Being in the army doesn’t mean no fun and games.

This man took to Reddit to share his story.

Back around 1970 I was stationed at Pearl Harbor at a submarine base weapons shop in the US Navy.

The shop had its own calibration lab, which I, as an enlisted non-commissioned officer, managed. We were all on a 6 day duty rotation that meant I had to be on duty in the shop for 24 hours straight, despite weather, weekends, or anything else that might arise once every 6 days.

The man was in for a bit more than a typical work day.

On this particular Saturday afternoon/evening I was there on my 24 hour duty day, and as coincidence would have it, my shop commanding officer was celebrating his promotion to Lieutenant JG.

Therefore, I was assigned to help set up for the party, which would take place in a large equipment bay, perhaps 50’ by 100’.

The cement floor had to be mopped, waxed and polished, tables set up, etc. Since the shop PA system equipment was located in my calibration lab, one part of my duties was to plug it into a local radio station playing appropriate music.

The soldier did all of his assigned tasks.

After completing the rest of the setup work, as a finishing touch, I set up the PA system and tuned it to an easy listening radio station suitable for senior officers and their wives (picture in your mind something similar to the camp PA system in M*A*S*H).

I then made myself suitably socially invisible for the duration of the party, alone in my lab, as the party commenced.

Despite isolating himself, the lieutenant found him for a request.

A little later on I found myself in the presence of said commanding officer who ordered me to find a somewhat more lively and “with it” radio station.

I was more than happy to oblige.

I tuned the radio to the local hippy FM station (remember that it’s 1970), where the DJs often fell asleep or passed out between songs due to certain recreational chemicals.

But they did play lively music like Santana, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, etc.

He decided to have a little fun for himself.

To put the exclamation point on this instance of malicious compliance, I then called the radio station, KPOI (whose call letters will forever be etched in my memory) and requested they play the national anthem by Jimi Hendrix.

I peeked out of my lab just in time to see a gaggle of naval officers trying to decide whether to stand at attention and salute, or come after me with their ceremonial sabers.

Cooler heads prevailed and I was simply asked to find a more suitable station.

When in doubt, dumb it out.

I did later get a one on one with my commanding officer about malicious compliance wherein I feigned complete astonishment that things went so wrong.

Reddit users had a fun time with this story.

One person called the whole thing hilarious.

Another reader applauded the soldier’s decision to act oblivious.

This person saluted the author for his service and his sense of humor.

Harmless and humorous.

Love it!

Want to read another story where somebody got satisfying revenge? Check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.