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Solder Re-Classes To Cav Just So He Can Recite Lines From ‘Apocalypse Now’ | The Duffel Blog

KILLEEN, TX — The Army’s 1st Cavalry Division has been under fire in recent years, with soldiers claiming their obsession with obsolete uniform items — Stetson cowboy hats and spurs without rowels — make them stand out in addition to being the target of countless jokes from other service members. More recently, the enormous and…

KILLEEN, TX — The Army’s 1st Cavalry Division has been under fire in recent years, with soldiers claiming their obsession with obsolete uniform items — Stetson cowboy hats and spurs without rowels — make them stand out in addition to being the target of countless jokes from other service members.

More recently, the enormous and expensive patch of the unit has also drawn the ire of lawmakers after a brigade comptroller’s proposal to shrink the size of the emblem drew immediate and devastating reprisals.

But not all soldiers are so critical of the ‘First Team.’ Newly minted Trooper Specialist Ernest Whitman recently completed his change of MOS (Military Occupational Specialty), or re-class as it’s more commonly known, from the infantry into the ‘Cav.

When asked about the reason for his transition, Whitman didn’t hesitate. ”That’s easy bro, Apocalypse Now. Did you see that movie? That fucking bad-ass Stetson hat Robert Duvall was wearing. God I can’t wait to get mine! And those spurs, who wouldn’t want to wear them? I’m gonna pull so much tail it’ll be sick.”

Suddenly, Whitman stood back from the table and shouted, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning! How amazing is that line?”

via Solder Re-Classes To Cav Just So He Can Recite Lines From ‘Apocalypse Now’ | The Duffel Blog.

I was gonna make a crack that the real clue it was satire was the fact that NO Infantryman would ever reclass to Cav.

But then, I remembered, I know someone who did. He clings to his story that his knees were the issue, but I’m not really buying it. It has to be the hat.

  1. Jason

    And I still am baffled when this obsession with the hat and spurs developed. I was a 19D from 84-88 and I don’t think that I ever saw a Stetson or heard about the whole spur ride thing. Now my first two years were in a tank battalion, so that’s understandable, but why not when I was assigned to 2-1 Cav in 2AD? Strange.

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  2. Esli

    Just to be clear, I switched from infantry to armor. The CAV is a state of mind. Even my current 260 (or so) infantryman are cavalry. I had a battalion Dining-In last Thursday night and there were plenty of Stetsons in attendance.
    But for the record, the reason I switched is because of my knees. I have since concluded that it wasn’t absolutely necessary, though I do love my M1A2 SEPv2!

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  3. Quartermaster

    Who wouldn’t want that kewl hat! Worth getting even if you have to use your knees as an excuse.

    Brad, it’s funny how you said there was one guy you knew that switched because of his knees and out comes Esli to tell us all about it.

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  4. xbradtc

    I’ve been teasing Esli for one thing or another for 30 years. He’s not gonna start crying now.

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  5. Esli

    I’ve never come out in my life.

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  6. xbradtc

    So, you’re saying you’re still in the closet?

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  7. OUTLAW 13

    1-9 CAV in Vietnam re-introduced the Stetson to the Army and 1st CAV. Since then it has been mostly aviation cavalry that has perpetuated the hat and spurs. It has a real basis in history, I have a difficult time understanding the haters of the hat. There’s a pretty good book that details this called “Winged Sabers”.

    I served in 6th CAV for a while and wearing of traditional headgear was encouraged. Later while being assigned to the 1st CAV off and on for 9 years, the wear of the headgear and associated traditions were also on again off again depending on how the CG and the DIV CSM felt about it.

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  8. Esli

    No. Don’t think I wasn’t aware of the setup, either.

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