11 Golden Oldies

[Brass Tacks]

These have been reduced to three. How many old soldiers remember these?

11 General Orders


1. Take charge of this post and all government property in view.

2. Walk my post in a military manner, keeping always on the alert and observing everything that takes place within sight or hearing.

3. Report all violations of orders I am instructed to enforce.

4. To repeat all calls [from posts]more distant from the guardhouse than my own.

5. Quit my post only when properly relieved.

6. To receive, obey, and pass on to the sentry who relieves me, all orders from the Commanding Officer, Officer of the Day, Officers, and Non-Commissioned Officers of the guard only.

7. Talk to no one except in the line of duty.

8. Give the alarm in case of fire or disorder.

9. To call the Sergeant of the Guard in any case not covered by instructions.

10. Salute all officers and all colors and standards not cased.

11. Be especially watchful at night and during the time for challenging, to challenge all persons on or near my post, and to allow no one to pass without proper authority

[Anchor Clanker]

You forgot the 12th General Order— Take no crap from the Company Commander.

[whymememe]

That's a lot to remember. I think I only had the three. Were you expected to recite all those orders or answer any question about them during the Inspection of the guards?

[25yretcoastie]

Remember then well and yes had to be able to repeat them during inspection and any other time when asked

[rcairflr]

Here's the real twelfth one:

"Walk my post from flank to flank and take no sh*t from any rank".

And yes I remember the other eleven well.

[rcairflr]

Here's another one: and how true it is, I walked many guard post in my years in the Marine Corps and was never given a live bullet while doing it.

"Too walk my post a mile a minute and carry my rifle with nothing in it"

[Gatofeo]

We had something similar when I was a Security Policeman in the Air Force in the 1970s -- and an unofficial one as well: "Never forget that the badge you're wearing is always one rank higher than the person challenging you verbally or physically, as long as you're right and he's wrong."
Our sergeants, many of them Vietnam veterans, taught us that one.
And yes, plenty of Airmen were in combat in Vietnam. I worked with many. One Tech. Sgt. I served under had a Silver Star for manning his machine gun at an airbase that got overrun. His bunker took a direct hit from a rocket, and he was the only survivor.
He never mentioned it; the other sergeants told us his story.
We had many fine sergeants in the years right after the Vietnam War, when I served. They'd "seen the elephant" and knew how quickly and terribly a situation can become lethal.

[RJay]

Originally Posted by whymememe

That's a lot to remember. I think I only had the three. Were you expected to recite all those orders or answer any question about them during the Inspection of the guards?

Yes, you had to know them by heart, in order and out of order. During guard mount or an inspection you were never asked to recide all 11 General orders, The question might be " what is your 7th General Order, or 3rd. or what ever " and you had better know it. Hey Guys, once at Aberdeen Proving grounds I had to guard the WAC barracks, but of course they had all the windows painted over, however, around back, out of line of sight if the OD showed up, had some nice talks with a couple of the girls and got names for later

[clamman]

We used to say "To walk my post from flank to flank and take no s**t from any rank"

[carver]

A story we were told in basic, supposedly true. Guard see's vehicle approaching with General Flags flying. Guards instructions were "No one, absolutely, no one gets past this point". He stops the vehicle, and the General tells the guard that it's OK to let him thru. The guard refuses. The General tells the driver to proceed. The guard raises his rifle, and asks the General, "Sir, who do I shoot first, you, are the driver"?

[Snakedriver]

I thought there was something about being being courteous & polite, but to have a plan to kill everyone you meet?

[agedhunter]

I remember reading one of my fathers letters written to my mother.
This was during WW2 he was in boot camp when asked.

who should he call if an officer refused to stop and identify when passing his guard post?
He answered graves detail because he'll be dead.

He said every one around broke up laughing, and he peeled spuds for a week.

[Old Grump]

11 general orders of a sentry, The verses to the Navy Hymn and the serial number of your rifle. Forget your own serial number but not your rifles. Forgot all of them the day I took off my leggings and walked out the gate a genuine sailor who no longer had to salute anything unless it wore gold insignia.

Except the Navy Hymn, I remembered that. Also had to relearn my serial number because it changed to your Social Security number that year.

[crazy charlie]

Walk my post a mile a minute with my M1 rifle and nothing in it.
Ft. Jackson, S.C. 1962.

[RJay]

We also had the six articles of the Code of Conduct, which we had to know, in order and out of order.