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P-38
The tool
contained in every case of C-Rations used as a can opener. It is so versatile
that Marines used it as a Phillips and slot screw driver, rudimentary box
opener, scraper and even push tool. Generally worn with the Dog Tags around the
neck.
(see
John Wayne)
Page 11
The page in the
service record book containing a chronological listing of a Marine’s favorable
and unfavorable actions. The entries include: listing a DUI, records of courts
martial, and warnings about the length of the grass at your assigned quarters.
Positive entries include everything from a thank you letter from a community
agency to a Medal of Honor. Page 11 entries stay with a Marine FOREVER.
Parade Deck
(see
Grinder)
Parkerize™
A chemical
process using phosphorus to put a strong coating on a weapon. Considered far
superior to "bluing".
Parris Island,
SC
Location of the
Marine Corps' east coast Recruit Depot.
(background) Named
for its previous owner, it has been a Naval facility since the Civil War and a
Marine Corps activity since 1915. It is the only training site for female
Marines. Parents, friends and other relatives of Marine Corps Recruits can find
help and understanding among the members of myMarine.
Passageway
Naval term for a
hallway or corridor.
Password
A pre-determined
word or phrase given in response to the challenge of a sentry. Literally, a word
needed in order to pass.
Pate, Randolph
McCall
Twenty first
Commandant of the Marine Corps. He was born Feb. 11, 1898 and served as
Commandant from Jan. 1, 1956 until Dec. 31, 1959. He died on July 31, 1961
Pay Grade
A relational
term consisting of the letter E, O or W, and the level of pay assigned to that
grade. Below is a chart comparing Pay Grade to Rank in the Marine Corps.
E-1 Private W-1
Warrant Officer O-1 Second Lieutenant
E-2 Private
First Class W-2 Chief Warrant Officer O-2 First Lieutenant
E-3 Lance
Corporal W-3 Chief Warrant Officer O-3 Captain
E-4 Corporal W-4
Chief Warrant Officer O-4 Major
E-5 Sergeant W-5
Chief Warrant Officer O-5 Lieutenant Colonel
E-6 Staff
Sergeant O-6 Colonel
E-7 Gunnery
Sergeant O-7 Brigadier General
E-8 Master
Sergeant or First Sergeant O-8 Major General
E-9 Master
Gunnery Sergeant or Sergeant Major O-9 Lieutenant General
O-10 General
PC
Politically
Correct. Used herein to identify things that are not Politically Correct as in
the next entry.
PCFSMFSOB
(Not PC) Piss,
cunt, fuck, shit, mother fucker, son of a bitch. An expletive said quickly while
angry or in pain. (Vietnam era)
PCP
A special unit
in Marine boot camp to which recruits who are unable to maintain minimal
physical conditioning are sent. Their entire day is spent in physical
conditioning and once they meet the standard they are placed back into training
with a platoon which is at the point where they were taken out of regular
training
PCS
Permanent Change
of Station. Leaving one unit to be assigned to another, it generally involves
travel pay and household goods shipments and a total disruption of life
PEBD
Pay Entry Base
Date. The date from which pay longevity is computed. Usually the first
enlistment or commissioning date
Permanent
Party
A person
assigned to a base, station or ship on Permanent Change of Station orders as
opposed to someone assigned temporarily.
Permissive TDY
Permissive
Temporary Duty is granted for temporary duty away from the normal assigned
duties but no additional pay is given. PTAD is granted for "recruiter
assistance" duty, and is also Permissive TDY.
Petty Officer.
A Navy and Coast
Guard series of ranks vaguely equivalent to noncommissioned officers. The
insignia consists of from one to three inverted chevrons with a Navy Eagle
perched on top. There is a graphic between the eagle and the chevrons which
indicates the specialty of that particular petty officer.
PF
Popular Forces.
Vietnam's National Guard--farmers during the day and soldiers at night. Usually
untrained and dangerous.
(origin)
Vietnam
PFT
Physical Fitness
Test. A biannual test to ensure that Marines are within the Marine Corps'
physical standards. The test includes a timed three-mile run, pull-ups (for
men), bent arm hang (for women) and crunches (up to 100 in a two minute period).
The Marine's height-to-weight ratio is also measured and must fall within
established standards. A Physical Fitness Calculator is located here. (what is
the link?)
Phantom
Nickname of the
F-4B jet fighter aircraft flown by Marines in Vietnam.
Pharmacist Mate
Navy Corpsman
rank in WWII and Korea.
(see
Corpsman)
Philippine
Haircut
A slit throat.
Phrog
(see
Frog.)
Pig Board
A bulletin board
set up in a common area (mostly in boot camp) where photos of wives and
girlfriends (mostly school photos and beach photos) are posted. Sometimes awards
are given for quality posts.
Pinning On
A tradition
among enlisted Marines in which anyone senior in rank to a newly promoted Marine
is allowed to punch the new rank insignia, thereby pinning them on. In the
mid-to-late 20th Century, it became a custom for Recon Marines to have their
jump wings literally pinned on their naked chests in violent and bloody rite of
passage. The barbaric hazing was soon rooted out as a cultural anomaly and is
hopefully a historic footnote.
(synonym)
Tacking On.
Piss 'n Puke
(Seagoing
Marines) Confinement to the brig on bread and water.
(synonym)
Apparently, Piss 'n Punk is used in some quarters.
Pisscutter
A Marine’s
garrison cover. The word was used extensively in the middle 20th Century,
presently out of vogue due to a serious lack of political correctness. The
etymology of the word is not known. One possible explanation comes from Kate
Gladstone who says, "I have heard 'pisscutter' used by (elderly male)
non-Marines to describe anything which has a sharp, spiffy-looking fold or edge
or crease - e.g., a particularly well-made hat-brim, or an admirably crisp
crease in a pair of pants." In the novel Shogun, by James Clavell, the
word is used to refer to a harbor that was particularly difficult to navigate.
(synonym)
Sometimes pisscover.
Pissing Contest
An argument,
usually without purpose or value.
Pith Helmet
A khaki-colored
fiber helmet used extensively for the jungle environment. Worn by Marines
throughout the 20th Century in boot camp, in war, in the fleet and presently
worn by primary marksmanship instructors.
Pitting
To pit. A boot
camp verb meaning to give Incentive Training (IT) to a recruit in order to
improve his or her motivation, or as punishment for a minor infraction of rules.
Sand pits are built in many places throughout the Marine Corps Recruit Depots at
Parris Island, SC and San Diego, CA. drill instructors take recruits there to
administer IT.
(see also
Quarterdecking)
Pits
A place behind a
mound on a firing range where targets are pulled, marked and repaired before
being hoisted, to be fired upon again.
Platoon
A unit
consisting of four squads. It is assigned to a company and is generally
commanded by a lieutenant. It is the basic working unit in boot camp where its
leaders are drill instructors.
PLC
Platoon Leaders'
Course. An innovative officer training program in which participants take part
in officer training during the summers of their college years and upon
graduation from college are commissioned Second Lieutenants of Marines. There
are no classes or commitments during the school year. The program also has two
career specific tracks: aviation and legal.
PM
Preventive
Maintenance. First level (echelon) maintenance of vehicles and equipment.
Podunk
Any small town
or someone's home town unless they are from a big city.
Pogey
Bait
Candy or other
junk food.
(see
Geedunk.)
Pogey
Rope
A pejorative
term for the French Fourragere.
Pogue
A headquarters
or office person with no understanding of the real Marine Corps.
Point
Lead Marine in a
patrol. Lead element in a company.
Police
To clean up or
pick up an area, i.e., policing the firing line for brass.
Police
Flag
The national
flag flown upside down. It was only used when an extreme situation confronts
the captain on board ship. It is never used ashore.
(synonym)
Distress Flag.
Pollywog
(see
Shellbac.k)
Poncho
A multi-purpose
rectangle of rubberized canvas. Has a hole in the middle for the head. It was
used to fend off rain, as a tent or to carry bodies, among many other uses.
Poncho Liner
A camouflaged,
quilted, lightweight nylon blanket that ties to the inside of a poncho. It was
usually the only blanket carried by troops in Vietnam.
Portholes
Eyeglasses.
Originally holes in the sides of ships to provide light and sometimes
ventilation.
Poolee
An unofficial
rank assigned by Marine recruiters to newly enlisted recruits in the delayed
entry program, awaiting departure to recruit training. Some recruiters have
regular, mandatory, formations in which rudimentary drill and physical training
are conducted.
Poop
Information, as
in straight poop, bad poop or poop from the group.
Pop-Ups
Aluminum
handheld tubes holding a flare and a small parachute for field illumination.
(origin)
Vietnam
Port
Naval term for
left. The port side of a ship will be illuminated with a red light.
(background) Larboard
was the original term, but it was changed in the late 18th Century to keep from
confusing it with starboard, which means right.
Port
and Starboard Liberty
A situation
where half of a unit is always on duty while the other half is on liberty (off
duty and usually off base getting drunk).
POS
Piece of Shit.
Post
1. (noun) A
place where a Marine is assigned, i.e., sentry post or an embassy. Used
extensively by the Army to designate bases not named forts.
2. (verb) A
marching command for specific officers to take their assigned positions, or the
act of placing a sentry on post or assigning a Marine to an embassy.
Postbox
Rear Admiral
(see
Tombstone Brigadier General)
/unofficial/t.shtml
POTUS
President of the
United States.
(background)
Originally used by Secret Service, the phrase was
picked up by Department of Defense and other government agencies around the
1990s.
Pounding your
pud
Standing around
doing nothing. Wasting time. From the colloquial expression for masturbating.
POV
Privately Owned
Vehicle.
Powder Monkey
A Civil War era
sailor in the rank of Boy whose job it was to keep gun crews supplied with
gunpowder and shot during battle. At other times, they served in other menial
ways earning little more than a cot and food.
Precedence
A formal list of
commissioned officers in the Naval Service and their position of authority
relative to each other.
President's Own
Name given to
the United States Marine Corps Band, the official band for the President of the
United States, called "The President's Own".
Prick25
Radio Set
AN/PRC-25 (RT-505)(NSN 5820-01-857-0934). Man portable, nautical radio - one
tube. Was the predecessor of the PRC-77.
(origin)
Vietnam
Prime Mover
A truck.
Private
1. The first
enlisted rank in the Marine Corps which is identified by having no insignia..
2. The pay
grade is E-1 and is equivalent to an Army private (or Air Force airman basic)
who also wears no rank insignia.
3. In the Navy
and Coast Guard, a seaman recruit wears a single slash in a box on the left
sleeve only.
Private First
Class
1. The second
enlisted rank in the Marine Corps. Designated by a single chevron on each
sleeve.
2. The pay
grade is E-2 and is equivalent to an Army private (the Army has two ranks of
privates) who also wears a single chevron.
3. In the Air
Force, an airman wears an inverted single stripe with a star in a circle which
covers the point of the chevron.
4. Navy and
Coast Guard seaman apprentices wear two slashes in a box on the left sleeve
only.
Pros and Cons
Proficiency and
conduct marks given to Marines to the rank of sergeant by their supervisors.
They are part of the formula used for promotion. Each is between 0 (totally
unsat, probably not breathing) and 4 (God, on a good day).
PT
Physical
Training.
PT Gear
The clothing
worn for PT. It is a prescribed uniform consisting of t-shirt and shorts or
sweats. Usually green on green, unless a unit t-shirt has been authorized.
PTSD
Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder. Previously called Shell Shock (WW I) or Battle Fatigue (WW
II), it is the first line of legal defense when a Vietnam Vet goes berserk and
kills a lot of innocent civilians. It manifests itself mostly as dreams
recalling battlefield situations or in response to sharp sounds or scenario.
Those with PTSD respond as though they were in combat--not acceptable in polite
society.
Pucker Factor
A measure of the
stress in any situation. A high pucker factor means high stress.
Pucket, Clinton
A.
Sixth Sergeant
Major of the Marine Corps, serving in that position from Feb 1, 1973 through May
31, 1975. He was born March 6, 1926 in Waurika, OK and died in 2002.
Puff the Magic
Dragon
A flare ship
(origin)
Vietnam
(see
Basketball
Pugil Sticks
Padded training
sticks used to simulate bayonet fighting.
Puller, Lewis B
Lieutenant
General of Marines. The icon of a Marine whose exploits, on and off the
battlefield, are the genesis of many legends. His command of a Marine regiment
at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea earned him the love of his men and an entire
Corps. For decades, Marine Drill Instructors would have their recruits recite,
"Good night General Puller, wherever you are" before retiring for the night.
(see
Chosin Reservoir)
Punji Sticks
Bamboo sticks
sharpened and often laced with poison. They were placed in holes and covered so
a Marine would step in the hole and impale his foot or leg.
(origin)
Vietnam
Pussy Patch
Medicated patch
given to those who get seasick.
Puzzle Palace
Specifically the
Pentagon or often any headquarters.
PX
Post Exchange,
an Army term. Now the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES).
(see
Marine Corps Exchange)
PX Ranger
Any retard in
the U.S. Army that goes to the PX, buys military awards and/or decorations that
they didn’t earn and then pins them on their chest so that they can go around
looking like a hero. These yahoos often claim to have served in the Rangers or
Force Recon or some other elite unit, but that they got out because of an injury
or because they got tired of the B.S.
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