Yea, Marines have a knack for making the most out of a situation with the least. SNAFU as I recall.
I can remember being stationed on a couple of Navy bases (training etc.) and was amazed at the stuff they'd throwaway. A regular routine for us Marines at NAS Memphis while in basic helicopter school, was to go dumpster diving in the Navy's dumpsters the day before trash collection.
We'd find almost new tables, desks & chairs and chalkboards etc that the Navy'd just tossed. We where almost always totally flabbergasted by what they'd toss out.
But as crummy as it got at times - most guys never seemed to complain much or get all upset. Never felt neglected or abused.
As for my interactions with other branches of the Military:
ARMY:
The times my unit worked with or trained with the Army where too few to really get a feel for what it was probably really like. But I do remember one time we where at a Ranger training came in the mountains of North Carolina (Mosby field I think?) and they got all bent out'a shape because we drank the e-club dry in two nights. Rangers returned to camp on day three of the training ops and needless to say they weren't amused by all us Jarheads moaning about having hangovers and not a cold beer to be had for twenty miles in any direction. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
Air Force:
My short time with the Air Force was amusing too. The best was while in route to Pensacola FL we stopped at the A-10 Air Force base outside of Myrtle Beach SC. Needed a splash of JP5 and some chow. The officers whent over to check in at the ops center and bring back some sandwiches, while I waited for the fuel truck to arrive. When it pulled next to my bird I naturally attached the ground straps and started to reach for the fuel nozzle when I got yelled at by the driver inquiring as to “Just what the F---, I thought I was doing?!?!”
He told me that I had to wait for one of the fuel’ers (can’t remember what they called them) to come over and top off the bird. I said what’s your job then? “I just drive the truck” he said and got back in the cab. When I asked where the guy is who is supposed to do the fueling is he told me he didn’t know and that we’re just going to have to wait. Boy did I feel unwelcome.
Anyway about a half hour later my pilots returned with the sandwiches (tasty too, as I recall) the fuel’er guy showed and we sat back & ate, while they fueled our thirsty bird. As I singed the requisition forms for the fuel, I couldn’t help but say - “God help us if’n this’d been a combat situation – fer we’d all’ve been dead for sure”.