vigil617
US Veteran
Absolutely, and thanks OP for the memory and for the knowledge that others still have these ingrained habits!
My Brother Coasties, and probably our Navy brethren, will also probably identify with "reefing" our shirttails into our trousers. To save the rest of you a Google search, "reefing" (derived from the term for folding sails properly) a shirt means folding the excess shirttail (that would otherwise blouse over the top of the trousers) so that the shirt is squared away and close-fitted to one's body. And, I'm sure it goes without saying, that the open side of the reef always faces aft.
We had "Irish pennants" as well, and they were the bane of one's uniform -- especially the brand new ones received at boot camp or OCS, that were rife with the things. Funny thing: when I was at OCS, while we were having an afternoon of mandatory federal instruction on "discrimination" issues, a buddy of mine raised his objection to the Coast Guard's use of the term "Irish pennants," as he was of Irish extraction.
I think the term derives from the British Navy, and was a derogatory reference to sloppiness and carelessness, attributed to the Crown's age-old "difficulties" with its island neighbor.
I think my buddy had a point.
You will also never catch me placing a hat on a dining table. Doing so in the wardroom on a ship meant having to buy a round for the rest of the ship's officers next time one was in port. One also would always uncover (take one's hat off) in the wardroom and in the crew's dining area, as a sign of respect: in wartime, the tables in those areas would have pressed into service as makeshift surgical tables for treating the wounded. This show of respect was, therefore, entirely appropriate and always observed, even in peacetime.
My Brother Coasties, and probably our Navy brethren, will also probably identify with "reefing" our shirttails into our trousers. To save the rest of you a Google search, "reefing" (derived from the term for folding sails properly) a shirt means folding the excess shirttail (that would otherwise blouse over the top of the trousers) so that the shirt is squared away and close-fitted to one's body. And, I'm sure it goes without saying, that the open side of the reef always faces aft.
We had "Irish pennants" as well, and they were the bane of one's uniform -- especially the brand new ones received at boot camp or OCS, that were rife with the things. Funny thing: when I was at OCS, while we were having an afternoon of mandatory federal instruction on "discrimination" issues, a buddy of mine raised his objection to the Coast Guard's use of the term "Irish pennants," as he was of Irish extraction.
I think the term derives from the British Navy, and was a derogatory reference to sloppiness and carelessness, attributed to the Crown's age-old "difficulties" with its island neighbor.
I think my buddy had a point.
You will also never catch me placing a hat on a dining table. Doing so in the wardroom on a ship meant having to buy a round for the rest of the ship's officers next time one was in port. One also would always uncover (take one's hat off) in the wardroom and in the crew's dining area, as a sign of respect: in wartime, the tables in those areas would have pressed into service as makeshift surgical tables for treating the wounded. This show of respect was, therefore, entirely appropriate and always observed, even in peacetime.
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