I thought this would be fun and yield some amusing stories. I am sure many of you will have me beat by a mile.

I think the most disagreeable place I was stationed was at the Nevada Test Site for a couple of months. We had to wear MOPP gear and it was 125 degrees during the day. We lived in GP Mediums. The heat would just suck the energy out of you, kangaroo rats running over your cot, big-assed spiders, rattlesnakes all over the place, and a fine dust that got in everything.

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"He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it." - H.L. Mencken on Warren Harding

I was Navy 1998-2004....

The worst was Great Mistakes... I mean Great Lakes. I was there for 3 years. I was undesignated and worked in Inprocessing dealing with new recruits day in and day out. I was the most mundane job I have ever had. I got to meet a lot of people, but I was the person that had to tell them... "I know that is what your recruiter said, but that is not is what is in your contract"... that didn't go over too well sometimes. I did that for a year and a half, then I went across the street to school (electronics technician)...

Since I graduated first in my class, I had first choice of orders. Shore duty Hawaii.... WOO HOO.

That seriously made up for the 3 years in Great Lakes.

But, I only had two duty stations... so I am sure there is much worse than being stuck in Great Lakes for 3 years.

I was based out of a mine warfare base in Abu Dhabi during Desert Storm.

The temperature, midday, would hover around 120 or so, and the humidity was absolutely oppressive. You'd take a shower, dry off, and then have to take another shower because you'd break a sweat drying off from your shower.

God, I hated that fucking place...

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Science flies you to the moon.

Religion flies you into buildings.

Jungle warfare training in Panama, mosquitoes and monkeys ....the monkeys threw shit at you, for real. We didn't wear them but if you left your pot bowl up for 15 minutes, you’d have a multi legged surprise waiting for you when you picked it up. I got used to the humidity, but doing it with tons of shit on your back is hell on earth, and other S. American climes were just as bad, but training always seems worse for some reason.

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"The captain has turned off the `No Dubbing' sign. You are free to speak any language you choose."

I heard about the monkeys and bugs from guys that went through the Jungle Warfare school!! The NTS was pretty close to the DTC. It was on the Western edge of the Death Valley Desert as i recall. I quickly found out that shaving with water would not work, as the water would immediately evaporate off your face. We shaved using vaseline.

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"He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it." - H.L. Mencken on Warren Harding

England, stuck in a medical office for 6 months. Not what I joined for.

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Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.

Guess who?

National Training Center 2003-2005

Lived in a camper trailer on a crushed rock pad, only had electricity no hook ups had to hauled my own shit off every week to a septic tank out in the desert........ had to check the route to my truck each day for rattle snakes that would hang out by my hooch , cause the hooch out in the desert was a magnet for ground squirrel and mice looking for a easy meal. Woke up 2 with coyote in the bed of my truck looking for chow, ended up feediing them over time. Woke up too many times to count with mice running across my chest (they got smart to the glue traps)

Spent 3 weeks a month pretty much in the desert sucking the heat , or cold during the winter. Spent so much time in the desert that i have sun spots around my eyes from so much sun and i applied gallons of sun block on my face.

BUT

It was the most rewarding assignment cause it allowed me to teach units heading to the shit in iraq and afghansitan everything i had learned in my trips. it was probably sans being with a deployed unit , the best place during a time of war to retire from for i left everything i had there and taught and taught and taught guys who really needed it and applied it with a quickness on their tours.

second worse was camp howze/warrior base korea. Did the DMZ rotation in 1990 and damn if that wasnt a suck fest living in tents and stomping the DMZ on patrols it pretty much sucked

Rak I have been to Camp Howze, it was even worse than Camp Casey, but hands-down the worst compound I saw was Camp Greaves. What a shithole. I know Warrior Base was worse but never went there. Your recollections of NTC remind me of mine at NTS. Damned Kangaroo rats running over my chest, and rattlesnakes. Our jeep broke down once on the highway about 10 miles from NTZ so we humped it, in the dark. THe road was covered with rattlesnakes looking to get the warmth from the pavement. Every 100 steps or so one would rattle to warn us to give them a wide berth.

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"He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it." - H.L. Mencken on Warren Harding

Years after WWII, many vets took family and returned to places like Normandy.

Any plans to revisit with loved ones?

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Visit where? The Middle East?

Fuck no...

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Science flies you to the moon.

Religion flies you into buildings.

I hear Timor was a pretty bad place.

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5% of the total surface of the Netherlands is used to grow hemp

I've had temp duty at some pretty crappy places, but everywhere I have been stationed has been "ok".Living in tents in the Okinawa NTA is pretty damn bad. Living in tents in Gitmo for the migrant Ops in the mid 90s sucked. Being stuck on ship for 6 months was a definate downer.

The absolute hardship posting ( non combat) was Cuba from Apr 97 to Aug 98. Unbelievable work rotation, high stress, responsible for 30 kids straight outta SOI who could fuck up a wet dream just by going to sleep, ... but at the same time, it was the most rewarding as far as leadership development.

hate snakes man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's the same way my late husband felt about Vietnam. He said 13 months was long enough in that hell hole and he never wanted to see it again.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

I simply cannot overstate how much I hate that fucking portion of the world.

There are places I've been where I wouldn't mind taking my family, but the Middle East ain't one of 'em...

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Science flies you to the moon.

Religion flies you into buildings.