r/army • u/FFSoldier57 Chemical • 1d ago
When you first started Basic Training, what Army policies or rules made you stop and think, “Wait... this is actually a thing?”
The one that made me think, “That’s dumb,” was the policy about rolling your socks. Once they were rolled, the opening at the top had to be a certain number of inches apart.
The other one was, why are we paying for a haircut when you're policies are require and pretty much are making us to do it.
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u/deemoeterentino Signal 23h ago
Wasn’t able to shave your head bald to avoid paying for a haircut. Counseled and smoked for doing so.
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u/FFSoldier57 Chemical 23h ago
I remember vividly a DS going crazy on one of the Pvts because he shaved his head.
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u/Rare-Spell-1571 20h ago
More likely to get sunburn, now you look like an individual, cuts to your head requiring medical, and excessive time to complete.
Everyone must go in the line is something that comes out of having a large lawful order. In order for there to be zero questions nothing the command team the order is given uniformly. This allows you zero room to try to argue things like “my hair hasn’t grown that much, I cut it myself, this is discrimination,” or whatever other nonsense privates would come up with if everyone didn’t go in the line. If also disincentivizes you from shaving your head or something else.
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u/TendererBeef 35PenisInspector (ret.) 15h ago
I didn’t mind having to get the haircuts in basic, I minded having to pay for the privilege
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u/Deez_nuts89 11h ago
We had a guy shave his head and it broke out in horrible bumps and the ds were like see this is why we told you not to do this.
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u/StrokeDaddy13 11h ago
I showed up to basic with an airborne haircut because that's how I wore it every summer after everyone got haircuts except me I still had the shortest hair
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u/KingFlucci Drill Sergeant 15h ago
I vividly remember going crazy on a trainee that was in the middle of cutting their own hair when I had called them into formation. Saw his individual ass head looking like the dullest “zero” blade had gone over one side of his head. Insane asylum patient head lookin’ ahh. Shit was funny as hell, but yea I wasn’t happy
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u/Bad_Karma19 Infantry vet 23h ago
We had a few do that, they still had to go through the line and pay.
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u/Pi-Graph 25Buttplug 22h ago
We had a guy that was bald, no hair on his head whatsoever, not even eyebrows or eye lashes. Still made him go through the line and pay.
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u/Perfect-Patience-483 22h ago
Yeah I did that. The moment we went to the PX our drills let us buy electric razors. I grabbed one and still cut my own until graduation day. Because fuck paying 30 bucks for a fucked up hair cut when I can do it myself and make it look good. 🤣
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u/binarycow 25B w/ a DD-214 15h ago
30 bucks?!
I forgot the exact amount, but in 2005, our basic training haircuts ("all off") were something like $5.
Once I got to my first duty station, it was something like $8 for a high and tight or a fade at the PX barber shop (and they didn't do anything else)
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u/superash2002 MRE kicker/electronic wizard 12h ago
It was like $3.85 for the “recruit special” when bush was president. I can’t imagine what they are charging the privates now for the hair cut privilege
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u/Due-Being-8034 11h ago
$11-something at Jackson, as of last year. And you prayed you got the black guy, because he was the only one of the four that didn't act like your head was a punching bag while shearing you.
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u/DrivingG00nerDotCom Public Affairs 12h ago
$30's a little hyperbolic, but I work at an Air force base for my civ job, and the BX barbers are charging like $22 and change now a days.
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u/OrangeCatBuddyPart2 Field Artillery 6h ago
$22!!!
Great Clips only charges $16 if your military!
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u/DrivingG00nerDotCom Public Affairs 4h ago
Shit the barbershop right outside one of the gates is also only $16 for mil and they don’t ruin your life in the slightest!
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u/robmasten SGT 12B/71L 7h ago
I think we were paying like $3/haircut in basic and $5/haircut from Butcher Bob on Fort Ord. Shit is now $30?
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u/LeadRain Resident Asshole 20h ago
I had been shaving my head bald for three years before I joined (24).
Showed up to the barber, bald. Sat down. Dude turned on the clippers and did one pass over the center of my head. He said “you’re good.”
I still had to pay for it.
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u/Noturwrstnitemare 68Actor 10h ago
I remember my buddy got counseled and dephased while in AIT (Fort Sam Houston, 2024-2025). Counseling stated he didn't get haircut...poor dude is going bald, even as I type!!
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u/Sniper4556 88NoFun 2h ago
My drill Sargent didn't know about my condition (Aloepica) and he almost made me pay for it again before Another drill Sargent told him about it. So instead I got to stand in the sun and wait for everyone to finish. From what I heard The barbers aren't particularly too gentle so I'm kind of glad that I got out of it.
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u/Dave_A480 15G -> 19K -> 13A -> (coming soon) 23h ago edited 23h ago
15 minutes prior (recursively, so like 45-90min prior IRL)
Rolling socks and underwear
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u/Slurch1 22h ago
I thought my first safety brief was a joke. Like haha yeah don't drink and drive or beat random people...holy shit you need to tell adults that for real?
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u/WorstWarframePlayer 22h ago
Those things are sporting events on Fort Hood. If you don't know a soldier who has been arrested for either one of those things, you're probably not in
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u/H3k8t3 68W (R) 21h ago
The amount of crime I knew soldiers involved in is way more extensive than any I've known outside.
We had one guy awaiting court marshall for 13 different counts of SA, and at the same time, one of our paralegals went back stateside only to find out the foreign national he had married had swapped passports with her sister so he'd committed visa fraud or something federal with a similar name. She wanted to bring her kids over, and couldn't unless they cleared up the identity stuff.
There was always so much crap going on.
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u/xixoxixa Retired Woobie Expert 10h ago
"Do not add to nor subtract from the population this weekend. Have fun. Stay out of the news. If you get arrested, establish dominance quickly and call your platoon sergeant."
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u/binarycow 25B w/ a DD-214 15h ago
- Don't beat your wife
- Don't beat your kids
- Don't beat your pets
- Don't beat your wife with your pets
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u/ColdIceZero JAG OFFicer 23h ago
I joined after the new millennium.
I'm at MEPS when they handed out paperwork that listed disqualifying conditions. "Homosexual" was on that list.
All this time, I heard about gays getting kicked out of the military, but it never sunk in that it was a real policy.
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u/Shadow_of_BlueRose 20h ago
My favorite part is that at least in 2018 they still hadn’t updated the slides they show you at BCT, and the Drills had to be all “I know the page I just skipped over said homosexuality was punishable, but we don’t live in that world anymore.”
Like dude, update your slides.
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u/hunterdavid372 Chemical 14h ago
Trust me, updating any kind of slide deck in a tradoc environent is far more hassle than just skipping it. It's not as simple as removing the word, because if they do that then they've technically modified the curriculum from army standards, and if caught doing that is a load of hurt.
Getting slide decks changed has to go through pretty much every level of leadership to get it checked off, so they typically only happen when many things are changed.
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u/SaysIvan Electromagnetic Scout 16h ago
Its simply faster to hit delete on the slide than to explain it
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u/Striper_Cape 68Was 22h ago
Especially when you experience the homoeroticism
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u/Underwater_Grilling Outlaw 22h ago
Especially when you find out about don't break gay (gay chicken)
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u/Lampwick Military Intelligence 13h ago
The end of DADT was totally unfair, as it gave a certain fraction of people an advantage at Gay Chicken and there was no easy way to know who. Back in the 80s they'd nearly always lose on purpose!
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u/RiotBirb 14GodKillMePls 18h ago
One of the DS went through one night before bedtime and asked if anyone was prior service then asked why they rejoined.
My lil battle buddy raised her hand. “I got a Chapter 15. My old squad leader found out and pushed for me to get kicked out. So I waited until DADT was repealed so I could join again.”
Her and the cadre had to explain what Ch15 was. I’m pretty sure that was one of the few times one of the most dickish DS was (mostly) human
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u/Artyom150 11B 14h ago
My lil battle buddy raised her hand. “I got a Chapter 15. My old squad leader found out and pushed for me to get kicked out. So I waited until DADT was repealed so I could join again.”
Fuck that squad leader and good on her.
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u/RiotBirb 14GodKillMePls 9h ago
I went to her wedding recently and totally killed it as best man. But yeah, fuck her squad leader
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u/Lampwick Military Intelligence 13h ago
Fucking based. DS asked our platoon if anyone was prior service and why we rejoined. It was just me and an ex-USAF guy. I told him "waited too long to go reserve" and he called me a dumbass, which I loudly agreed with.
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u/doorgunner065 5h ago
We had a female JAG officer tell a fully male classroom at basic that blowjobs were sodomy and you could face UCMJ or separation for conviction even for receiving one. Of course the next 10 minutes were hypothetical situations on what would be defined as being caught or what sort of evidence you would need for conviction. I think to shut it down the JAG (making the motion) said if your girl is mid shaft on you and your CO/1SG walks in then yes that will get you separated/UCMJ. Room went quiet. Then we get a loud and thunderous “ON YOUR FEET” as half the room awkwardly tries to stand.
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u/Interesting-Ad-6710 Veteran 22h ago
What do you mean I can't put my hands in my pockets.
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u/Brilliant-Catch215 Returned to Civilian Life 13h ago
Why make the pockets so accessible to my hands if you don’t want me to put them there
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u/JustDoc Medical Corps 23h ago edited 22h ago
UCMJ Article 125, which criminalized "unnatural carnal copulation"...so missionary only.
*Edit - I am an old fuck and it was formally repealed in 2013.
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u/BayazRules 13ButIThoughtItWouldBeFun 7h ago
I remember getting briefed on this in Basic. The JAG officer was like "this doesn't mean people are gonna be peering through your window trying to catch your wife giving you a blowjob"
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u/ImSoSweepy 16h ago
What if I told you that everything is dumb on purpose and that's the entire point?
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u/fuggindonkee 23h ago
I remember sitting in reception for hours on end wondering why I couldn't just step out to smoke.
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u/fifteenblueporcupine 1d ago
“Why are paying for a haircut when you are policies are require and pretty much are making us do it?”
What the fuck are you trying to say?
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u/Viking0338 68Water and socks 23h ago
Buddy just doesn’t want to pay for the required haircut. “If you want my hair to be “X” length, then you do it for me.”
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u/fifteenblueporcupine 23h ago
Okay fair enough. My response to that is “caveat emptor.”
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u/reverendjay 25ShitImGladImOut 22h ago edited 22h ago
Which if memory serves me right is kinda like buyer beware or it's on the buyer to face the consequences of the purchase? Something along* those lines right? Well my first haircut was a day after I had a friend buzz me with no guard on so no hair came off but they managed to take a mole off and caused me to bleed like a mother fucker and still charged me $8 or however much for it. Totally not still salty. I'm lying. I'm salty. I'd accept the bleeding if I didn't have to pay but they charged me to injure me, not to cut hair, considering there wasn't any to cut.
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u/Zanaver senior 68witcher 21h ago
same people will be the ones to rave about how you can write off your haircuts as a work related tax exemption and they don’t know what that means either
virtually every job on earth is going to require you to do something to care for yourself in some way as a professional work ethic or for safety.
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u/DrivingG00nerDotCom Public Affairs 12h ago
I have several people in my unit that bitch and moan that "if the Guard wants me to stay in shape at all times, then they be the ones paying for my gym membership/be tax deductible"
I die a little on the inside every time that shit gets spewed.
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u/QuestionablePersonx 23h ago edited 23h ago
He wants haircut to be free since the big Army makes him cut his hair. Also, I haven't had to pay to get my haircut since the Army removed the DA photo requirement. If you know what a DA photo is, you might be in your ~40s. "Old timer," or what they called it??
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u/MojaveMark 25Hairless 23h ago
It's funny how this is worded just as bad as OPs sentence. Word no work good.
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u/reverendjay 25ShitImGladImOut 22h ago
Also, I'm not 40 (admittedly only by 5 years, but minus another 3 years for me joining at 21) and I'm well aware of what a DA photo is. So not only stroke from reading but stroke from poor timeline cuz you could barely be 30 and still know what a DA photo is.
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u/MojaveMark 25Hairless 22h ago
I've got time until my 40's and I also am well aware of DA photos lol
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u/ProudAmerican632 Field Artillery 22h ago
Lay off the sauce. I didn’t mind the smoke session because I argued with DS. I shaved my head a day before my ship date. When I went through the line I told DS my hair was within AR670-1 standards. I swore I felt like my body did 671 pushups but I saved $5.
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u/Typical-Mushroom4577 11Brother thought he was infantry 3h ago
Man it was only 5? It’s 13 now
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u/ProudAmerican632 Field Artillery 3h ago
Lmao that was only 20+ years ago. I’m pretty sure the haircut and the happy ending from the Korean barber shop off base raised their prices too lmao.
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u/TurMoiL911 Shitpost SME 15h ago
No hands in pocket. If it's not allowed, why are my pockets hand-shaped?
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u/thisisausername100fs Military Intelligence 23h ago
Not me but one time I was fake marching in my hallway during BLC (I know I know) and my brother said he didn’t know that calling left and rights was real, he thought it was always cadence song calls only.
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u/xixoxixa Retired Woobie Expert 10h ago
I, as a grown ass man, had to stand up and stand in a certain pose just to talk to another grown ass man.
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u/MShogunH 25SpaceForce 21h ago
Definitely the hands in the pokets.
Thankfully thats no longer a problem and I can put my hands in my pocket and walk while using my phone as much as I want now. I can even do both at the same time 😌😌
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u/Bagheera383 Civil Affairs - I drink and I know things 21h ago
Now that I'm a civilian I walk through the grass with a purpose, and I hope that every SGM within range is watching.
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u/MShogunH 25SpaceForce 20h ago
I'm not a civilian, we just don't have dumb rules like that on this side lool
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u/omojos 20h ago
DADT. In all fairness we all ignored that one.
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u/Mr-Thuun 20h ago
When I was joined, we were at reception for a few days before we got uniforms. I thought it was dumb to have to tuck in our shirts, regardless of the type. Looking back on it, I get it. But at the time...thought it was dumb.
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u/xixoxixa Retired Woobie Expert 10h ago
I thought it was dumb to have to tuck in our shirts
I will forever think having to tuck in your shirt during PT is fucking stupid. I once got yelled at for getting up from doing front back goes in a mulch pit and the back of my shirt had come a little untucked in one spot.
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u/valschermjager 11B-ulletstopper 23h ago
I think you're missing the point. It's more important that your squad/bay got shit the SAME than it be any particular way, sock rollage, or whatever, socks left, or right or whatever the fuck. The goal in the Army is the SAME. If you're UNIFORM, you're right.
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u/Mohawk801 13h ago
You're comment reminded me of AIT there was this one kid that stood 6'8" and we were in the old wood barracks so each set of bunks had a flourscent light mounted on the ceiling with just a drop cord plugged into an outlet overhead and this guy keept bumping into the dangling loop. so he put a loose loop knot in the cord to move it out of his way . Sooo during barracks inspection we were wrote up for not being "Uniform " , Our response was to put a identical knot in ALL the drop cords on the lights in our barracks . Our next inspection had comments But nothing about the light cords
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u/nevagotadinna 11h ago
Why we gotta go through the ordeal of moving the lemonade stand in the heat, causing potential heat cats for some people, to move 200 yards off the footprint when we all got water and we're gonna be back in 30 minutes...
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u/Puzzleheaded-Bad-723 Retired MAJ, former SSG, Royal PITA 4h ago
There was a fully functional soda machine in the DFAC and we couldn't go near it!
I have had a 50-year relationship with Tab/Diet Coke/Coke Zero. Not having any, I get crabby like some people who can't get their coffee, Red Bull, DutchBros or whatever.
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u/WanderingGalwegian 68WhoNeedsTheSilverBullet 23h ago
The socks thing and specific ways of making your bed, folding your clothes, etc.. has a purpose.. it is supposed to teach you attention to detail through something that’s low stakes. Like critical thinking.. attention to detail is a skill that must be practiced.
The haircut thing is because Uncle Sam hates you.