Noob tricks/pranks

[OFCJAX]

What's your favorite Noob (FNG for the military types) trick or prank to play?

Ours was have the new guy go over to personnel and tell them he needed a unit ID card made up. He had to submit the request in writing to the head of the Admin unit. The form he had to request was called the "IDentification form 10 Type"

Seeing the face of the FNG requesting an "ID10T" form was priceless!

[Rex_Tremende]

I just heard that term for the first time last week. My team was discussing what was needed for a group of people who needed a set of instructions on how to do something. My colleague referred to it as the "ID10T guide."

As for the only noob prank I ever pulled, the joke was on a new voice student in my music department. She was about to head in for an audition with Ms. D______, who used to be Mrs. S______. I told her that despite the name on the door, she still went by her married name (Ms. D_____'s ex, Mr. S______, was also a professor on campus at the time). Other students in the lounge backed me up. So, the unwitting innocent walked in and greeted her with a big "Hello Mrs. S______!" The next notes that emanated from the studio were Ms. D_____'s and could best be described as howling.

Having been the target of many a prank myself, I'm not a big fan of humiliation. Nevertheless, they do serve a purpose, researchers say:

...practical jokes are far more commonly an effort to bring a person into a group, anthropologists have found — an integral part of rituals around the world intended to temper success with humility. And recent research suggests that the experience of being duped can stir self-reflection in a way few other experiences can, functioning as a check on arrogance or obliviousness.

Regards,
Rex.

[Jock Scot]

I well remember watching a drill Sergeant with a new bunch of recruits ask ever so nicely if any of them played a musical instrument.the conversation went something like this, "on the word of command anyone who can play a musical instument take one pace forward", so on the word of command half a dozen chaps took one pace foreward thinking that they were heading for the band, "right then" said the Sergeant," you lucky souls get yourselves to the Sergeants mess and move the piano!" Moral of the story---never volunteer.

[MACKAY]

In Basic (Ft Dix NJ) in one of our first days in morning formation, the DI asked if anyone had a valid drivers license in New Jersey. A few hands immediately shot up in anticipation of getting to obviously drive something. The DI then asked them to step forward and thanked them for volunteering. He then pointed to a shed where they could pick and "drive" wheel barrows filled with gravel and go around filling in pot holes on the base roads for the remainder of the day!

[Yaish]

The military loves TLA's (three letter acronyms) so it's not uncommon to hear things like "C-L-P", "B-D- U', "E-G A", or what have you. Well one prank that used to be pulled on the FNG's ( A TLA in itself) was to send them to motor pool for a can of A-I-R. Of course this one had to stop once those little cans of compressed air for cleaning electronics became common.

When I was doing construction we'd have the newbs looking for things like board stretchers ("I cut this board an 1/8 too short, go look in the truck for my board stretcher!") and left handed hammers ("No, not this one, the left handed one! It points the other way!").

Again in the Marines, we used radios that had the designation PRC and some number depending on the model. PRC-77's were common, but sometimes we needed a "special" radio so we'd send the FNG to ask the Gunny where the PRC-E7 was. "Hey Gunny, where's the PRC (prick) E7?" (E7 being a Gunnery Sergeants enlisted grade). Most were smart of enough to catch that one, but you got a few.

[emolas]

When aboard ship, someone would invariably be posted to keep a look out for the Mail Buoy.

One of my favorites, along with having someone keep an eye out for the equator or date line.

Again in the Marines, we used radios that had the designation PRC and some number depending on the model. PRC-77's were common, but sometimes we needed a "special" radio so we'd send the FNG to ask the Gunny where the PRC-E7 was. "Hey Gunny, where's the PRC (prick) E7?" (E7 being a Gunnery Sergeants enlisted grade). Most were smart of enough to catch that one, but you got a few.

Along these same lines, the part numbers for batteries started with BA-xxxx so we would send them to finds some BA1100Ns for a PRC-E7.

Although not technically FNG hazing, as passenger helicopter flight crew, we had fun "grunt baiting". Things like having your passengers work a hydraulic hand pump or the plane will crash (and telling the pilot to drop altitude when they pause in pumping) or passing a Jack Daniels bottle full of tea back and forth from pilot to copilot while flying in a meandering pattern. Opening a panel in flight and having a whole bunch of nuts and bolts fall out was usually a crowd pleaser.

We used to get the new gunners to get the BFA for the howitzer. Frank

That's hilarious!

[ardchoille]

Opening a panel in flight and having a whole bunch of nuts and bolts fall out was usually a crowd pleaser.

I bet no one fell asleep on that flight.

[Finn]

I've used the ID10T myself, but I really like Squelch Grease.
Send the newbie down to the commo section to get a tube of squelch grease for the radios.
I can think of a few more, but I'll let the others share them.

[davedove]

Way back in my reserve unit, a fairly new Lieutenant wanted to take a vehicle out to see what the troops were doing. The First Sergeant was in the motor pool and told the Lt. that the vehicle the Lt. wanted was out of service because they hadn't replaced the winter air with summer air.

It actually took the Lt. a few moments before he caught what the 1st Sgt. was saying.

[Photoguy67]

I work for a trucking company and we are all the time telling the noobs to go get a trailer stretcher or a dock plate key.. It gets really fun when the supervisors start playing along and send them all around the dock asking this person or that one for a dock plate key.