Hazing and 'Raging

Steroids.

The word alone brings up ugly images of needles, pills, and what not.  Professional athletes getting caught, or the innuendo of them using it.

Sicily, Italy 1991.  My first posting after completing Security Force Training school.  Being a young, ignorant nub Marine, I had no clue as to what the town outside the base gates held.  Only towards the end, just mere months before we were to transfer to Crete, Greece, did I finally start going out in town and learning what delights and horrors it held.

The Gut.  Our nickname for the local "Red Light District".  My first, and last time I visited here, I didn't partake of the services offered.  Too chicken shit, and honestly afraid of the possibility of getting a Transvestite.  Instead, one of my fellow Devil Dogs, whose name I don't recall, did partake of a lovely lady who's origins I do not recall.  Doubtful she was Russian or one of those Eastern countries, as the Soviet Uni0n had just collapsed a few months earlier.  Those ladies would soon populate The Gut and other red light districts soon enough.

Anyways, while we hung around outside in the alley while our friend went to town (literally, we could hear the bed hitting the wall...  first really slow....  then really fast...  then back to slow...  repeat...), the older Marines filled me in about the Pharmacies in Europe.  Specifically that you could buy steroids OTC.

Not only that, but that possibly 50% of the Marine Unit in Sicily was taking steroids.

Later on, looking back, I realized that the roids most likely had a role in the hazing incidents that occurred at that command.  And, they would play a role in another major incident at my future parent command.

Thankfully, we were to transfer to Greece in a few months, otherwise I may have succumbed to peer pressure and taken the roids myself.

I was to the point to where I had actually bought a 1 months supply of Winstrol from a fellow Marine.  I took these pills with me to Greece, through customs wrapped in a light cloth, inside a tennis ball.

Once in Greece however, I realized that they just weren't for me, and after The Terminator arrived, and I started running a lot, I didn't want to put a lot of bulk on.  So I threw them away, a move which I am grateful for to this day, for more than just the reason of the health benefits.

We had Marines who used 'roids in Greece, or, I should say continued to use them, but they were pretty laid back guys, and never really played a role in any of the hazing events that occurred in Greece.

Now, the other reason I was grateful for tossing my 'roids away was that one day, after The Terminator arrived, they did an audit of the Armory.  That's where they count EVERYTHING in the Armory.  And guess what?  A pistol came up missing.  This is huge.  Weapon accountability is a very serious thing in the Marine Corps.  You never leave your weapon anywhere laying around.  Weapons are checked in and out of the armory via weapon cards and log books.  When a weapon goes missing, the shit hits the fan.

They tore that armory apart looking for it and came to the conclusion that it wasn't there.  The other conclusion they came to, was that one of the Marines had stolen it.  That's when The Terminator initiated a Health and Comfort check.  There isn't anything healthy or comfortable about a H&C check.  Marines are ordered to their rooms, and ordered to stay there with the doors open.  Then, the officers and senior NCOs go into those rooms and tear them apart looking for illegal things.  This time, they were looking for the pistol.

But, The Terminator, being a more then fair man, provided everyone with an amnesty period.  He gave everyone 10 minutes to produce anything and everything illegal and to put it on the tables that each room had.  This included the pistol.  If the pistol was on one of the tables after the amnesty period was over, then there would be no questions asked.

So, once the amnesty period started, Marines started freaking out.  Steroids, switch-blades, alcohol, knives, and more knives were dumped on those tables.  Yes, steroids and needles were given up on the tables.

Then the tearing apart began.  The NCOs came into a room 2-3 at a time.  When I say they tore everything apart, I meant literally.  Pillows were felt, sheets tore off racks, mattresses turned upside down, drawers rifled through and contents dumped...  Wall lockers rifled through, furniture turned upside down.

When The Terminator discovered that steroids had been turned in during the amnesty period, he went ballistic.  He wanted to prosecute the offending Marines immediately, but our Gunnery Sgt. reminded him that he had declared "amnesty" and therefore could not take action without losing the confidence and trust of the rest of the unit.  However, we all had to take piss-tests within a week, where I know he hoped to catch the offenders.  But no one popped positive.

The pistol was not found during the H&C check.  Switchblades, steroids, and surprisingly, a couple of pairs of handcuffs from the armory were all that was turned up.  Nothing was found during the actual H&C check as everyone was smart enough to put their stuff out during the amnesty period.  Unfortunately, my knife collection took a huge hit because of this, along with my room mate's, as we had amassed quite a large collection of various knives.  I did get to keep my brass knuckles, real brass knuckles, not those  piece of shit ones you see at a carnival, and was even able to get them home to the USA, where I still have them in a drawer today.

Months later, we found out that the NCOs weren't as thorough as they could have been.  After I had moved to Admin, I moved rooms.  And one day when we were cleaning our room for weekly inspection, we pulled a drawer out of dresser too far and it fell out.  To our surprise, taped underneath the drawer, was a syringe.  One that was used for 'roids.

Now, as for hazing incidents linked to 'roids, there was a major incident at our parent command in Naples, Italy that pretty much ruined the career of the CO there.  I'll possibly explore that particular story tomorrow.

The pistol?  Well, it was eventually found, but not in Greece.  That's a whole 'nother story for another day.