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Can you call in sick in the military?

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
How does that work when you're deployed and on active duty?

If you're sick, or better yet, you have some nondescript ailment....like a really bad in-grown toe-nail....or you throw your back out, or you get a migraine. Something that can really lay you up temporarily.....(and can be easy to fake). How does that work?

And nowadays, (based on what I saw in the Hurt Locker), facilities don't seem too bad. But in the days of Viet Nam etc, that must have been pretty tricky.
 

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,494
9,525
i remember a friend of mine in the national guard way back when trying his hardest to break a toe/foot so he had a excuse not to show for his weekend of duty....slammed it in a door...dropped sh*t on it....ran it over with a car....

just bruised it.
 

rockofullr

confused
Jun 11, 2009
7,342
924
East Bay, Cali
Really?

Dude wanted to break his foot to get out of a weekends worth of work?

A foot is one of the last things I would want to break, those little bones don't always heal right. Should have just grabbed a hold of his little toe and dislocated the sh!t out of it.
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
You go to sick call, and if you are sick, lame or lazy, or fake it well enough, you get 24-48 or whatever quarters. You only go to chow and back. If infectious, they can appoint a runner to get your grub for you. Get too sick or really seriously injured, you may be sent out of theater (To Landstuhl usually) for evaluation/treatment. Too sick and need to be sent home, your unit will most probably have to sh*t out a replacement for you.
Why do you ask? Gonna join and then malinger your way back out?
 

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,494
9,525
Really?

Dude wanted to break his foot to get out of a weekends worth of work?

A foot is one of the last things I would want to break, those little bones don't always heal right. Should have just grabbed a hold of his little toe and dislocated the sh!t out of it.
i enjoyed watching him try.
 

Al C. Oholic

Monkey
Feb 11, 2010
407
0
FoCo
You go to sick call, and if you are sick, lame or lazy, or fake it well enough, you get 24-48 or whatever quarters. You only go to chow and back. If infectious, they can appoint a runner to get your grub for you.
right. or, say you're not in theatre, you go to sickcall and they can write you a profile. if your back is out, just for instance, they can give you a "no running/heavy lifting" profile. it's like a doctor's note. they can be either permanent or temporary. I'm on temporary profile for a torn ACL right now, and this no running thing is pretty damn good :thumb:
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
My ex, who was a doc in the Navy, was always getting the greatest "I'm sick" calls around 5am. I finally started answering the phone for her with "does your pussy hurt? Ok, clean the sand out and come in." Really improved morale.

Normally you gotta go see the doc. At that point you're already on base, so you're usually SOL.
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
the thing about sick call is you are usually in line with a bunch of lames ass excuses for humans with no real problems and you usually get passed off as well.

we did alot of our own "thinning" during deployment train ups such as football with planned predetermined nondeployable injuries to those who had no business in the military let alone combat.

these injuries consisted of broken feet, broken hands and broken ribs. in retrospect now I am pretty sure we saved thier lives in the long run.

nowadays the army sends those who are truly ill or injured to kuwait before sending them out of country
 

Secret Squirrel

There is no Justice!
Dec 21, 2004
8,150
1
Up sh*t creek, without a paddle
the thing about sick call is you are usually in line with a bunch of lames ass excuses for humans with no real problems and you usually get passed off as well.

we did alot of our own "thinning" during deployment train ups such as football with planned predetermined nondeployable injuries to those who had no business in the military let alone combat.

these injuries consisted of broken feet, broken hands and broken ribs. in retrospect now I am pretty sure we saved thier lives in the long run.

nowadays the army sends those who are truly ill or injured to kuwait before sending them out of country
Yes.5
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
I can't count how many times I'm glad my folks lacked that technology when I was a kid.
Fixed.

(I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter, stay-at-home dad....I know where you're coming from. :) )
LOL! So true! It has definitely been one of those days. We are officially counting down the days until she doesn't go to her current sitter anymore so we can get our child back!
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
Mt favorite attempt that the ex told me about was the guy who tried to call in with 24 hour gonorrhea. I sh!t you not.

Called into her corpsman saying that it had been a wild weekend, and that his junk was dripping. But since he had gonorrhea before, he knew this was just the 24 hour kind and should be fine in time to go on the command trip to Vegas.

My ex, barely able to maintain a straight face over the phone, called the guy back and informed him that there was no such thing as 24 hour gonorrhea. She had command force him to come in and have the Command Flight Surgeon inspect the guy, front and back. The Command Surgeon, by the way, was 6'5" and had fingers like kielbasa...
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
I call in Stupid all the time. Nobody has ever questioned me about it either.... I am not in the military, I just pretend I am....
 

Big J

Monkey
Jul 18, 2005
421
0
Chicago
the thing about sick call is you are usually in line with a bunch of lames ass excuses for humans with no real problems and you usually get passed off as well.
True.....and the very reason I would never go to 'sick call' in the Jarheads. Anyone worth his salt would wait until later in the day and make an afternoon appointment to see the real Doc. 10% 'ers suck......

J
 

Al C. Oholic

Monkey
Feb 11, 2010
407
0
FoCo
^^^kinda takes me back to basic, one of my buddies arrived at basic w/ poison ivy over 70% of his body, and quickly developed heat rash over the rest. he went to sickcall like 6 or 7 times just trying to get a visit w/ a real doc or a dermatologist, but they just gave him some motrin and a tube of lotion.
last week of basic, he finally got his doctors visit, they told him he wasn't fit to be in training with such bad skin condition and tried to send him home only 4 days before graduation. at least our drill sergeant fought for him
 

Red Rabbit

Picky Pooper
Jan 27, 2007
2,715
0
Colorado
Quarters is the worst. Yes you can go to sick call, or your supervisor or commander can give you the day off.

Hardly anyone I know wants to go to sick call though. it's an hour wait and you hardly ever get quarters.

I did get free leave when I broke my shoulder in December. And three bottles full of perco...