Gate Guard stopped me...

[schardein]

I'm recently retired from the Marine Corps, but still go to base for groceries, haircut, swing by the office to BS with the guys from time to time.

 

I was going on base yesterday (Fort Leonard Wood), and the young soldier went through his normal routine of looking at my ID card, glancing in the bed of the truck, and then says:

 

Guard:  Sir, can I ask you a question?

 

Me:  Sure, what can I do for you you?  (thinking I've been selected for a random vehicle search that they do... randomly)

 

Guard:  Your truck wouldn't happen to be for sale, would it?

 

Me:  No... sorry.

 

Guard:  Man, you can never find one in good shape and this one is awesome.  These old trucks are so cool.   Well, have a nice day.

 

I smiled for a while.  Funny, I think of my Cherokee and Comanche as my "newer" Jeeps.

 

 

[ComancheKid45]

Always makes a day better! 

[Eagle]

Fort Lost in the Woods, eh? That's where I did Army Basic and AIT back in the Vietnam era.

 

They had soldiers doing gate duty? Several years ago my late wife and I were in Maryland so I took her to see Edgewood Arsenal, which was my stateside permanent duty station before I went on an all-expenses-paid vacation to southeast Asia. They had civilian rent-a-cops manning the gate, which was quite a surprise to me. When I was in, it was all MPs.

[13 Legion]

I’m a Jarhead, but I too did my schooling at Fort Lost in the Woods. I was a heavy equipment operator and we cross-trained there with the Army, Navy and Air Force. My daughters at Camp Pendleton and I know the gate guards are all Marines there. I have gone to a couple other military installations and have noticed contractors now manning the gates instead of MPs.

[schardein]

Fort Leonard Wood Gate Guards are a mixture of soldiers and civilian employees.  The back gate (where I come & go 99% of the time) always has one of each.