The "Stress Card" Urban Legend

[Yggdrasil]

Okay, so there are certain things I'm getting tired of at work - and it's not just at my present command; it's previous commands as well.

As you can tell by the title, it's the "Stress Card" urban legend - you've heard it all before: "Recruits these days are given stress cards that they can flash to get out of PT!"

You know what the funny thing is? By the time some kid has two years in the military, he's ALREADY talking out of his ass about what people are doing or not doing in basic training, compared to what he did... just two years ago.

I've got nine and half years in the Navy, and this urban legend has been around long before I joined - and it's funny to hear people with less than half the time I have in saying "Did you know that recruits get 'stress cards' now?"

Sometimes I feel that even if you were to prove to everyone in the military that stress cards do not exist, this urban legend isn't going away. Older/experienced people will always want to think that they've "had it harder" than the younger/newer people.

Thoughts?

[Measure Man]

Okay, so there are certain things I'm getting tired of at work - and it's not just at my present command; it's previous commands as well.

As you can tell by the title, it's the "Stress Card" urban legend - you've heard it all before: "Recruits these days are given stress cards that they can flash to get out of PT!"

You know what the funny thing is? By the time some kid has two years in the military, he's ALREADY talking out of his ass about what people are doing or not doing in basic training, compared to what he did... just two years ago.

I've got nine and half years in the Navy, and this urban legend has been around long before I joined - and it's funny to hear people with less than half the time I have in saying "Did you know that recruits get 'stress cards' now?"

Sometimes I feel that even if you were to prove to everyone in the military that stress cards do not exist, this urban legend isn't going away. Older/experienced people will always want to think that they've "had it harder" than the younger/newer people.

Thoughts?

Funny and true.

Another urban legend I often hear (even on the board) is: "When I came in (2 yrs ago, 10 yrs ago, 40 years ago)...Privates (Airmen, Seamen, etc) didn't ask questions...it was "yes, sir or no, sir" and they did what they were told." LOL>

[Yggdrasil]

Another urban legend I often hear (even on the board) is: "When I came in (2 yrs ago, 10 yrs ago, 40 years ago)...Privates (Airmen, Seamen, etc) didn't ask questions...it was "yes, sir or no, sir" and they did what they were told." LOL>

Oh yeah - back in the day when there were no dirtbags, nobody whined, and everyone was squared away, and everyone was as physically fit as an Olympic athlete. Yeah, I remember those days back in 1999... yeah, right.

[sigecaps]

Oh yeah - back in the day when there were no dirtbags, nobody whined, and everyone was squared away, and everyone was as physically fit as an Olympic athlete. Yeah, I remember those days back in 1999... yeah, right.

Every time I hear a crusty SNCO say we need to get back to the "old days", when the Air Force was apparently in its golden age, two things run through my mind. The above quote, and that he's full of shit.

[Yggdrasil]

I've been checking out a couple of other threads, and it seems that some people are claiming to have had stress cards in boot camp - or say that their subordinates claimed to have had them. And this claim was by Air Force and some Army.

The reason I know that this is BS is because I know how this urban legend got started - and this ONLY happened in the Navy:

During the early mid-90's, the Navy was worried about the number of attempted suicides in boot camp. In reaction, they created blue cards with contact information for the chaplain - that way they could talk to the chaplain whenever they needed (wanted) to. Recruits began using them to go see the chaplain at very convenient times, so the Navy put an end to this in 1997, when boot camp received a major overhaul, and introduced Battle Stations, and changed the name of the instructors from Company Commanders (CC's) to Recruit Division Commanders (RDC's).

Keep in mind that recruits generally had a serious beating awaiting them upon return from seeing the chaplain anyway; so there was really no point in using it anyway. Most people who who went to Navy boot camp back then aren't even aware "stress card"refers to the card that they had, and many of them spread the myth that today's recruits have stress cards themselves.

That said, anyone outside of what I mentioned above that claims to have had stress cards is talking out of their asses.

[Shrike]

How about the good old days of "wall-to-wall counseling"? You know, when you could just take your mouthy airman out back and beat the crap out of them to teach them a lesson?

If that was happening 20 years ago when I came in, I never saw it. Yet I hear people who have been in <10 years talking about wishing for those good ol' days to come back.

The whole concept always seemed BS to me, because what if the subordinate whoops the boss's ass? Looking back on the supervisors I've had in my career, I think that if I had to fight them one on one, I could take about 40% of them down easily, have a long, drawn out war of attrition with 40% of them, and get the ever-lovin' crap knocked out of me by the remaining 20%. So what's the point of the whole thing?

[Okie]

This is not worth getting upset about, IMO.

[Yggdrasil]

This is not worth getting upset about, IMO.

You know, it would be one thing if people spread this around knowing that it's not true. But sadly, too many people actually BELIEVE this. Sad to know that people are such tools that they'll believe anything that's negative.

[Red Dragon]

Although the "Stess Card" doesn't really exist, my niece uses the system. When she didn't want to train, she would present a bloody tampon. She called it the bloody tampon card.

[LOAL-D]

I wish we had BS cards after basic. Whenever someone starts shoveling it on thick, everyone gets to take them out and wave em around!

[Silver Fox]

Funny and true.

Another urban legend I often hear (even on the board) is: "When I came in (2 yrs ago, 10 yrs ago, 40 years ago)...Privates (Airmen, Seamen, etc) didn't ask questions...it was "yes, sir or no, sir" and they did what they were told." LOL>

I can't vouch for the people in my paygrade when I came in, but I did. Maybe I just had a really good instructor in boot camp, but I remained terrified of E-4's and above for a long time and it was YES SIR. NO SIR. It took a long time to get comfortable around other junior enlisted folks, and I never really got comfortable around NCOs until I became one.

[Wereldboom]

I like the stories about getting hit by drill instructors in boot camp. Out of three that I had, two of them would easily get their asses kicked by 3/4 of us there.

As well, if you claim to have been hit after 1973 when the military became all volunteer, your drill instructor is either in violation of the UCMJ, or you're lying to boost your ego and look like the badass that you're not.

[Measure Man]

I wish we had BS cards after basic. Whenever someone starts shoveling it on thick, everyone gets to take them out and wave em around!

We have BS Flags...that you can run up the flagpole when it gets too deep to wave a card.

[LOAL-D]

We have BS Flags...that you can run up the flagpole when it gets too deep to wave a card.


And see who salutes? ;)

[Battleshort]

Urban legend?

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=41184

This is from Dec 1997. Check out the panel recommendations at the bottom of the page.

[Wereldboom]

Urban legend?

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=41184

This is from Dec 1997. Check out the panel recommendations at the bottom of the page.

Here's some clarification on that stress card:

http://www.snopes.com/military/stress.asp

It's not exactly what urban legend makes it out to be.

[Battleshort]

Here's some clarification on that stress card:

http://www.snopes.com/military/stress.asp

It's not exactly what urban legend makes it out to be.

The guy that relieved me in Pearl in 96 had just came from pushing boots. I told me many a story of the "card".

[AUAlum]

Okay, so there are certain things I'm getting tired of at work - and it's not just at my present command; it's previous commands as well.

As you can tell by the title, it's the "Stress Card" urban legend - you've heard it all before: "Recruits these days are given stress cards that they can flash to get out of PT!"

You know what the funny thing is? By the time some kid has two years in the military, he's ALREADY talking out of his ass about what people are doing or not doing in basic training, compared to what he did... just two years ago.

I've got nine and half years in the Navy, and this urban legend has been around long before I joined - and it's funny to hear people with less than half the time I have in saying "Did you know that recruits get 'stress cards' now?"

Sometimes I feel that even if you were to prove to everyone in the military that stress cards do not exist, this urban legend isn't going away. Older/experienced people will always want to think that they've "had it harder" than the younger/newer people.

Thoughts?

It won't stop. I think they do it to make the recruits feel like they are tougher since they didn't have stress cards. I'm telling you my husband just told me that Ft. Jackson and other bases that have female recruits give out stress cards. My husband JUST graduated Basic Training and the DS told him that. Literally he just graduated. Since I'm about to join he was like you'll have it easy since they give the ladies stress cards. :eek:

[WILDJOKER5]

Every time I hear a crusty SNCO say we need to get back to the "old days", when the Air Force was apparently in its golden age, two things run through my mind. The above quote, and that he's full of shit.


Oh yeah - back in the day when there were no dirtbags, nobody whined, and everyone was squared away, and everyone was as physically fit as an Olympic athlete. Yeah, I remember those days back in 1999... yeah, right.

I like the thoughts of, so when can we have a beer, it is past noon.

And, i have to go where now to have a smoke, back in the good old days we could smoke right here where I am working.

Not to forget the, work? we got cards to play.

[ZERO2111]

Even if I had gotten a stress card at Parris Island, I would've been to afraid to use it. I probably would've been sent home for refusing to train.

[Silver Fox]

I've learned that many times, people who should know what they're talking about, actually don't.


I hear boot camp instructors talk about other squadrons using stress cards when they don't.

I once had a weapons instructor tell me and a class of students the sonic crack of a .50 cal round would tear a man in half if it was closer than three feet. I got in an argument with him about it, then shut up when I realized I wouldn't win with an instructor, then as soon as we had a break I took the senior instructor aside (he was out when this happened) and told him about it... at which point the other instructor strangely did not finish teaching the class and the senior instructor began the post-break lecture with "Ok, I don't know what the f*** happened earlier, but .50 CAL ROUNDS WILL NOT RIP YOU IN HALF IF THEY MISS YOU!"

[michelle nin]

I am reading this and seem to baffled...reason being, is that my husband currently has new soldiers in his section saying they had stress cards in basic training. They have also told stories of how their Xboxes and cell phones were taken away for punishment reasons...this of course infuriated my husband because he was only allowed to call home twice while he was in basic. He thinks basic traing is getting weak for soldiers now and they show up for duty with no respect at all. I can't wait to hear what he thinks when I tell him the stress card does not exist...hmm

[ringjamesa]

you husband is lying to you...

[Yggdrasil]

Let me guess... he's been in two years, and thinks he's a badass, right?