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Foxhole Shavers Club

I'm just gonna slide right in here and say hi to all the old timers.

USMC 2006-10

I had some awful shaves but never actually in a foxhole thank goodness.
 
I guess I was lucky as a young man. My hair grew slow enough at the time, or light enough, that I only needed to shave once every three days and I could shave dry with no burn. So, my worst shave isn't so much about the shave as the conditions. Early 80's USARMY, Ft Polk LA, North fort. The beauty of Ft. Polk is the weather. It's either Too hot and humid to breathe, or it's raining. Occasionally during winter It will freeze the ground so hard that M88's won't leave a trace. The nice thing about the rain at Ft. Polk is it usually ends in 5 minutes. If not, you've got a steady downpour for at least 3 days. Except for this one, 2 week bivouac. It literally rained the whole time. After a week, everything is soaked. Nothing, socks, civvies, t-shirts, nothing would dry. We had clothing hanging in all the tents, in trees covered in ponchos and feeling like trenchfoot was imminent. Then my platoon SGT noticed I was unshaven. Shaving foam wouldn't even apply, so dry shaving under the wettest conditions ever.
 
I still have vivid memories of shaving in the middle-of-nowhere Afghanistan, on an Italian FOB, with GFT Violet. Quite the contrast of scents: me, a stinking Soldier vs. a refined floral scent. Strange choice, on my end, given the situation.
 
Don't know if I am eligible. I am a retired DoD civilian who spent 1 year in Iraq, embedded with an Army unit, adminstering contracts in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. My challenging shave one employed canned goo, a disposable razor, botttled water, and using a toilet bag small mirror while at a remote TDY site.
 
SGT
USMC
'91-'02
6055- Hydraulics/Pneumatics - AV8B Harrier
6252- Airframes - AV8B Harrier


When I enlisted, I went with a 6 year QEP contract and my first 2 choices were F-18 Power Plants and then F-18 Structures. My third choice was field comms..
Went to PI (the only REAL boot camp... so tough it turns women into Marines)
MCT at Camp Geiger
Went to A School in Millington TN for hydraulics/pneumatics, then Cherry Point for C School.
Was lucky to get orders to a gun squadron, VMA-231, where I spent almost almost 9 of my 11 1/2 years.
My first CONUS deployment was CAX, in early '92. Ended back up at the Stumps many, many times.
First OCONUS deployment was Iwakuni, Nov '92-Jun '93. Did my first Med float with the 24th MEU in '95 on the Kersarge, and our birds were the CAS for the O'Grady TRAP. Did my second MEU in '98 on the Wasp. Did a little one week det to Mostar, Bosnia/Herzegovina. The MEU timed it so that we were in a zone of conflict to rate 2 months of tax free and hazard pay. Transferred to VMAT-203, where I ended my time in.
While I was in, I got quite a few certifications: CDI/CDQAR, an ORD qual to handle CADs, NDI, Corrosion and Paint qual, certified HAZMAT (was actually the HAZMAT coordinator for a while), and my favorite: low power maintenance turn qual.

When I was in, the only field shaving I did was at MCT. Used whatever Gillette multi-blade cartridge was around at the time, with canned goo.
 
Guess I will jump in as well.

USMC 89 - 97 (7 active, 1 inactive)
5937 / 5939 Aviation Radio Repairman and (later) Aviation Radio Technician

Went to PISC, then to Geiger for MCT, then to 29 Palms for repairman school (which was 11 months :( ), then to MCAS Beaufort, then MCAS Cherry Point, then back to 29 Palms for tech school (another long 11 months :( ), then finished out at MCAS Beaufort.

Even though I was in the air wing, we deployed in the field as we protected the air field so we setup about 200 miles in front of it. Many, many deployments in a lot of places NATO likes to hang out (ie 200+ miles north of the Artic circle in Jan, burned out sunflower field in Turkey in July). I was a cart shaver then and did it in the hole, on the bench and right outside the hooch (there's a joke in there somewhere ... lol).
 
Guess I will jump in as well.

USMC 89 - 97 (7 active, 1 inactive)
5937 / 5939 Aviation Radio Repairman and (later) Aviation Radio Technician

Went to PISC, then to Geiger for MCT, then to 29 Palms for repairman school (which was 11 months :( ), then to MCAS Beaufort, then MCAS Cherry Point, then back to 29 Palms for tech school (another long 11 months :( ), then finished out at MCAS Beaufort.

Even though I was in the air wing, we deployed in the field as we protected the air field so we setup about 200 miles in front of it. Many, many deployments in a lot of places NATO likes to hang out (ie 200+ miles north of the Artic circle in Jan, burned out sunflower field in Turkey in July). I was a cart shaver then and did it in the hole, on the bench and right outside the hooch (there's a joke in there somewhere ... lol).
Welcome to the club.
 
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