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Have you or a family member served in the military

Military Service - See first post for question


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My great grandfather was an army Ssgt in the European theater, WWII.

I had a great uncle who died in combat in Sicily, WWII, under Patton.

I've served in OIF II, and the evacuation of the American Embassy in Lebanon in 2006. No one else in my close family has served, though I have a cousin who washed out of army boot camp (bad ankles, apparently).
 
My sister and I both served in the IDF. Our two brothers are career US military.

If you were in the IDF then you trained in Krav Maga. Am curious if you still workout with KM. I have been doing KM for over year here in the states. Am certain it is the Americanized version but nonetheless it is an asskicker of workout.
A few yrs ago I got involved with Monte Aizik with Combat Krav Maga. Later I heard a lot of bad press about him that appears he is not what he professes. Have you ever heard of him and his program? Thank you .

As for the poll, I served as alot of family members. The only fatality in my family was great great grandfather in the Confederate Army. He actually died from measles. When he became so ill his unit left him alongside a road. Have a letter from my great great grandmother then writing about it and wondering if the damn yankees found him and killed him.

As for my own service there were good parts and bad parts.
 
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Where I come from, military service is and/or was a requirement for men. So yes, lots of family members, including my father and most of my uncles and cousins.
 
If you were in the IDF then you trained in Krav Maga. Am curious if you still workout with KM. I have been doing KM for over year here in the states. Am certain it is the Americanized version but nonetheless it is an asskicker of workout.
I am familiar with Krav Maga. It's quite brutal and is a mainstay of Israeli Special Forces training.

I personally prefer kick-boxing and have been engaged in this sport since I was a youngster.
 
I served betwixt and between Korea and 'Nam. My Dad served in both the Atlantic and Pacific during WWII.
 
I served between 1981 and 1985

My Father and three of his brothers served in WWII (My Dad was a Merchant Marine)
My Father's two younger brothers served in Korea
My Niece and Nephew served in Operation Iraqi Freedom
My Sister and Brother-in Laws both are retired Army and served in OIF and OEF, and probably earlier combat ops
 
Maternal grandfather - Navy WWII. I found out after he died that his ship had been sunk. He never talked about it during his lifetime.
Dad - Army Airborne - peacetime
Paternal Uncle - Army - peacetime
1st Husband - Army National Guard - peacetime
 
Grandfather (father's side) = Army (Korean War)

Great Uncle (Mother's side) = Navy (Korean War)

Father = Army (Vietnam War)

Uncle (Mother's Side) = Army (Vietnam War)
 
were you in the combat zone or in the military when a war was going on?

First on station for Desert Shield, and first unit to return. It was in the Navy, so not out in the fighting, but I was there.
 
My father was a Lt Colonel in the Air force in WW2, and one Uncle was a paratrooper.
 
My dad served in the Navy during the Korean War, but was stationed in San Diego. My brother served in the Navy during Desert Storm (mostly in the gulf and Pacific on an LA-class sub). My sister in law was active duty in the Navy from 1986 to 2006, so she served during Desert Storm and the Iraq war, but was not in a combat zone (her most recent duty station was Gitmo during the Iraq war. My boyfriend served during Desert Storm and did a year in Iraq (Tikrit) during 2006 working for the Army, even though he's a Navy officer. He's been in the reserves for 10 years now, but he isn't eligible to be called back into active service for 2 more years.

He left today to spend 2 weeks in Hawaii getting a sub detachment ready for active service. Rough duty, eh?

Also...Go Navy, fly Navy, beat Army. :)
 
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Father I never was career military. I never knew any of my relatives.
 
Paternal grandfather was merchant marine Captain most of his adult life, WWII, many convoys and D-Day invasion.
Only Uncle was merchant marine for 2 years, during same war, but I don't know any more than that about him.
Father was exempt during WWII, he had a job at a munitions factory, but he did do USNR on weekends, on east coast "target" ships, basically a screen of older ships that german uboats might fire at....primitive early warning system.
Older brother at Okinawa during Korean Conflict, USAF jet engine mechanic, did 20 years.
Younger brother 2 years in Navy, a snipe, no war, mustered out on hearing disability.

I joined USNR on my 17th birthday, still in High School, converted to USN after high school, did 12.5 years active duty, included a tour in Vietnam (brown water navy), then 9 more years in USNR, now retired.
Duty stations other than vietnam, a nuclear fast attack sub, GTMO, Cuba, and SOSUS in Norfolk...plus 3 years of great technical training.
 
I served active Navy from '98 - '08, on the Lincoln when OIF started (we got a brief on Shock and Awe about a week or two prior to it occurring, we all found the mission name to be quite amusing, but the amount of ordinance planned to be dropped was impressive). Also supported OEF. Currently in the Navy reserves.

My husband was a Marine. He had just came back from Afghanistan when we met and we were engaged when he left for Iraq. He is currently in the Navy.
His family is mostly Navy. I know his mother, bio. father, and stepfather were all in the Navy, but I don't know if they were in during a war.

My father and mother were both in the Army. My mother got out in '80, so she was only in during peace time. My father went into the National Guard a couple of years later, and was in during Desert Storm but he didn't get deployed.

My brother was in the Army, and went to Iraq after sometime after I got back.

Two of my mother's brothers were in the Army, neither in war time.

My grandfather was in the Army during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. He served in combat zones as a medic in all three.
 
I served active Navy from '98 - '08, on the Lincoln when OIF started (we got a brief on Shock and Awe about a week or two prior to it occurring, we all found the mission name to be quite amusing, but the amount of ordinance planned to be dropped was impressive).

About a week after we arrived on station after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, there was what looked to be a major strike of that sort planned. Our ordnance guys simply could not handle all the loading, so I and a bunch of others spent 14 hours helping get all the ordnance loaded and ready to go. The amount of bombs and missiles loaded was truly insane. 2 days later(I think it was) and the strike was canceled(or the drill was over, we never knew for 100 % sure) and we got to unload all those bombs and missiles.

A few months later, we saw a thing on TV about the Air Farce doing a turnaround on some of their aircraft, reloading after they jets got back from a mission, and we saw all the toys they have for loading and unloading and where just amazed. They really don't know just how good they have it.
 
About a week after we arrived on station after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, there was what looked to be a major strike of that sort planned. Our ordnance guys simply could not handle all the loading, so I and a bunch of others spent 14 hours helping get all the ordnance loaded and ready to go. The amount of bombs and missiles loaded was truly insane. 2 days later(I think it was) and the strike was canceled(or the drill was over, we never knew for 100 % sure) and we got to unload all those bombs and missiles.

A few months later, we saw a thing on TV about the Air Farce doing a turnaround on some of their aircraft, reloading after they jets got back from a mission, and we saw all the toys they have for loading and unloading and where just amazed. They really don't know just how good they have it.
Odd question occurred to me - why does the navy not have those "toys"? Something to do with limitations due to being on an aircraft carrier?
 
About a week after we arrived on station after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, there was what looked to be a major strike of that sort planned. Our ordnance guys simply could not handle all the loading, so I and a bunch of others spent 14 hours helping get all the ordnance loaded and ready to go. The amount of bombs and missiles loaded was truly insane. 2 days later(I think it was) and the strike was canceled(or the drill was over, we never knew for 100 % sure) and we got to unload all those bombs and missiles.

A few months later, we saw a thing on TV about the Air Farce doing a turnaround on some of their aircraft, reloading after they jets got back from a mission, and we saw all the toys they have for loading and unloading and where just amazed. They really don't know just how good they have it.

Didn't take me long in the Navy to realize I should have gone Air Force. The USAF treats its people pretty good. Enlisteds prepare the planes for the officers to fly off in, and get shot at. You can bet the pilots treat their ground crews well. OTOH, one went up to my brother, jet engine mechanic, and said "come with me, we're gonna fly". My brother said, "I don't fly". Pilot says, anybody who works on my plane, flies on my plane. Brother said that event made him see the value in being a very careful mechanic.
 
My dad was drafted into the Army and fought in Korea. His platoon was surrounded by the enemy for 17 days when the accord was signed that effectively ended that war. He returned home--was honorably discharged and immediately enlisted in the Marines.

When I learned of this as a kid I could not imagine why he would enlist in the Marines after just returning from the war. After all, he was not what you would call “career-minded” when it came to the military.

So I asked him why he did enlist and with the most thoughtful look I have ever seen on his face he replied, “son, women love a man in a Marine uniform”.

The funny thing is that I thought he would have said that he joined for “God and country” or to fight the evils of communism…but that wasn’t it.

Dad did it for the chicks.

And on some level…that’s a pretty cool reason.

Dad died November 15, 2004.

God bless all those who serve.
 
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My Dad served in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam. He spent 30 years in the Air Force. He enjoyed serving. Passed away in 2005.
Thank you to all that have served.
 
Odd question occurred to me - why does the navy not have those "toys"? Something to do with limitations due to being on an aircraft carrier?

It's room limitations on a carrier. As big as it is, the flight deck is still really crowded.
 
It's room limitations on a carrier. As big as it is, the flight deck is still really crowded.
Hmm.

I bet you could automate it, however...
 
Hmm.

I bet you could automate it, however...

Good luck on that. It's hard to describe what working on the flight deck is like, but it's not the kind of situation that lends itself well to automation.
 
My dads side of the family has been in the military as long as we can trace. (We know that our family was guarding Windsor castle for a few generations and that two of us fought at Waterloo). My grandfather fought in world war two first in France (narrowly missing Dunkirk) then in the far east (rebuilding railways as we retook India and Burma and eventually making it to China) then went on to fight in Cyprus, the Malayan emergency and the 1947 Palestinian civil war (narrowly missing the Suez crisis that would piss him off no end). This continued untill my dad and uncle went to university during the late 60s/early 70s bringing that tradition to a pretty ubrupt end :D .
 
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