Snipe Hunt
A snipe hunt is a type of practical joke or fool's errand, in existence in North America as early as the 1840s, in which an unsuspecting newcomer is duped into trying to catch an elusive animal called a snipe. Although the snipe is a real bird, a snipe hunt is a quest for a nonexistent creature whose description varies.
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In the aviation mechanic industry, we'd send the new guy around town in search of "prop wash", which seems like it'd be a fluid used to clean propellers. Its really just the turbulent air caused by the propeller
We used to send them for flight line tape 😂
In the army we’d send new soldiers to the supply sergeant for a PRC E-6 (pronounced prick e-6). A PRC77 is a type of radio so it sounds reasonable. In reality you’re asking the private to call the sergeant (an e-6 which is a staff sergeant) a prick.
It never got old.
That or send him for a box of grid squares, chemlight batteries, or make him stand in front of the radar with a trash bag collecting radiation samples. God it was so much fun to fuck with the new guy.
That's a new one for me. I did a lot of work for vets, so the more common pranks made their way into stories, but I think that one tops them all lol.