Initiation

My husband was stationed at McChord AFB when I met him 36 years ago. His MOS was telephone maintenance, and when I met him he was already a sergeant, meaning that he had been in that job for a few years. Long enough to learn the ropes, and how to deal with the new guys coming in.

There were two areas in which they worked. "Inside shop" was where all the switching and main wiring took place. "Outside shop" was located up in what they called "the castle", located in the barracks where he slept.

Now and then, they would get a new guy in that was not quite up to speed on telephone maintenance. Or else, he was a know-it-all pain-in-the-ass who needed an attitude adjustment. Just for giggles, they would send these kinds of guys out for some blue dial tone that could only be obtained from the outside shop.

Once the guy left, a call was made to the outside shop alerting them that " Airman so-and-so" was on the way, and to have a box ready for him. When the guy arrived, he was given the box of rocks and anything else heavy, and told to hurry up and take it back to the inside shop. Once back at the inside shop the box would be opened and cursing would ensue because they had sent red dial tone, not blue. So they would send the guy back to the outside shop to get the right color.

This went on until the guy finally figured it out. Some took longer than others. It was just an innocent initiation, and it served to put everyone on a level playing field. Oh, and it was funny!