Military stuff for the Curious

Started by Coyote, January 04, 2010, 12:14:46 PM

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Ka'il

Haha Coyote, you know what Army stands for? =P
If the colors that bind,
Were to unwind,
Would I still be safe,
Within my mind?

Ikranä mokri

either of you been out to afghanistan or iraq ??





Tirea Tskoyä has a new look see it[url=http://forum.learnnavi.org/fiction-

Ka'il

Hah I'm still a junior in high school. I got a ways to go.
If the colors that bind,
Were to unwind,
Would I still be safe,
Within my mind?

Coyote

Quote from: Tukruyä Tsamsiyu on February 10, 2010, 01:43:11 PM
Yea, everybody I talked to says Listen to your sergeant. Being a Scout at the moment, I know the value of listening to someone with more experience. Lets hope I don't let the ego get in the way.

I plan on doing combat infantry until I either get Captain or Major and then retiring and going on with civy life.

Shoot for Major at least; retiring after 20 years as a mere Captain kinda says "dorkwad" ( ;)). Retiring as a Major is understandable; it is a huge "bottleneck" rank. There are many Majors, and very few Lt. Colonel slots for them to all get into. Even good troops that make Major sometimes find it hard to get into the Lt. Colonel and beyond without some connections and politics, and at that stage you really have to ask if that's worth staying and duking it out for, or retiring and drawing a comfortable pension at a relatively early stage in life and going management for some company.

Or, stay in the Reserve side of things and coast for a few years, then if by chance something does open up, you can jump on it.


In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!


VIDEO LOG DAY 8:
Attempted to pee on Viperwolf to test reaction. Please see attached medical file.
WARNING: Attached medical file exceeds gigabyte limit. System failure.

Ikranä mokri

my dad just got his ass promoted to Lt. colonel but i think it was through total hard work rather than connections seeming as he hates his boss.





Tirea Tskoyä has a new look see it[url=http://forum.learnnavi.org/fiction-

Coyote

Quote from: Twonyu Ikranä on February 10, 2010, 01:47:55 PM
either of you been out to afghanistan or iraq ??

I was in Iraq, 2004-2005. See picture in the middle of page 8 of the Real Life Picture thread in "Introductions" at the top of the board.

Quote from: Apxa IoangHaha Coyote, you know what Army stands for? =P
Last one I heard was: "Uncle Sam Ain't Released Me Yet".

USMC = "Uncle Sam's Misguided Children"

And the Air Force is called the "Chair Force" since most of the jobs there are not combat related.

;)


In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!


VIDEO LOG DAY 8:
Attempted to pee on Viperwolf to test reaction. Please see attached medical file.
WARNING: Attached medical file exceeds gigabyte limit. System failure.

Kätsyín te Zotxekay Tsyal’itan

Quote from: Coyote on February 10, 2010, 01:52:54 PM
Quote from: Tukruyä Tsamsiyu on February 10, 2010, 01:43:11 PM
Yea, everybody I talked to says Listen to your sergeant. Being a Scout at the moment, I know the value of listening to someone with more experience. Lets hope I don't let the ego get in the way.

I plan on doing combat infantry until I either get Captain or Major and then retiring and going on with civy life.

Shoot for Major at least; retiring after 20 years as a mere Captain kinda says "dorkwad" ( ;)). Retiring as a Major is understandable; it is a huge "bottleneck" rank. There are many Majors, and very few Lt. Colonel slots for them to all get into. Even good troops that make Major sometimes find it hard to get into the Lt. Colonel and beyond without some connections and politics, and at that stage you really have to ask if that's worth staying and duking it out for, or retiring and drawing a comfortable pension at a relatively early stage in life and going management for some company.

Or, stay in the Reserve side of things and coast for a few years, then if by chance something does open up, you can jump on it.

Thanks for the input. Doesn't combat postings get you promoted quicker than the 20 years you said it would take though, thats what everyone says.
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Ka'il

The one I heard is " Ain't Ready to be a Marine Yet" =D
If the colors that bind,
Were to unwind,
Would I still be safe,
Within my mind?

Kätsyín te Zotxekay Tsyal’itan

But it IS the Chair Force, the most stressful part of their day is trying to make sure they make their 1300 tee time.
old gallery link?id=1831[/img]

LearnNavi Forums:
"It's not an addiction...I just need it everyday."

Ka'il

If the colors that bind,
Were to unwind,
Would I still be safe,
Within my mind?

Coyote

#30
Quote from: Tukruyä Tsamsiyu on February 10, 2010, 01:57:39 PM
Thanks for the input. Doesn't combat postings get you promoted quicker than the 20 years you said it would take though, thats what everyone says.

Yeah, the problem is, everyone knows that, so everyone is in competition for some sort of line command. Iraq and A-stan are winnowing out the posers and hosers from the dedicated career types, though.

You have what's known as "ticket-punching": everyone has to spend a little bit of time doing certain things, so they can "get their ticket punched". If you're a Captain, you have to be the commander of a line Company at some point; you can't get promoted to Major without that "ticket-punch" experience of a company level command at some point. You also need to have some sort of Staff experience as, say, an S2 (company intelligence officer) or S3 (operations), S4, (logistics/supply) and so on. You have to do at least one Staff ticket-punch at various points, and one Command ticket-punch, as well as attend various professional development academies before going on to the next rank.

It's like... you have to collect all the box-tops before you can send in for the next prize; or like an on-line game where there are certain quests you have to fulfil before you can be allowed to level-up.

That is where you make your connections and network. What I said earlier about "connections" isn't so much being buddies with a General or Senator (although that helps) but simply be known by your peers as a dependable guy who gets the job done, is professional, isn't afraid to make hard choices or clamp down on people when needed, etc. You meet these people as you switch through commands and schools, etc.

As you climb rank, the people who you knew early on begin to drop out-- people who weren't interested in a career in the first place, or thought they were but once they were in decided they didn't like it a smuch as they thought they would. As your peer group shrinks, you start running into the same people again and again as they, too, are "leveling up" by going on the same "quests" you are. Sooner or later, one of you is in a position to say, "oh, yeah-- I know that guy. He's squared away (or, he's a dorkwad)" and that's it-- connections.

Major and Lt. Colonel are both bottleneck positions. Lt. Col. probably more so than Major, really. Competition for that next step up --Colonel-- is fierce.

But career types are volunteering to go to Iraq and A-stan so they can get the golden prize: command experience in an actual combat environment. That's like a blessing from God in many cases. That's why certain "prestige" units are in such competition for commanders. Like the 82nd Airborne, for example: they are always sent to trouble spots around the world, so a line command in that division is almost always guaranteed to get some field command time in a hot zone. The ultimate ticket-punch.

Now in Iraq and A-stan, there are a lot of units rotating in and out, so getting a combat field command is currently a bit more common. The unit I ended up going with was a Combat Engineer battalion that got called up mostly because all the other battalions had already rotated. The Battalion Commander (a Lt. Colonel) was eager to go because he knew it was a great career opportunity for him. He was right; after coming back, he got promoted to full-bird Colonel. Without Iraq experience, he probably would not have gotten that, and, the only reason his unit got sent was because of political need to rotate fresh troops into Iraq.

Don't get the wrong idea; he wasn't a bad guy or a slob or anything like that (in fact, our Battalion had the lowest number of KIAs and Purple Hearts of any field-deployed battalion in-theater at the time, which is good), but he was pretty much an ordinary officer just having a career when Iraq came up and he got the chance to do the real thing. Had it not been for that, he probably would have never seen that bird, IMO, unless it was given as a retirement consideration before getting out.


In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!


VIDEO LOG DAY 8:
Attempted to pee on Viperwolf to test reaction. Please see attached medical file.
WARNING: Attached medical file exceeds gigabyte limit. System failure.

Kätsyín te Zotxekay Tsyal’itan

Yea, as far as division goes, I'm hoping an infantry division, maybe volunteer for sniper and para training if it'll help me. I'm a fairly good shot as it is.
old gallery link?id=1831[/img]

LearnNavi Forums:
"It's not an addiction...I just need it everyday."

Coyote

Quote from: Tukruyä Tsamsiyu on February 10, 2010, 02:37:02 PM
Yea, as far as division goes, I'm hoping an infantry division, maybe volunteer for sniper and para training if it'll help me. I'm a fairly good shot as it is.

I don't know about officers in sniper positions; I think that may be an NCO thing. But when you sign th eofficial enlistment papers, ask for Infantry and Airborne school at minimum. You'll get your Infantry posting, sure enough.

If you really want to be hard core, make sure to get Air Assault & Pathfinder on your enlistment contract too. You'll get the training, if not the positions, but it is good "ticket-punching". You can even ask for Ranger and Special Forces training, too, but at some point I feel that people just over-extend themselves into an area that is too specialized. The Special Operations community is small, and if you back yourself into that corner you may find it is actually harder to get rank or do anything outside that community because they won't let you go after spending so much to train you up, and there's just no place for you to go to outside that community.

Plus, with Spec Ops you can kiss any social life goodbye. They're deployed constantly; it seriously eff's up your ability to get and hold a meaningful relationship. Unless you don't care about that; in which case, gung ho, dude.

I was encouraged to go at least as far as Ranger school but I loved what I was doing: mechanized Infantry. Seriously. I loved the big tracks, the tank support, the mortars and ATGMs, all the combined-arms stuff and heavy operations. The armored fist. Sure, jumping from a plane or chopper is cool, but once you're on the ground you have to walk with 9-skillion pounds of rucksack on your back. No way.

In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!


VIDEO LOG DAY 8:
Attempted to pee on Viperwolf to test reaction. Please see attached medical file.
WARNING: Attached medical file exceeds gigabyte limit. System failure.

Mako

That's why Chris never saw his brother too much.

Kätsyín te Zotxekay Tsyal’itan

Dang, I hope sniper school is open to officers. That or they better let me take an M-14 with an ACOG out of the armory, I have a built in hate for that plastic pea-shooter the Army calls the M16/M4 family.

What exactly is Pathfinder training. I've heard of it, but all I've heard of it is that they were the first guys dropped in on D-Day to set up beacons.
old gallery link?id=1831[/img]

LearnNavi Forums:
"It's not an addiction...I just need it everyday."

Coyote

#35
Quote from: Tukruyä Tsamsiyu on February 10, 2010, 03:03:57 PM
Dang, I hope sniper school is open to officers. That or they better let me take an M-14 with an ACOG out of the armory, I have a built in hate for that plastic pea-shooter the Army calls the M16/M4 family.
My official stance is that "the M-16 family is not bad" and leave it at that. It is adequate. It is light and easy to carry, which is nice on a long march, but I'd like it to magically transform into something more like an L1A1 or something else with at least a "7.XX" in the description.  ;)

QuoteWhat exactly is Pathfinder training. I've heard of it, but all I've heard of it is that they were the first guys dropped in on D-Day to set up beacons.
Pathfinders are the guys that go in first to set up drop zones. For paradrops, heliborne assault, and LAPES if needed. They do the beacons and signal the all-clear, they make sure the area is swept of debris so it doesn't get sucked into engines/rotors, etc. It's a support-of-airborne & air-assault type thing.

In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!


VIDEO LOG DAY 8:
Attempted to pee on Viperwolf to test reaction. Please see attached medical file.
WARNING: Attached medical file exceeds gigabyte limit. System failure.

Nume fpi sänume

MARINE = Muscles are required, intelligence not encouraged.

Ka'il

If the colors that bind,
Were to unwind,
Would I still be safe,
Within my mind?

Nume fpi sänume

NAVY = Never Again Volunteer Yourself

Mako

"Aww man, that is just wrong!" - Lyle Wainfleet