Evening star., 1943-04-03
INSTALLMENT XI.


When Junior comes home from
camp on furlough or for the weel
end he probably will throw out hi!
chest, pull his shoulders almost ou'
of joint and speak sort of jargor
entirely unintelligible to you. There
is no cause for alarm; Junior i:
merely eXaggeraating to show of
his familiarity with military life.
You will not be consoled by this
knowledge when he begins speaking
this unknown tongue. In order tC
understand some of his conversation
you might tear out this page anc
tuck it away in the drawer with
your recipes and patterns.
Goldbrlcking is an Army term
signifying, in word, loaflng. In
its strictest sense, it means avoiding
your fair share of the work, thus
making the load harder for the
other boys. When Junior uses the
term, however, it merely means hid
ing from the work in the first place
on stretching an easy job out to
make it last as long as possible.
Batting the breeze is the military
equivalent of "bullshooting."
Police, as nearly as it can be eX-
planned, means Ito clean up" or 'tc
keep clean" Examples are kitchen
police or kaypee, canteen police and
police the area,
Fatigue duty is work that is not
actual military training but part
of the turnabout method of getting
the dirty work done Fatigue clothes
are the blue denims worn for extra
duty. Regular uniforms are called
DDS, an abbreviation for "olive
drab." .sE,55..
Tickets for Canteen.
CT is short for Government is
sue CT soap is the yellow laun-
dry soap, a CT brush is a hard
bristle scrubbing brush, and a CT
haircut is the regulation style which
sacrifices tWo-thirds Juniors WaVy
locks to cleanliness and sanitation.
The PIX is the post exchange, or
canteen, a cooperative enterprise
which sells practically everything
the soldier needs. Three times "a
month canteen books of credit tick
cts may be obtained in denomina-
tions from 81 to S.. Ten per cent
of the proceeds from these are re-
turned to the battery fund, which is
used to buy non-essentials for the
battery.
The old man is the battery COM
mander, who may also be referred
to among yourselves as the BC or
the skipper. The top kick is first
sergeant, the chief of the battery S
noncommissionedo officers.
Jawbone is an apt word meaning
Credit" A jawbone corporal is an
acting corporal who has neither the
rating nor the pay of corporal.
A guardhouse lawyer is a self
appointed legal expert who knows
all there is to know about the laws
and rights of soldiers. he says. The
congressional legislation for mill
tary discipline is contained in the
book" a manual of court martial
known as the Articles Of War. The
96th Article of War, which you've
heard about. is the one which pro-
vides punishment for conduct un-
becoming to a soldier" When YOU
are sentenced for a number of vio-
lations simultaneously they throw
the book at you
Over the hill is an artistic way
of referring to unauthorized alb
ic
for AWOL.
Food is chow or mess. Stew is
slum or SUM- -gullion. Salt pork,
which you rarely see in the Army.
is called lamb chop. They lam it
against the wall to get the salt out
of it and then they chop it up into
the beans"
To fall out soldiers vacate the
barracks quickly before the sergeant
gets really mad To fall in they
take their places in ranks.
A yardbird is the lowest form of
animal life in an Army camp. Under
the common law he is rated as one
rank below buck private The
yardblrd, for this misdeed or that
Sh0rtCOmlng, spends most OF his
time in menial labor about the
battery area
When Junior refers to a yardbird,
you will notice. he is invariably
speaking of some one else.
Pvt. Zuber's Girl Friend.
It was our afternoon off and we
were living around in our barracks
too lazy to dress for a movie or a
trip to the service club. All of us
were, that is, except Pvt Zuber
With an enthusiasm and energy
foreign to a cook S AFTERNOON off
zuber was applying binding glaze
to his shoes This finished, he con-
nected an iron and began sharp
ening the creaseS in his trousers.
Going somewhere, I take it,
asked Pvt Clarkin, the Jersey milk
man.
Pvt. zuber grinned happily and
nodded. He donned his fresh cloth
ing, gave his necktie several un-
necessary tugs and combed his hair
for the 18th time.