden yelling, "Douse those lights!"

Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 27, 2015 - Comments (3)
Category: Military, PSA’s, 1940s

USAF Lip Balm Recall

Somebody in ordering is in trouble! The Air Force has recalled lip balm that contains THC due to the use of hemp oil in it. Its too low a dose to show up on a drug screen but, you know, zero tolerance and all that.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 22, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Drugs, Military

How the AMC Building got its name, 1973

Warren Times-Mirror and Observer - Jan 15, 1973

The AMC Building - 5001 Eisenhower Ave. via Flickr.

I first encountered the story of how the AMC Building got its name in Chuck's 1989 News of the Weird book. Later, I also noticed it in National Lampoon's True Facts. So because I'm amusing myself over at about.com by telling the story of some classic weird news stories in more depth, I recently decided to try to find out if there were any more details to the AMC story. For instance, what other names were submitted in the contest? Were all the other entries so bad that the committee decided it had to choose the most obvious name possible? Or was this really just "army originality" at work.

But after a lot of digging, I've come up empty.

The story of the name-choosing contest is mentioned in the Army Materiel Command's own official history (pdf), published in 2013. So I contacted the AMC and asked them if they knew of any more details to the story. Their pr rep contacted the historians, who returned the answer that, no, that's all there is to the story. No other details survive. So we'll never know exactly why the "AMC Building" was the winning entry in the "Name the new AMC Building" contest.

But I can report that the AMC Building no longer houses the headquarters of the AMC. The AMC moved out of the Eisenhower Ave. building in 2002, relocating its headquarters first to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and later to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, where it currently can be found.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 15, 2015 - Comments (12)
Category: Military, Odd Names, 1970s

Army puts price tags on equipment

Back in 1951, the U.S. Army was told it needed to cut costs, so it initiated the "cost-consciousness" program. This involved putting price tags on all the equipment, so that the soldiers could see how much everything cost. The theory was that this would make them use the equipment more "wisely and well."

After the program was implemented, one Army Reserve staffer said, "It looks just like a department store here."

There were claims that the program saved the Army millions of dollars. So I wonder what caused it to be shelved?

The News-Herald (Franklin, Pennsylvania) - Dec 14, 1951

The Spokesman-Review - Feb 27, 1952

Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 12, 2015 - Comments (14)
Category: Military, 1950s, Armed Forces