I had a little chat at church on Sunday...

[ironglow]

  As I have been saying for some time here, many of the NCOs (sergeants, to civilians) including my gerandson in our combat units are considering seeking other employment when their current enlistment ends. The ones I have talked to liked their job including the combat, before the present administration started applying their PC rules.
  Things like reading terrorists their "Miranda rights" and other PC rules of engagement started the downward spiral in morale. Then with the shabby treatment of the 3 Navy SEALs along with the new "chicken medal" for not returning fire has only accelerated their plans for leaving.
     Yesterday after church, I had a chat with the Mom of a young soldier who grew up attending our local church. This young soldier is presently a Sgt in the famed First Ranger Battalion. His Mom said " D_ _ _ _  is at this time weighing whether he will stay in the Army or not". She explained how just as I said, the new rules have discouraged his enthusiasm.
  When I informed her that congress has just overturned "don't ask, don't tell"..allowing homosexuals to serve openly and boastfully... She looked very surprised and said, " Well then, D_ _ _ _ is gone, he will not stay".
  
  Just what will happen to our combat units if the bulk of the sergeants leave ?.
  
   This administration has worked very hard trying to destroy our economy, medical care, election system, courts and 1st & second amendments and other things..now they are doing the same to our military.

[magooch]

Well, I know that I'll feel safer when our best and brightest are replaced by our most deviant and most politically correct elite.

[hillbill]

i respect and admire all the folks who pledge their life for our country! however, it appears that we will be in multiple conflicts all over the world.if my now 14 yr old son chooses the military as his preferred occupation, i will support him to the upmost. however i will and have been counseling him agin it.i feel my family and i will need him here to help us and him survive what we will face in the future.if our federal gov was supporting our troops as i feel necessary i prob would not feel this way.our current admiastration does not seem to care about our troops as did former administrations.if my son is to be forced to fight in a 3 world country basically unsupported by his commander in chief, i dont want him there.ill need him here worse here.

[ironglow]

  As with everything this Democrat, Socialist, Marxist administration does, in this case withouit consulting wiser people..those who know the troops..they have gone ahead and voted in THEIR AGENDA.   Is there a better way to demoralize the troops ?

  http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.5eaf6bbb255b23063c3b3635bd5f7c52.b1&show_article=1
 
   If you think you know of one , don't tell the Obumma admin..or they will darn sure use it !

[Swampman]

Anyone who gets out of the military right now is crazy.  I tell them all to get their 20.

[ironglow]

Swampy;
  Would you move in among the "gays" in San Francisco for 20 years ..just to get a comparatively meagre pension ?

  This young man who is an army Ranger and my grandson (Marine special Forces) have other federal pension furnished jobs they are being sought for, if they want to take them.

   Perhaps if enough "gays" get into combat units..they can bring us down through the military, in the same way the Hoplites brought down   Greece from their "Golden Age" !

[Swampman]

The military has always been full of queers.  The pension is more than I make.  The health benifits are worth $1200.00 a month.

This country is being destroyed by greed.  Nothing can stop that.

[mcwoodduck]

The military has always been full of queers.  The pension is more than I make.  The health benifits are worth $1200.00 a month.

This country is being destroyed by greed.  Nothing can stop that.

I agree it is the greed of the people that do not pay taxes, the greed of the politicians, and the greed of the people seeking power.
Greed is what make a capitalistic system works.
With put you wanting something else, more, or bigger nothing would be made, designed, or sold.
Labor would not be needed to mae the bigger, better, or the cheaper items that people want.
No matter what you think, greed gets things done in the private sector.  In the public sector greed kills free enterprise, restricts growth, kills jobs, and lower wages.
The government regulations and complexity is what allows people like Burnie Madoff, Enron, Global Crossing, and the collapse of the housing market to occur.  With out the safety net of government people would take interest in what is going on with their $ and the shady accounting, theft and allowing people that can not qualify for a loan other wise be able to buy houses atrificaly driving up the price of houses.
The greed of the politicians that want votes are what have been causing these problems.  The ability of our markets though capitalism and the want of something bigger and better have led people to take risks, wade through the red tape, employ people, pay the massive taxes, and create the better mouse trap.
I have said it before and will say it again.
Government is not the solution, the rules and regulations they create are the problem.  Many are un intentional as the people making the regs have no clue how the system works.

[Dee]

ironglow, my youngest was a Staff Sgt. with three combat tours in the 82nd Airborne. Some got wounded, but he never lost a man. He finished his last tour in Iraq (1 in Afghanistan, and 2 in Iraq), and walked away from the military. He said Afghanistan was impossible, and the people had no interest in democracy, and the Iraqi people weren't worth savin. Combined with the governments unwillingness to win, and politics, it was no longer worth it.

[Swampman]

It's not about winning.  It about eating for the rest of your life.  It's just a job.

All jobs suck but they aren't the gravy train the military is.

[Dee]

Swampy my son was being shot at so you could make dumbass remarks like your last one. 

[blackpowderbill]

I spent 22 years in the military. I did it because it was a good job, but also because I felt I was doing something for my country. As for being a gravy train, all I can say is that Swampy must be in an alternate reality. Now I never got shot at nor ever fired a round in anger, but I did work long hours at heavy labour while on extended deployments (pre e-mail, mail call once a month some times). While doing these things I often did not get to rest when the job was done because I had to go on watch, didn't get to take a shower because our evaps were down, didn't get a decent meal because all the fresh food had spoiled when the chillers went down.......ect, etc. I am not complaining, I miss it and would do it again. The young fellows who go in today probably have some of those same problems, plus they have a buch of rag headed savages trying to cut their heads off and their own countrymen belittling their choice of jobs. Cake walk? I don't think so.

[Dee]

blackpowderbill, on this Memorial Day I will say that I appreciate you service, as you were obviously part of the grease that kept the wheels of our military turning. My son's three COMBAT tours were not gravy jobs. Being shot at almost everyday for three years of your life, is not a gravy train of any shape form of fashion. I have personally heard the lead go by too close to call.
Swampmans remarks are some what typical, but in this case SHAMEFUL, and he should be embarrassed for himself, for making such a "FOOL REMARK".

[Swampman]

My son is being shot at as was I so I could make whatever remarks I like.  It's a job.  I tell him to stay in everytime he mentions wanting to get out.  It's a gravy train.

[ironglow]

BPBill..thanks for your service and Dee, thank your son for his service. And Swampy..if your son is in the military..being shot at, you and I should both thank him.
   This I know, my young friend in the Rangers, my grandson in Marine Special Forces and Dee's son serving with the 82nd airborne didn't consider it "just a job"..these were all volunteers for duties which required an extra helping of effort, dedication and danger. Any one of them could have elected to be in a job category where they were primarily a "fobbit"..staying inside the wire at a forward operating base.
  Instead, they chose to run the more difficult and dangerous mile.
   If they viewed it as "just a job", Dee's son would likely have stayed with it and the two (among many) who are contemplating leaving, would just go ahead and live among and shower with, the girlie men..ignoring decency and values while they simply "pass the time , collecting pay checks".  Wouldn't that be a form of GREED; collecting a pay check while ignoring perversion and living among it, since the new rule would say open expression and performance is OK ?
  
   You are involved in a Christian church..would not such a position strike you as being duplicitous and supporting of sin ?

[Foxfire Rod and Gun]

Hopefully the current political position on this and many other venues will be in a position to be changed after the November elections. Personally, I am hoping for a "blood bath" for the Democratic Party. Being a "Lame Duck" president during his last two, and hopefully his very last EVER, years in office will possibly allow some of the damage that he and the other Democrats have created during their first two years in office to be corrected, to some extent, and future damage held to a minimum.

My father was a soft spoken, gentle and king hearted man who happened to be a decorated World War I Veteran. If he were still alive, I can only imagine what his thoughts & feelings would be concerning what is allowed, and acceptable by some, in the military today .

FR&G

[JPShelton]

It's not about winning.  It about eating for the rest of your life.  It's just a job.

All jobs suck but they aren't the gravy train the military is.

Some people serve their country.  Others "serve their time."  I am very proud to say that I was one of the former in military service, not one of the latter.

For the record, all jobs DON'T suck.  During the 11 years I spent as a peace officer in Los Angeles County, I considered it a privilage and honor to hold a position of public trust that provided so much personal satisfaction.  Just a job?  Nope.  And it most certainly didn't suck.  Neither did the time that I spent serving in the Marine Corps Reserve.  I already HAD a job in law enforcement when I signed on.  My service in the USMC wasn't "just a job" to me.  I didn't take it to get money for a college education (already had one when I joined), money for then-present bills (already had a high paying job), a subsidized home loan, medical care through the VA, or anything else.  I joined to give something back to the nation that gave so much to me.

Sure, I got something out of my brief stint in the military.  I learned about teamwork, true leadership, how to turn negatives in to positives, how to improvise, adapt, and overcome, and a host of other things, too, including this very important lession: The only limit to my potential is ME.

So when I could no longer be a peace officer, or serve in the USMC Reserve, I didn't bitch and moan about my situation, even when nobody wanted to hire me.  I created my own job by getting a hunting and fishing guide's license and putting it to use.  That job didn't suck, either.

While running my guide service, I got in to writing.  Without working very hard, I had another career writing hunting and fishing articles and doing hunting and fishing related photography.  That job didn't suck, either.  It still doesn't, though I don't do much of it presently.

When I moved to the Cherokee Nation, I took a job as an electrocardiogram technician, even though I didn't "need it" at the time.  That job MOST DEFINITELY didn't suck.

I moved on to something else from the electrocardiogram gig, taking on another job I really don't need.  It doesn't suck, either.

See a trend here?  I"ve had many jobs over the years, AND NOT ONE OF THEM SUCKED.

I'll "eat for the rest of my life" whether I have a job working for someone else or not, regardless of whether I have a pension, or not.  I don't need the government's largess or veterans benefits to inusre this.  This I can do on my own, thank you very much, and I don't need a "gravy train" to insure I'll get fed in my old age.

The supposed "gravy train" that Swampan thinks military service to be had no bearing whatsoever on my desire to serve.

I wouldn't be too shocked to discover that it: A), Was a deciding factor for his own service, or; B) He was drafted and "served" against his will.

-JP

PS: I didn't WANT to leave law enforcement OR the Marine Corps and if I could go back to the latter in any capacity, I would do so WITHOUT HESITATION or consideration of "what's in it for me."

[Dee]

Good post JP. Next time I'm visiting our Tribal Headquarters maybe we can get a cup of coffee.

[magooch]

JP, you the man.

[Swampman]

There was no draft when I went in.  Being in the military is a job just like any other job.  You do it for money.  You don't have to like it.  If you do that's ok too.  It's still 3 squares and a roof for you and your family.  It's a necessary evil.

[Rock Home Isle]

This next election cycle cannot get here fast enough...I hope that some of these idiotic changes that are being proposed are delayed long enough so that the next wave can set it strait after we have had our say in November.

There is a storm brewing...

[ironglow]

There was no draft when I went in.  Being in the military is a job just like any other job.  You do it for money.  You don't have to like it.  If you do that's ok too.  It's still 3 squares and a roof for you and your family.  It's a necessary evil.

  Takes all kinds.. some serve their country, some serve themselves..

[srussell]

There was no draft when I went in.  Being in the military is a job just like any other job.  You do it for money.  You don't have to like it.  If you do that's ok too.  It's still 3 squares and a roof for you and your family.  It's a necessary evil.
[/ I went in in 1968 with my jump pay on top of my military pay was right at$110 bucks a month. now i dont think i was doing it for the money

[AtlLaw]

I went in in 1968 with my jump pay on top of my military pay was right at$110 bucks a month. now i dont think i was doing it for the money

   That was my first thought also!  I think mine was something like $78 a month in '62!     I wasn't getting jump pay!   

[Dee]

I went in in 1968 with my jump pay on top of my military pay was right at$110 bucks a month. now i dont think i was doing it for the money

   That was my first thought also!  I think mine was something like $78 a month in '62!    I wasn't getting jump pay!  

Richard if they had been payin ya $7800.00 a month it wouldn't have been enough for what you guys were doin. Some of the best bull riders I ever met, rode'em from the fence, and some of the most dangerous man hunts were done in the office. They ain't had BS on their britches, and their ears don't ring, if you get my drift.

[Swampman]

There was no draft when I went in.  Being in the military is a job just like any other job.  You do it for money.  You don't have to like it.  If you do that's ok too.  It's still 3 squares and a roof for you and your family.  It's a necessary evil.

  Takes all kinds.. some serve their country, some serve themselves..

Some have romantic notions about doing a days work for a days pay.  I worked my tail off and I got a check.  I wish more than anything I was sitting on the couch everyday drawing a nice retirement check with full medical benifits.  Stay in until you get it.

[LONGTOM]

There comes a time when each of us has to take a decision on just what we believe in and what we stand for.
Some will choose to go with the flow and others will choose a more moral path.
Each has to choose for themselves.
It has happened all through history.
Our founding fathers during our war for independence, the war between the states with brother against brother are but two where such choices were made.
No different than what has been discussed here.
If those contemplating leaving are doing so because of what they believe in, then I would be proud to stand by any one of them, for I would know that they are the ones that could be counted on to stand by their beliefs.

As far as it being a "gravy train", I don't consider for one moment what our military faces each day as a gravy train.
Even if it was, there are plenty of gravy trains out there to be had without the aspect of getting your head blown off.
There are many people who put 3 squares a day on the table and provide a roof over their heads that feel the way our government is running the show is wrong.
A lot of them are the ones you see on TV at the tea party's trying to make a difference.
Others can be found just about everywhere you look, including right here on GBO.
They, just like the young men in question are standing up for what they believe in, just as our fore-fathers did before them.
I say if their decision is what they truly feel is the right thing to do than good for them for standing on their beliefs.

Contrary to what some may think, money can't buy peace in ones soul!!!



LONGTOM

[ironglow]

  The troops I know personally, those who have regularly come face-to-face with Haji...in a "high-noon" type shootout...I have never heard them describe such work as a "gravy train".