Corps "Small t" Traditions

4,473 Views | 20 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by 2004FIGHTINTXAG
OlRocksFrat
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Howdy,

I'm a zip in the Corps and we've recently been having discussion about what it means to be a cadet and keepers of tradition. One point of discussion that arose was the "Return with Honor" brick on the arches. Most cadets know what it is, and to touch it before they leave. Not as many cadets know exactly why that is until we had that discussion. This further prompted me to find out more about some of those small T traditions that pertain specifically to the Corps.

If you could write out some of the traditions you remember, we(as current cadets) would greatly appreciate hearing your stories.

Thanks, and Gig'em.
the_batman26
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AG
OlRocksFrat said:

Howdy,

I'm a zip in the Corps and we've recently been having discussion about what it means to be a cadet and keepers of tradition. One point of discussion that arose was the "Return with Honor" brick on the arches. Most cadets know what it is, and to touch it before they leave. Not as many cadets know exactly why that is until we had that discussion. This further prompted me to find out more about some of those small T traditions that pertain specifically to the Corps.

If you could write out some of the traditions you remember, we(as current cadets) would greatly appreciate hearing your stories.

Thanks, and Gig'em.
I don't remember if y'all set-up chow at Duncan as fish or not, but it wasn't that bad.
death from below
‘18
JABQ04
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Maybe I'm too far removed, but I thought the return with honor on the arches was installed during my 4.(2000-2004) I seem to remember them doing construction or working on the arches at one time. I for one, don't know the story behind it or if I did I forgot.
OlRocksFrat
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Class of '20 did square meals and all. I believe class of '21 was the last class to do so.
ABATTBQ87
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OlRocksFrat said:

Class of '20 did square meals and all. I believe class of '21 was the last class to do so.


They should do square meals with fish bites because there are way too many hefty cadets on today's corps. And white belts need to stay in shape as well.

I entered A&M at 6'3" and weighing 160 pounds and had been an athlete in HS, lettering in football and baseball.

All the running and PT kept the weight off, as well as not wanting to eat a lot of Duncan chow.

When I graduated in 87 I weighed in at 170 pounds.

Personal pride in appearance should be ALL cadets motivation.
93Spur
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Get off the Quad and get involved in Student Orgs. Show leadership therein and take on leadership positions. You can't complain about the Corps' perception off the Quad if you don't get involved off it. Those orgs are A&M's traditions with many started by the Corps (Aggieland, Battalion, Student Government, SCONA, etc.)
In addition to getting off the Quad, join Corps orgs. Every year the Corps is what is put into it. This is you.
Whip out to every upperclassman you meet and remember their name. It doesn't have to be a screaming event. I still connect with folks I met in my 4 years, even when I haven't seen them for 25 years (happened as recently as last month). Introducing yourself, particularly having the ability to briefly identify who you are, is a skill lost. Those who meet-and-greet in business, advance in the business.
Fish enter and exit through the arches (See whip out).
Introduce yourself to those around children, parents, adults. These are donors, employers, and the future.
Wear the uniform proudly. Remember, in decades to follow, that's what folks will see. Don't put your phone in a front pocket, it detracts. Don't be a jackass on national television because a camera is put in your face.
Remember, even when not in uniform, you represent the Corps.
If you're a whitebelt, carry a pocket watch. Maybe a watch fob for class year.
Don't wear a backpack in uniform. If you have to truck one around, use the handle on top. Wearing a backpack distorts the uniform.
Shine your shoes and boots. They look better. And folks notice. And talk.
Say Howdy to every damn person you pass. Do it with a smile.
Learn the slang for the dining hall. It's a connection. I've actually used it at A&M luncheons and it sifts the non-regs from the CTs.
Learn the history of the Corps. Learn what came before so you can improve where possible and avoid otherwise. Nothing worse that repeating the same mistake. Remember the Corps changes - once all lived on Military Walk, then some lived in the New Area (80 years old this year), then they added the Arches, then they added the text (we had none). Know the who and what of every memorial, including the Bugle Stand.
Have a contingency plan, always. Review coming and potential that Drill Field will be muddy and Kyle Field unavailable due to rain? What about the Track and Field Center?
Honor. None can take it from you, only you can lose it.
Be there for your buddies. Marry and bury. And you will. This is not some social club. It's a life altering family.
Be the example for the fish, every year.
Follow the current guidelines. Yeah, in my day the whole fish class would get dropped immediately as a unit for the failure of one. If that's not the current guidelines, then don't do what we did.
Better to try and fail, than to have not tried.
Push the envelope. Few succeed by playing it safe. Push -don't blow past on the way to jail.
Aggie Infantry
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AG
My Butt year (Class of '86), my Old Lady and I did not have money for Spring Break. So, we would get on top of the arches, with a cooler of cheap beer, and hang out until the bars opened.

Is that still a thing?
When the truth comes out, do not ask me how I knew.
Ask yourself why you did not.
ABATTBQ87
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AG
Another thing we did was when we were preparing for a big home game, we pulled out an extra yell practice on Thursday night.

The band would assemble around 11 pm and march down the quad and would snake around campus gathering students. We would stop in front of Cain Hall and have a short yell practice, to show the players we were ready for the upcoming game.

Sometimes it's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission in cases like this.
aggieband 83
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Quote:

Be there for your buddies. Marry and bury. And you will. This is not some social club. It's a life altering family.

There is a lot of truth in this one!
Quad Dog
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I'm the same years as you and the arches were torn down and rebuilt or Soph/Junior year. A lot of the bricks on the ground were replaced too. I have one of the old bricks in my garage. That was when they added in the "return with honor" signs. It wasn't a thing to touch them.
Does a line form to touch them when everyone is leaving for class? If my opinion mattered (it doesn't) I'd suggest to not touch them. All that oil from fingers is going to make them look nasty before too long.

JABQ04
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That's what I was wondering. I didnt seem to recall the sign being a big deal or anything. I guess now it is.
Quad Dog
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To OP, it is important to question the difference between Tradition and tradition. It can be hard to differentiate between the two. For example all the words that lower classes can't know such as Zip is pretty silly, but it's one of those fun Corps traditions that's been around forever and is pretty harmless. You do have the power to change some of those pointless traditions if they are making your outfit inefficient. One I can remember for us was that it was a Junior privilege to wear a watch. We changed it for our outfit that Sophomores could during outfit training time. If there was one group that needed to know what time it was, it was Pissheads. It made us more efficient and wasnt a big deal to change.
My Junior year we had a fish that needed medication that needed to be refrigerated. Even though it went against tradition we let him have a refrigerator with one thing in it. It made sense and was the right thing to do.
There are a lot of old Corps traditions around eating in Duncan. If you let it go to far you end up spending too much time eating and not spending time doing PT, drill, training, etc. We decided we'd rather being productive doing stuff outside Duncan. You can also discourage fish from eating healthy, or they will eat lunch away from Duncan out of fear.


Random traditions I can remember.
My outfit in the band had a lot of rules around the guidon. Fish could not see it and only former guidons could touch it. As a non guidon I thought it was dumb you couldn't see or touch the symbol of your outfit.
Is fish not being allowed to walk on Pissheads blocks still a thing?

I'll edit to add some more as of think of them:
Batt fish was fun. A fish would go grab Battalions for the outfit, and could do pretty much anything while doing so.
One of my favorites was weather corporal. A soph was responsible for the weather. A hot humid review would get him punished. A review that got rained out and he would get all the praise.
If you read about Silver Crapper it always sounded like fun, but modern relationships over text and email killed it.
We had one wear a fish would hide pisshead brass on them during yell. Sophomores would try to find it. It didn't take much to get out of hand and interest faded.


OrdAg81
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AG
Hitting the wall
fish answers
Whipping out anywhere on Campus by all classes. This has fallen off badly.
knowing all upperclassmen in your dorm by Christmas
Saying Howdy - I walked clear across campus including the quad and now a single student said howdy first.
Food Names
Room standards - 3 things on the desk with a nod to modern tech.
campusology +. We were expected to learn all of the campo in the standard by Christmas. After that it was things like learning all of the names on Cushing Library. Rangers grave, etc.
Humping it.
GOOD tuck jobs.
Privileges - looking out the window, dress (fully dressed in the hall for a fish etc


the_batman26
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They got rid of Pisshead blocks, unfortunately.
death from below
‘18
ABATTBQ87
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the_batman26 said:

They got rid of Pisshead blocks, unfortunately.
no pisshead blocks in the 80's, so please define
HollywoodBQ
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AG
ABATTBQ87 said:

the_batman26 said:

They got rid of Pisshead blocks, unfortunately.
no pisshead blocks in the 80's, so please define
He's referring to the Pisshead Walk.

When you were walking down the quad from Heldenfels towards Dorm 11, next to the grassy area in the middle of the quad, there were little paver blocks that separated the main concrete paths from the grass. This was the Pisshead Walk. Those pavers are gone now.

ASCII Art

xxx ARCHES xxx
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCPGUGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGBGPCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
xxx DUNCAN xxx

C = Concrete
P = Pavers for Pisshead Walk
G = Grass
U = Uniform Block
B = Bugle Stand

I was on the quad last week and can confirm that The Pisshead Walk is now gone and the Uniform Block is also gone. The Bugle Stand area has been improved.
Rabid Cougar
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Quadding - it was outlawed after my fish year. I know it was done covertly afterwards.

Working the Bonfire with class structure. fish ****ing logs, Piss heads driving them and maybe getting to wire on the bottom stack. White belts on the swing seats. One of THE most memorable times in my four was my Zip year sitting on the outhouse cross members and observing all the activity below at about 0300 on a cold, wet November morning. That is about the only time I wished that there had been cell phones in my youth. I have that picture only in my memory.

12th Man Kick off Team... I got to do sh8t 99.9% of Aggies only dream about.

Wearing boots.... I wore them everyday I possibly could.

I still say "Howdy" to this day.. although I didn't say "Howdy" to girls at school. I said "Hi !"

Still meet all Ol' Ags as if I am whipping out... name and class year.

Bonfire Buddies! I married mine from my Zip year. She literally drew my name out of a hat.

Class pullouts on Corps trips and Corps trips in general. How many 18 year olds can you fit into your moms house???

Class crap outs....there is a direct correlation of this and marrying them and burying them. You either bonded or you punched. There was no middle ground.
ABATTBQ87
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HollywoodBQ said:

ABATTBQ87 said:

the_batman26 said:

They got rid of Pisshead blocks, unfortunately.
no pisshead blocks in the 80's, so please define
He's referring to the Pisshead Walk.

When you were walking down the quad from Heldenfels towards Dorm 11, next to the grassy area in the middle of the quad, there were little paver blocks that separated the main concrete paths from the grass. This was the Pisshead Walk. Those pavers are gone now.

ASCII Art

xxx ARCHES xxx
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCPGUGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGGGPCCC
CCCPGBGPCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCC
xxx DUNCAN xxx

C = Concrete
P = Pavers for Pisshead Walk
G = Grass
U = Uniform Block
B = Bugle Stand

I was on the quad last week and can confirm that The Pisshead Walk is now gone and the Uniform Block is also gone. The Bugle Stand area has been improved.
None of that nonsense in the 80's
HollywoodBQ
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AG
ABATTBQ87 said:

None of that nonsense in the 80's
It was a deal in Fall '88.
Unless of course, Mr. Franklin invented it to screw with the fish (unlikely).
the_batman26
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AG
They also got rid of fish slamming low quarters against the wall while greeting Zips.
death from below
‘18
ABATTBQ87
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HollywoodBQ said:

ABATTBQ87 said:

None of that nonsense in the 80's
It was a deal in Fall '88.
Unless of course, Mr. Franklin invented it to screw with the fish (unlikely).


Class of 88 (shoot) probably started this tradition after the Duncan renovation
2004FIGHTINTXAG
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Out of curiosity, how do fish eat chow these days?

We had to say "Howdy to Mr. Klinger" as a class (F2 thing), then get your food as fast as you could to try and beat the piss heads to the table. Ask to sit down. Feet wrapped around the chair legs, butt on the front six inches of the chair and arms to the side. One bite at a time and starring straight ahead. Doing it all as intensely as possible.

The Return with Honor sign was a gift from Gates from what I remember. Believe it was put at the Arches around 04. No one ever touched it or anything like they do today.
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