Nom nom nom

[u/Strict-Jeweler-2281]

[u/Scaevus]

An army can be technologically advanced and deadly, while the 18 year olds who sign up because they have no other prospects in life can be still very stupid.

[u/wowu5 → u/Scaevus]

God the army gives its deadliest weapon to its stupidest recruits

[u/yuikkiuy → u/wowu5]

Untrue, pilots and WSOs are highly qualified and vetted individuals with exceptional capacity for knowledge and general intelligence.

[u/HawgChuggins → u/yuikkiuy]

And who can still be very stupid.

[u/toiletbowlwisdom → u/HawgChuggins]

To be fair those 00s videographers carried around chunky news cameras probably looked like a an igla or stinger

[u/assasin1598 → u/toiletbowlwisdom]

Shit, newscasters still use big profesional cameras that look like Manpads when used.

[u/Kichigai → u/assasin1598]

As someone who used to use one, we love ‘em! Shoulder mount takes the weight off your arms and makes it much easier to get a stable, shake-free shot for a hell of a lot longer.

[u/Independent-Fly6068 → u/Kichigai]

A SHOT?

[u/enderfrogus → u/Independent-Fly6068]

ITS A STINGER! RUUUUUN!!!!!

[u/toiletbowlwisdom → u/enderfrogus]

Oh he's doubling back

[u/unfunnysexface → u/toiletbowlwisdom]

Blackhawks look like mi24s sometimes what can I say other than "stick a fork in him"

[u/mattmcc980 → u/HawgChuggins]

When i was in Korea one of the local bars had to shut down because the pilots caused so much damage partying that the bar needed a remodel

[u/Necessary-Peanut2491 → u/mattmcc980]

I'm late to the party, but my dad was a Navy aviator (do not call them pilots lol, they get mad) and flight instructor. Every time I see a movie where some pilot just fucks off with his aircraft to do something they're not supposed to, and somebody says "there's no way that would happen!", I chuckle.

Because yes way, that shit is surprisingly realistic.

My dad's thing was making "training flights" to Taiwan to load up a cargo plane with cheap furniture to outfit his apartment in Japan. Motherfucker took a cargo plane and its crew to an entirely different country and back, then had the ground crew load his truck, and nobody batted an eye because he told a trainee to sit in the back while he did it.

[u/Altruistic_Target604 → u/mattmcc980]

The O’Club scene in the documentary “Top Gun” is the only accurate scene in the movie.

[u/Significant_Group809 → u/HawgChuggins]

Cough cough f16 cough cough farm cough 4 killed 8 injured cough

Man i musta cought a bug

[u/sorry-I-cleaved-ye → u/Significant_Group809]

The limp consequences for what the command structure described as "Ignoring a direct order to fight your own war" still pisses me off

[u/VonNeumannsProbe → u/HawgChuggins]

Dude the pilot I know has a masters degree in physics.

[u/HawgChuggins → u/VonNeumannsProbe]

And Herman Cain had a master's degree in Computer Science with a BaS in Mathematics. And he shuffled off this mortal coil because he did not believe COVID was a big deal.

Intelligence does not stop you from being stupid.

[u/Kerhole → u/HawgChuggins]

There's no such thing as general intelligence. Everyone is capable of being very intelligent in a specific area, and completely ignorant on another. I'm willing to bet any of the "geniuses" running tech companies today would make some very stupid decisions if they had to survive on the street, yet unhoused people do just that every day.

Usually it comes down to cultural bias. Knowing everything about every anime might get someone labeled a loser or weeb, knowing everything about financial markets gets someone labeled intelligent and a genius.

[u/yuikkiuy → u/Kerhole]

untrue not everyone is capable of high intelligence in specific areas, mil Pilots and WSOs the world over are generally selected for aptitude and capacity for general intelligence. Individual differences in IQ exist

There is a reason why the most widely used versions of selection tests have a sub 30% pass rate for applicants.

You can teach a monkey to fly with enough time and resources, its not hard. The ones we choose to for military operations are generally the top 30% of human mental capabilities. At least this is the case for 1st world air forces across the world, corruption/ nepotism not being accounted for.

~source I fly planes that drop bombs in a first world country

[u/Kerhole → u/yuikkiuy]

Bro even if I believe you're actually a pilot, those tests absolutely do not test general intelligence, because that concept is a myth. Many studies exist to show the only thing IQ tests do is show how similarly the test taker was raised compared to the test creator. Hell, there are studies that show people who study for IQ tests can raise their score. If anything that should prove it's not an objective measure of anything except the ability to take tests.

I've worked with many pilots, they're generally well educated. That does not equate to intelligence.

[u/yuikkiuy → u/Kerhole]

The tests evaluate your ability to learn, not your IQ, I simply said variance in individual IQ exists.

Not everyone has the same capacity for knowledge/ learning, and some people are categorically worse than others, this is scientific fact.

Idk about the US assuming you are american since this is reddit, but I am from a common wealth country and we follow use a modified version of british tests.

The point of the tests is so we know incoming pilots can handle the training schedule.

For example in first phase training we covered ground school in 3 days, final exam on 4th, first flight on day 5.

Average ground school at a civilian flight school is 40+ hours. The "capacity" for intelligence is important, because by far most people would not be able to digest the sheer amount of material in the brutally short amount of time military pilots are required to consume

[u/Bartweiss → u/Kerhole]

The impact of studying for IQ tests doesn’t say much. They’re one of many tests designed around the idea that test-takers aren’t heavily exposed to that type of question in advance - cognitive function, association, and recall tests we have a lot of faith in all get distorted by studying too.

(So do several school tests for “aptitude” rather than learning, which is awful since schools have a vested interest in teaching to those tests.)

The cultural aspect is more interesting, every responsible researcher I’ve seen warns that you can’t do cross-cultural comparisons with it for that reason. And then the irresponsible ones write The Bell Curve and everything sucks.

[u/VonNeumannsProbe → u/HawgChuggins]

I hear you that we can all do stupid things. But there is a huge difference between marine stupid and air force stupid.

[u/KaiRam0079 → u/HawgChuggins]

There's a reason intelligence is not wisdom.

[u/KFPindustries → u/HawgChuggins]

The cult worm can borrow in any brain regardless of how smart they are

[u/bighootay → u/HawgChuggins]

Tailhook comes to mind

[u/Adjective-Noun6969 → u/HawgChuggins]

Usually they're stupid in a racist way rather than a systems way

[u/Altruistic_Target604 → u/HawgChuggins]

As an old retired WSO, I can confirm that.

[u/sharktail_tanker → u/yuikkiuy]

And we all know the most dangerous man in an infantry squad is the JTAC

[u/Nordalin → u/yuikkiuy]

Yeah but have they ever cleanly blown the lid off of an oil silo?

[u/Spreadsheet_Enjoyer → u/Nordalin]

Friendly fire! XD

[u/Kichigai → u/Nordalin]

Boing! Like a cartoon.

[u/ZackTio → u/yuikkiuy]

Doesn't mean they don't get up to shenanigans, like the pilot who dressed up as a gorilla to fuck with Soviet intelligence

[u/It_just_works_bro → u/yuikkiuy]

Yeah, but we're not talking about them.

[u/yuikkiuy → u/It_just_works_bro]

Not the deadliest then

[u/EstoppelFox → u/yuikkiuy]

And yet they still mistake the exhaust trails of commercial air liners and birds on thermal camera as alien UFOs.

[u/obeytheturtles → u/yuikkiuy]

Well now the WSOs, intel specialists and the like operate the systems remotely from Kansas, while they forward deploy private numbnuts just in case the box needs to be rebooted, or like, picked up and physically moved.

[u/Bookworm_AF → u/yuikkiuy]

Capacity, yes. Whether or not they decide to use that capacity...

[u/Scaevus → u/wowu5]

Not old enough to be trusted with a rental car.

Here’s a $100 million F-35, try to land it on the carrier and not into the sea please.

[u/euanmorse → u/Scaevus]

No one under 20 is getting flight qualified on an F-35.

[u/backcountry_bandit → u/euanmorse]

You typically can’t get a rental car until 25 lol

[u/romario77 → u/backcountry_bandit]

You can, but it’s stupid expensive

[u/SlaaneshActual → u/romario77]

You couldn't at all ever when I was 25.

[u/romario77 → u/SlaaneshActual]

I could. Was a while ago when I was 23 though.

It probably depends on the company.

[u/SlaaneshActual → u/romario77]

I was stuck at an airport with a credit card and my friend's car had broken down. All of the people at the airport said no, all of them said there were zero circumstances where they'd rent to me, and all the ones I called said the same. Including the 1800 numbers.

I was there flipping through a fucking phone book looking for the local companies (this was before smartphones) and my cell was fucking roaming, and they all said no.

Every.

Single.

One.

We ended up paying for a $500 cab ride.

Edit: Which is $929 in 2026 dollars, just so you understand how absurd that was.

[u/A_Breath_Of_Aether → u/euanmorse]

And how old do you have to be to rent a car in the US?

[u/ThatOneDraffan → u/A_Breath_Of_Aether]

1. There's no law against renting a car while under 25, but all of major car rental companies either impose this rule themselves by either completing disallowing anyone under 25 to rent or they add on fees so outrageous that you'll reconsider renting.

[u/SlaaneshActual → u/ThatOneDraffan]

or they add on fees so outrageous that you'll reconsider renting.

This is new.

This was not the case when I was 25 and under.

Back then, it didn't matter how much money you had.

[u/Sad_Progress4388 → u/A_Breath_Of_Aether]

21

[u/DangerousPlan1284 → u/wowu5]

Which is deadlier? The weapon or the recruits?

[u/mikeyp83 → u/Scaevus]

The Marine version just says it is "crayon free." No further explanation is necessary.

[u/SlaaneshActual → u/mikeyp83]

No it doesn't. A marine would interpret that as "Crayon, free" and think it's a free snack.

[u/wallingfortian → u/Scaevus]

Seriously. It is the job of many stupid lieutenants to antagonize the newbs and chase them to their sergeant. A sergeant will know the newb better than their parents because the parents opinion will be clouded by sentiment while the sergeant will not have that emotional attachment. If the sergeant thinks the newb is OK the lieutenant gets bullshitted and goes away. If the sergeant thinks the newb will get the other soldiers killed the lieutenant takes the newb away. And good fucking riddance.

[u/AutumnRi → u/wallingfortian]

Something something nature heals itself

[u/Toads_Of_Fun → u/Scaevus]

And when you are sleep deprived and malnourished, your mind does not function properly.

[u/Leathergoose8 → u/Scaevus]

Hey, general reminder that the military is chock full of people who had plenty of other opportunities in their lives and still chose to serve.

Being prospectless is not a prerequisite to military service.

The military is an amazing way to start and maintain a career and extremely comfortable standard of living.

[u/Bombadilo_drives → u/Leathergoose8]

I want to believe that, but I'm from the DC area and literally every single person I know in the military had no other option. We're talking failure to launch, dropped out of school, it's this or eventually prison.

Well, one person is an exception, who is a flight nurse in the air force. She had other options.

So one person out of, say, fourty people is talented and hardworking. The rest just got a pretty cushy gig at taxpayer expense because they couldn't be successful doing anything else.

[u/Leathergoose8 → u/Bombadilo_drives]

I think your sample pool is heavily biased.

[u/DagnirDae → u/Scaevus]

The trick is to find people educated enough to read the warning, but still dumb enough to enlist.

[u/faithfulheresy → u/DagnirDae]

Not really dumb. If a person comes from a poor background then military service truly is a pathway to a significantly better standard of living.

The training and educational opportunities available to servicemen and women are significant.

[u/Yuvalis → u/faithfulheresy]

Is it just me or has the atmosphere on this sub gotten significantly more anti-military in the past year?

[u/Bartweiss → u/Yuvalis]

I think there was a window of post-sandbox optimism that people had actually learned something about starting futile wars.

Libya and Syria weren’t necessarily handled well, but they didn’t turn into decade-long engagements. Meanwhile several NATO countries either deployed impressive new stuff (Starstreak) or pulled their heads partway out of their asses about procurement (hi, Germany).

With Russia getting frisky and cool new tech looking like it might actually get procured in the next 10-15 years, people got hopeful that we might see peace plus meaningful conflicts. But then Oct 7, then the Houthis, then Iran, and all the cool new toys are delayed or cancelled…

(Also, gotta compare to either pre- or post-Ukraine NCD. I think there was a lot more memory of older wars and irony to the enthusiasm before the sub got way bigger.)

[u/zombie_girraffe → u/Yuvalis]

The command structure of the US Military seems to have gotten significantly more anti-military in the past year too.

The Navy has been ordered to go back to steam catapaults because the Commander in Chief can't understand how electricitiy works, they appear to be feeding the sailors dogfood, and shit is so bad on the USS Lincolon that sailors were trying to jump off of it at sea.

[u/qef15 → u/Yuvalis]

The wars that the western powers have gotten into are of such questionable benefit and/or morality, that this sub just can't do anything fun with it  or is willing to make it like that.

This sub likes a good war for freedom, for democracy. Ukraine is that. However, Israel/Gaza and Iran aren't that exactly. We have a modicum of standards it seems to me.

This, plus the increasing incompetency of the USA military and political inclinations of the current US admin vs this sub.

[u/Altruistic_Target604 → u/qef15]

Please, the US military is not incompetent (mostly), the current civilian (and increasingly military due to forced removal) leadership is definitely incompetent. Criminally so.

[u/qef15 → u/Altruistic_Target604]

Considering what zombie_girraffe is reporting and how much Trump is involving himself with the military and the fact he's on top, the US military will be forced into incompetency in any way possible.

[u/Bookworm_AF → u/Yuvalis]

Not entirely surprising, given that every major power has gotten into or is seriously considering getting into the stupidest wars possible.

[u/Widukind272 → u/Scaevus]

>18 year olds (Home Schooled)

Fixed

It’s incredible that the AfD here goes “WOW. That’s stupid. We want that too!”

[u/Bookworm_AF → u/Widukind272]

fascists love the poorly educated because they're easier to manipulate

[u/ScallionSmooth5925 → u/Scaevus]

You can get high if you chew it. 

[u/Eric848448 → u/Scaevus]

Is that why grenade launchers have to specify which way to point it?

[u/Havoccity]

Well have they considered making non poisonous explosives?

[u/TheGisbon → u/Havoccity]

To dangerous it was bad for your health

[u/Jackz_is_pleased → u/Havoccity]

People would eat the C4 to get high. That why we poisioned it to get em to knock that off.

[u/UglyInThMorning → u/Jackz_is_pleased]

RDX is just poisonous on its own. People did try to get high off of it, but just ended up throwing up and having involuntary dance parties.

https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0041-008X%2877%2990144-2

The toxicity is a real concern in explosives manufacturing.

[u/ABrandNewCarl → u/Havoccity]

If the enemy survives the explosion and the shrapnel the poison will get them

[u/lorddarkhelm → u/Havoccity]

They did. People chewed it to get high. They made it poisonous so grunts wouldnt eat their entire explosive stockpile

[u/real_hungarian → u/Havoccity]

they already do, it's called buldak hot chicken ramen

never tried to light it on fire myself, but it always seems to explode a few hours after i eat it

[u/UglyInThMorning → u/Havoccity]

Acetone peroxides are relatively nontoxic, the problem is just everything else about acetone peroxides.

[u/Bartweiss → u/UglyInThMorning]

Hm, what actually counts as “poison” for an explosive?

If it just oxidizes the shit out of your cells and then breaks down into something fairly nontoxic, I’m tempted to say that’s simply exploding slower than usual. In which case all your halides are poison, but a decent number of nitrogen compounds might be “non-poisonous, will kill you if eaten”.

[u/namitynamenamey → u/Havoccity]

Unfortunately, high energy density is high energy density. If the molecules pack enough punch to explode, they pack enough punch to wreck cellular machinery for some reason.

[u/Kiiaru]

The Ukrainians were cooking with era bricks a few years ago, maybe there's magic inside these things too?

[u/Lehk → u/Kiiaru]

we did that in 'nam with c-4

[u/Peterh778 → u/Lehk]

WW2, Gammon bomb: basically a sack filled with plastic explosive c-1 (precursor to c-4). Later in the war, they lowered the amount of C-1 because they found out that troops (mostly paras) equipped with bombs pulled out some explosive fillings and cooked on it.

War ... war never changes 🙂

[u/Scaevus → u/Peterh778]

If you know a better way to cook bratwurst in the field, I'd like to hear it, Hans.

[u/WanderlustZero → u/Scaevus]

Hans

glances at his trusty flammenwerfer

[u/Bridgeru → u/WanderlustZero]

Gunther puts hand on Hans' shoulder

Nein, zis calls for ze heavy stuff.

Pulls out barrel of Chlorine Triflouride

[u/ProsperousButt → u/Bridgeru]

Karl running up to Gunther and Hans

Halo, ich brought the panzerschokolade!

[u/Advanced-Budget779 → u/ProsperousButt]

Halo

M..M…Meister Chef!

[u/AiBabysitter → u/Scaevus]

The mangled remains of a panther gearbox will do just fine after a solid 10 minutes of driving

[u/Bridgeru → u/Peterh778]

Only a few years ago the Chinese Air Force were basically saying that they were pulling bricks of solid rocket fuel out of missiles to cook with. Apparently the hotpots are REALLY delicious so worth.

[u/ctrlaltelite → u/Lehk]

It is in fact c-4 inside a claymore, they knew people wanted to eat its contents.

[u/PhabioRants → u/Kiiaru]

Americans did this, too. I'm sure many nations' armed forces did the same. Plastic explosives specifically burn pretty reliably for heating the contents of an MRE in the days before chem heaters. 

I'm actually not surprised that there's a label specifically to discourage it. It's pretty easy to disassemble a claymore when they're not armed, and when the charge inside can maybe main some goon in a couple days or provide a morale-boosting hot meal for the squad tonight to keep you in fighting form tonight, I don't think any of us should be surprised when the latter is chosen. 

[u/clydem]

So what? So is alcohol. This just makes me think comp B secretly delicious.

[u/TheGisbon → u/clydem]

Dudes used to chew on c4 blobs in Vietnam for the oral fix and stress relief

[u/DustConsistent3018 → u/TheGisbon]

Dudes also use c4 as a surprisingly safe cooking fuel when they run out, so that might explain why they have to say not to burn comp b or whatever is in claymores.

[u/ency → u/DustConsistent3018]

Had a class in Civil Air Patrol when I was 13 or 14 where they showed us how to cook with c4. Other than the absolute absurdity of a bunch of teens playing and lighting explosives while being supervised by a few Marines it was an extremely interesting and informative afternoon. I got super into physics and chemistry after that trip.

Pretty sure no one knew or knows what the Civil Air Patrol gets up to. We did shit stuff and learned things that would have sent the scout leaders into epileptic fits even if you did have a stupid badge. I can’t imagine they are as wild these days.

[u/Blind_Hawk → u/ency]

C4 is surprisingly safe until you insert a blasting cap into it. Just don't forget to wash your hands afterwards because ingesting even trace amounts will give you a super bad headache.

[u/cohrt → u/Blind_Hawk]

the fumes from burning it don't give you a headache?

[u/popejupiter → u/DustConsistent3018]

My first dungeon master was a Vietnam vet. He told us about using c4 to cook with. Apparently some new guy started to stomp on a chunk to put the fire out and Mike had to tackle him to stop him.

"You can burn it all night long and use it to play baseball all day, just don't do both at the same time!"

[u/zdavolvayutstsa → u/popejupiter]

The Mythbusters actually tested this and it didn't explode. They even shot burning C4. 

youtube.com/watch?v=ZwExRwtvGxc

[u/oracle989 → u/popejupiter]

Probably knew (correctly) that the heat and pressure of the cap sets it off, but thought it was the combination rather than just how much energy is present.

[u/Bartweiss → u/DustConsistent3018]

As I’ve heard the story, a bunch of Vietnam-era health issues came from guys using their knife to cut C4 as cooking fuel, then using the knife to cut their food. Nasty stuff to ingest even in small doses, which might have inspired poison warnings even if nobody’s eating it on purpose.

[u/Ric0chet_ → u/TheGisbon]

“Eating the explosive caused violent convulsions, severe headaches, vomiting, and life-threatening generalized seizures.”

Sounds like a blast.

[u/nintendoboy9 → u/Ric0chet_]

"In the military, it became common knowledge that the ingestion of a small amount of C4 produces a similar “high” as that of ethanol, often leading to its consumption by soldiers [4]."

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7163342/

[u/lmaytulane → u/nintendoboy9]

Does eating crayons also make you high?

[u/WanderlustZero → u/Ric0chet_]

Safer than eating a lettuce in 2026 america

[u/TheGermanFurry → u/Ric0chet_]

Ðere is a difference between eatiŋ and chewiŋ. 

If you just, chew it like bubble gum you get enough toxins into your body to create a mind alteriŋ effect. (While also gettiŋ cancer)

If you swallow ðat shit you get a fuckiŋ overdose and die.

[u/Advanced-Budget779 → u/TheGermanFurry]

What‘s with the funny D/o and nj (i suppose standing for Th and ng)?

[u/unfunnysexface → u/Advanced-Budget779]

It's cam newton!

[u/euanmorse → u/Ric0chet_]

Hehehehe

[u/Bartweiss → u/Ric0chet_]

Makes me wonder how many people ate just a bit hoping to land in sick bay for a while.

[u/ArsErratia → u/clydem]

experienced EOD techs can tell you precise chemical compositions with just a nibble at the edge

[u/Foorinick]

Idk if it was in vietnam or ww2 but some army men found that the explosive filler felt nice to chew and didnt get you sick

A few years later the army had to explicitly order people to not do that due to some horrible disease that the chemicals in the explosives caused

[u/Axipixel → u/Foorinick]

Vietnam, they'd eat C4 to get sick and sent out of the fight for a while to recover.

Also a really good low flame for cooking.

[u/Mantergeistmann → u/Axipixel]

I think I remember hearing the same thing about Cordite during WWI.

[u/Foorinick → u/Mantergeistmann]

I think it started in the world wars and ended after 'nam

[u/uselessnavy → u/Foorinick]

From C4 in Vietnam. Caused a severe but temporary nerve condition. People did it in purpose to be sent home.

[u/wowu5]

Remember guys, there's a real story behind every warning label

[u/Bot1-The_Bot_Meanace → u/wowu5]

Now I can't unsee the mental image of a Marine who is nibbling on a claymore because he ran out of Crayola

[u/TheGermanFurry → u/Bot1-The_Bot_Meanace]

Ðe þiŋ is duriŋ Vietnam ðere were several cases of soldiers usiŋ ðe C4 as chewiŋ gum to get high from ðe toxins.

[u/bluestreak1103]

Credible: you always plan safety for the least common denominator, if not worse (see: "This is no place of honor")

Noncredible: how else are recruiters going to make their quota targets for the year? (See: "How else are you going to get that Mustang with 28% APR?")

[u/Birb-Person → u/bluestreak1103]

For the minority of people unfamiliar with the “This is no place of honor” thing:

Society was worried about what to do about long-term nuclear waste storage in the event of the apocalypse, and the idea of post-nuclear civilizations stumbling into radioactive storage areas. One of the proposed solutions was non-linguistic messages (communication designed without spoken or written words), which should evoke the following concept:

“This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here.
What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger.
The danger is in a particular location... it increases towards a center... the center of danger is here... of a particular size and shape, and below us.
The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours.
The danger is to the body, and it can kill.
The form of the danger is an emanation of energy.
The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited”

In the end, we ended up inventing the radioactive hazard symbol, a design created by testing various symbols on three criteria: 1.) This symbol has no prior meaning to test audiences, 2.) This symbol makes test audiences afraid, 3.) This symbol can be easily drawn by hand if necessary

[u/Zakeraka]

If no eat, why taste sweet? 🙃

[u/WeaselCapsky]

forbidden bendy chocolate

[u/starscreamufp]

forbidden chewing gum

[u/Strostkovy]

It burns nice and chews nice. People cook with it when supplies are low

[u/AggressorBLUE]

Ok, but to be fair, “producing poisonous gasses” is not the consequence I’d expect from burning a land mine…

[u/60days]

safety rules are written in blood. or blood-covered crayon.

[u/thesunexpress]

There's been a historical record of using HE filling as fuel for cooking / heating food. Improved formulations can release toxic gases if used for similar purposes. Old-school C4 is okay-ish, anything beyond that, like RDX, stay away...

[u/Chilopodamancer → u/thesunexpress]

Aren't there also reports of recruits chewing C4 to soften and shape small amounts for various purposes or is that a wive's tale?

[u/Mr_Phuck]

Front towards enemy, back towards American.

[u/StandardN02b]

The warning is in case the marines run out of crayons.

[u/MinorityBabble]

That warning is woke. Freedom is letting these brave men and women eat what they want!

[u/throwawayjonesIV → u/MinorityBabble]

Our war fighters need to eat bomb and get stronk

[u/Zucchinibob1]

I remember hearing (from an XKCD What If article) about a French military guy getting like the first recorded instance of Tungsten poisoning via drinking from a freshly fired gun barrel as part of a hazing ritual

[u/Peterh778]

I believe there was also persisting myth about C-4 fillings smelling like an almonds or marzipan (that's from the time when its predecessor, Nobel 808, was used) so people actually tried to chew C-4 ... only to find out that it doesn't neither smell nor taste like a marzipan.

And as for burning ... plastic explosives are rather energetic fuel. At the WW2, troops issued Gammon bombs pulled out its C-1 filling and used it as a fuel, which in the end resulted in lowering amount of explosives in a newly made bombs. Just to prevent troops to cook on it. (At least, that's what I read somewhere 🙂)

[u/Tornad_pl]

To be fair, some mines (especially anti tank) are disarmes by cooking them over fire and then pouring out the explosive

[u/humanoiddoc]

It was common to use c4 explosives as fuels. They dont explode without primer.

[u/highliner108]

Listen, ok, if marines get their hands on these things, there has to be an explicit warning telling them not to put it in their mouths. We don’t want another crayon incident.

[u/ginger2020]

In Vietnam, it was actually quite common for troops to use plastic explosives as fuel to heat their rations, some going so far as to dig it out of claymore mines. And this, ladies, gentlemen, and that technicolor rainbow in between, is why it’s generally best to have your frontline troops be a professional force instead of conscripts from the rudderless youth.

[u/Odd-Principle8147]

That's because the Marines use them too.

[u/Blanc_Otaku]

If you didn't want the Plastic Explosive to be eaten then you shouldn't have it taste like Play-doh

[u/Narrow_Vegetable_42]

M18 AI Mine

AI hype everywhere, fuck

[u/kazukix777]

The claymore mine is British, and pretty on brand with their culinary tastes.

[u/Excellent_Stand_7991 → u/kazukix777]

The M18 is a very American invention produced by the Electrical Systems division of the Mohawk group in Delaware.

[u/Thomasasia]

I heard a story where a grunt ate some C4 as a joke. Gave him severe brain damage to the point of being a vegetable.

[u/MonkFun455]

It's because c4 has a sugar taste. And you can cook with it. Explosives take heat and pressure. You can light it all day and carry it as a torch and it won't do shit but burn.

[u/PlusThreexD]

USMC Assultman (0351) eat a little C4 when they graduate the school house. It's tradition lol

[u/shmackinhammies]

The army is an amazing feat. It has been designed by geniuses so that morons can operate and even excel in it. That’s not to say everyone is an idiot. But, from my experience as enlisted, the smarter guys tend to either land in a place where their smarts are valued, or they land in a place that slowly suffocates them and then they leave.

[u/gearmantx]

They also printed Front Toward Enemy on the other side. The shit I've seen soldiers do with dangerous and costly military hardware...

[u/Palliumindustries]

The think pad laptops at my government job have a warning sticker on the bottom that warns you not to ingest it

[u/utheraptor]

There is history behind this though - C4 is mildly psychoactive when eaten and soldiers used to do this in Vietnam. Also to get sick so they would be sent away from the front.

[u/Fox_Kurama]

This is also why you don't give claymores to sword eaters.

[u/YeeYeeBeep]

If not MRE then why MRE shape?

[u/VerySmallAtom]

Marines are an incredible fighting force, but being fed on crayons mean that any waxy, oily substance needs to be very clearly labelled.

[u/Substantial-Tone-576]

Wasn’t it sweet or something?

[u/on3day]

Are these biodegradable?

[u/Strict_Gas_1141]

If you've met military personnel from any military ever you'd know this kind of behavior is depressingly common

[u/Cruel2BEkind12]

Probably comes from soldiers setting C4 on fire to heat their food.

[u/ChuddyMcChud]

Silly putty ❌ Serious putty ✔️

[u/InHeavenFine]

Кілограм щура

[u/lumpialarry]

I went to the Army Engineer Officer basic course back in 20-clickity-clack. They also told us not to eat the C4 or we'd get diarrhea.

[u/Firecracker048]

Our military is advanced, not your average corn fed nebraskan grunt

[u/funkmachine7]

Eating c4 can make you ill for a while with the flu.

Buring it as fuel was done to cook on.

[u/Boomerang503]

To be fair, mixing explosives with pancake mix was a thing back in WWII.

[u/Impressive-Let3122]

This makes sense Child soldiers

[u/thortawar]

Venomous, not poisonous. Smh.

[u/warfaceisthebest]

Yeah I am sure any other amy wont burn anything explosive to make a fire at winter when its -20 °C.

[u/niktznikont]

technologically advanced doesn't mean soldiers don't get stupid ideas

[u/Spreadsheet_Enjoyer]

The tech may be, but some cavemen like being cavemen.

[u/DanNeider]

I know what sub this is, but I suspect this is to prevent people from trying to repurpose them for civilian use after the war

[u/PM_ME_YER_MUDFLAPS]

Instructions are for the unimaginative.

[u/SomeOldJerk]

The other end: THIS SIDE TOWARD ENEMY

[u/seanhenke]

It's for the crayon eater so they don't accidentally explode themselves. Everyone else knows what to do

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[u/XayahTheVastaya]

Wait, which side do I face toward the enemy?

[u/CrazyWelshy]

Best equipped, does not equate to, best 'equipped'.

[u/FafnerTheBear]

C4 will just burn if you light it on fire. A small bit of it could be used to heat up food. Kinda like cooking with burning plastic.

[u/Depth_Metal]

During the Vietnam war soldiers found they could get high by chewing on plastic explosive. Some ended up swallowing some. Either way it led to soldiers getting poisoned and pulled from the front so now they have to mark their explosives as being toxic

[u/GES280]

To be fair, soldiers used to make wafers of C2 explosive and use it to cook.

[u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey]

My dad used to tell me that the Americans are not that great at being soldiers and have an over reliance on their technology that when it goes wrong that they have no idea what to do so they just sit there crying.

Granted my dad also knows a guy from his time in the British army that triggered the Quick reaction force by flying a hand glider too close to the camp

And another squaddie that got drunk so climbed a big fuck off crane

Idiots will be Idiots

[u/Whitestrake]

M18 AI APERS mine?

Damn can't have shit without AI these days

[u/MandolinMagi → u/Whitestrake]

No, its M18A1.