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The US Military on the cheap. How would you do it?

Tangmo said:
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It was Camp A.P. Hill during my time in the 3d Infantry Regiment The Old Guard of the Army, Ft. Myer in the Military District of Washington DC during my honorable active duty regular military service in the regiment from 1966-70.

We went to FTX at Camp A.P. Hill.

Camp A.P. Hill has since been redesignated at Ft. A.P. Hill. I always refer to the post as Ft. A.P. Hill in my posts because that is its extant name and designation. If I wrote Camp A.P. Hill in my posts then some lunatic rightwinger obsessive compulsive contrarians would attack that too and much explanation would be required anyway on my part. This is true because the initiator always has the advantage of being on the offense whether he is true or false. Initiator false is the rule here. So I do the same in respect of Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA, formerly Camp Indiantown Gap, where 3 IR TOG also trains in FTX.


During the Korean War, Camp A.P. Hill was a major staging area for units deploying to Europe, including the VII Corps Headquarters and the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment. The fort was the major center for Engineer Officer Candidate School training (out of Fort Belvoir) during the Vietnam War.

Fort A.P. Hill


Camp A P Hill Sons of Confederate Veterans is a non-profit organization designed to honour our
brave Confederate ancestors and to educate the public on the rich legacy left behind by these true patriots and defenders of the Constitution.

Commander: Jimmy Easter
Adjutant: Jack Adkins
Lt. Commander: Jerry Howard

A P Hill SCV Camp No. 167 - About | Facebook

In university Rotc in NJ we did a certain amount of training at Ft. Dix NJ which originated during WW I as Camp Dix and was later redesignated as Ft. Dix which is what it was named while I was in uni Rotc and we did some training there. To include in the chlorine gas chamber of Ft. Dix, formerly Camp Dix.

This is year 4 of your doing this Fledermaus. Week in and week out. Day in and day out. At Camp Fledermaus near Crystal Lake.
Click to expand...

A whole lot of typing....

A bunch of irrelevant regurgitating.

Unnecessary photos...

Still doesn't change the fact Fort Indiantown Gap was not designated as such until over half a decade after your claimed time in service.

And like your DD-214 matches the 1975 time frame.

And I suspect your imagination gives us the Crystal Lake that no other veteran recognizes...

Oh, you never answered about the "chlorine pellets" nor what mythical purity the "deadly chlorine gas" was.
 
cpwill said:
Ooze has actually been pretty well-informed, pretty well-reasoned, and pretty reasonable for years, here. For all that I'm surprised that he acted as dismissively as he did (and, you are correct it won him no points) - you are making a snap judgement here which is an inaccurate depiction of him.

I've known... one officer who approached NCO's with that level of disdain. He was, shall we say, not all that successful as a leader. Got fired multiple times, got his ass kicked (beaten with a kevlar) once in front of his platoon by a platoon sergeant (who, it is worth noting, was subsequently backed by the Company and then the Battalion chain of command; God bless them), lost his rifle, had multiple negligent discharges.... Probably the only officer I've ever seen who was less of a leader was a guy who literally let a squad leader fire him. Yeah. Usually the most arrogant and disdainful ones were the least competent.
Click to expand...

I condensed your post for you. It's SOP.

Virtually every lifer nco has his obligatory and mandatory horror story of an officer. I have a couple of my own as does every officer past and present...and future for sure. It's in the nature of nco lifers to either have 'em or to make 'em up.

Yet your as a locomotive kicking off the tracks nco would need to hear, officers across all the armed forces talk about nco. Armed forces officers of Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard talk our horror stories of nco out of earshot of nco and our of their view. Veteran EP haven't heard the talk because you're never supposed to hear it. It is, as I say, an unwritten rule among the officer corps of the armed services.

This is because officers openly stating the truth of noc across the armed services is a no-no of the first order and highest order. It's an unwritten rule that officer-gentleman do not openly speak the truth of the GED career lifer nco and his deficiencies of intellect, education, and of his cultural depravity. Retired lifer nco for instance are prominent among the right wing lunatics who want machine guns lined up at the southern border operated by regular Army troops to mow 'em down, the unarmed civilians as occurred obscenely in Tianamen Square in 1989. These are too many of our career lifer right winger nco veteran right wingers for life posting here. It is a rare instance indeed of the NCO who are among the very few nco in the armed forces who have a master's degree. It is indeed the master degree that contributes significantly to the fact nco learn they are not officer material. Period.
 
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Well, this thread has been roundly hijacked. Military cuts and downsizing, remember. This long trip down military memory lane is extraneous to the thread's question.

Can we get back on track with the OP's original theme? Please.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.
 
Oozlefinch said:
I never had any intention on being an officer. And trust me, I had them.

When I was in boot camp, I was offered an appointment to the Naval Academy Preparatory School. This is a 1-2 year program that takes candidates that they feel have what it takes to become an officer and prepare them to attend Annapolis. Upon completion the student then moves on to Annapolis and eventually either a Naval or Marine Officer. It was offered to me, I turned it down.

I was also offered a DCO opening about 8 years ago, and turned that down as well.

I never had any interest in becoming an officer, never have and never will. Now before I got too old I would have considered getting a Warrant, but I am to old for even that option now.
Click to expand...

Some certain people know they couldn't hack it.

Too much serious brainpower involved.

Higher education required. Officer camp required to include what is effectively a camp, ie, a government service academy, or an Rotc program or OCS. There are EP who know for certain they have no possibility in any of 'em and all of 'em.

When some are asked to become an officer they go forward while others run away. Good reasons in each instance, always.
 
Fledermaus said:
Interesting.... The name 'Fort Indiantown Gap' did not come into being until 1975..... As did your DD-214.
Click to expand...

I did BLC back there in April. Weirdest post I've ever been to.
 
Tangmo said:
Some certain people know they couldn't hack it.

Too much serious brainpower involved.

Higher education required. Officer camp required to include what is effectively a camp, ie, a government service academy, or an Rotc program or OCS. There are EP who know for certain they have no possibility in any of 'em and all of 'em.

When some are asked to become an officer they go forward while others run away. Good reasons in each instance, always.
Click to expand...

GT:142 on the 1976 scale. The requirement to be an officer? GT:110 IIRC

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Higher education? I pulled a 3.97 GPA in college. While working.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Looks like someone is making Cadet level ASSumptions about the Enlisted People here.
 
Jredbaron96 said:
I did BLC back there in April. Weirdest post I've ever been to.
Click to expand...

How so?

I found Quantico to be the strangest.

Smack dab in the middle of the base is Quantico Town. A main street, some side streets and a couple of cross streets that would remind you more of Mayberry. Population under 500.
 
Tangmo said:
I condensed your post for you. It's SOP.

Virtually every lifer nco has his obligatory and mandatory horror story of an officer. I have a couple of my own as does every officer past and present...and future for sure. It's in the nature of nco lifers to either have 'em or to make 'em up.

Yet your as a locomotive kicking off the tracks nco would need to hear, officers across all the armed forces talk about nco. Armed forces officers of Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard talk our horror stories of nco out of earshot of nco and our of their view. Veteran EP haven't heard the talk because you're never supposed to hear it. It is, as I say, an unwritten rule among the officer corps of the armed services.

This is because officers openly stating the truth of noc across the armed services is a no-no of the first order and highest order. It's an unwritten rule that officer-gentleman do not openly speak the truth of the GED career lifer nco and his deficiencies of intellect, education, and of his cultural depravity. Retired lifer nco for instance are prominent among the right wing lunatics who want machine guns lined up at the southern border operated by regular Army troops to mow 'em down, the unarmed civilians as occurred obscenely in Tianamen Square in 1989. These are too many of our career lifer right winger nco veteran right wingers for life posting here. It is a rare instance indeed of the NCO who are among the very few nco in the armed forces who have a master's degree. It is indeed the master degree that contributes significantly to the fact nco learn they are not officer material. Period.
Click to expand...

A fine example of ignorance and insults writ large.
 
Fledermaus said:
How so?

I found Quantico to be the strangest.

Smack dab in the middle of the base is Quantico Town. A main street, some side streets and a couple of cross streets that would remind you more of Mayberry. Population under 500.
Click to expand...

I was gate guard for months on Hood, where I would deal with massive lines and check thousands of IDs.

On FIG there is no gate. You literally just drive onto it, in the middle or rural Pennsylvania. Obviously the important stuff, the airfield and like, are all guarded, but it just sort of starts with no ECP and then ends when it trails off into the highway. I mean it's a NG post, so it makes sense, but it just feels weird.

That ended up helping at BLC, where I was one of a handful of active duty guys.
 
Fledermaus said:
GT:142 on the 1976 scale. The requirement to be an officer? GT:110 IIRC

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Higher education? I pulled a 3.97 GPA in college. While working.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Looks like someone is making Cadet level ASSumptions about the Enlisted People here.
Click to expand...

And I have known more than a few officers who turned in their bars after a break in service, and returned to the military as enlisted. One I even went to High School with. Graduated from ROTC from UCLA, did 6 years as a Marine Infantry Officer, got out and became a teacher. Like a great many after 9/11 he joined again, but as a Sergeant in the Army Reserve. Did that for 6 years and got out for good.

One big advantage of being enlisted, a lot less of the "political games" that Officers have to put up with. I have seen that first hand all to many times, they are expected to have the right car, be married to the right wife, have the right Merit Badges on their uniform (Air Assault, Jump Wings, CAB, EIB, etc) if they hope to stay in and progress past a certain point.

Plus their career options in many ways are much more limited. As enlisted I had 2 tours in what is known as "Premier Posting", Marine Barracks duty. The first such tour was as a guard at a Naval Weapon Station, the second was as the NCOIC of the rifle range at the West Coast Security Command & School. The kind of things in the 1980s they sent us Marine Grunts to if we were high speed enough and needed a break from humping the hills at Pendleton or the swamps of Lejeune.

But those kinds of postings? Few and far between for Officers. At my first post, we had around 150 enlisted Marines, 1 CWO4, and 4 Officers (1 Major, 1 Captain, 2 First Lieutenants). If I had taken Annapolis, then odds are I would have spent my entire career rotating between Lejeune and Pendleton, there were damned few positions for Officers at such postings.

And yes, I had several postings way above my paygrade, so I was not some "barely hacking" individual. As a Corporal I held the position for 2 years of Battalion Maintenance Chief, which on paper called for a Staff Sergeant. And it was a tough job, being in charge of all the maintenance for an entire Battalion. But I did it with distinction, and the Battalion Commander even refused a Staff Sergeant when offered, saying he was more than happy with the job I was doing as a Corporal.

Lieutenant Fuzz seems to have a common problem with those that think of themselves as superior and intellectually elite. He confuses schooling with intelligence. I have known complete morons who were able to get degrees. For me, school simply never held that much interest.

Yes, I have taken college courses many times over the year. However, not in pursuit of any kind of degree but simply for personal enrichment. I greatly enjoyed the 2 semesters of History I took, as well as the 2 semesters of Business Management. But I am very much a "hands on" kind of person, and simply had no interest in getting a degree only to end up riding a desk for years.

Several years ago I worked for a dot com, doing remote administration of servers and routing equipment all over the country. I was damned good at it, but to be honest it bored me to death. I would have much rather been the tech on the other end of the phone actually working on and troubleshooting the equipment, not sitting at a desk resetting servers and answering his questions.

I was even offered a management position at Hughes Aerospace about 20 years ago, and turned it down. I did not want to spend my days filling out spreadsheets and doing planning for the 50 man team of technicians, I wanted to actually be the technician.

This is why getting a Warrant did appeal to me. They are subject matter experts, doing most of the work of Enlisted, but getting paid as an Officer. And in their area of specialty not even Officers second guess the Chiefs very often.

And more than a few enlisted have degrees, or like me parts of degrees. Sergeant Major of the Army Dailey has a Bachelors in History. Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Green holds a Bachelors in Science in Cybersecurity and a Masters in Cybersecurity Policy. Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Giordano holds a Bachelors in Management.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Wright is a real rock star here. Associates in Science in Dental Assisting. Bachelors in Business Management. Associates in Instructor of Technology. Masters in Business Administration, and a Graduate Course in Executive Leadership from Cornell.

I dare Lt. Fuzz to tell any of those individuals that they "do not have what it takes" to be an Officer. I guess he simply believes that nobody in their right mind would pass up the chance if offered to them, and anybody that does must be broken.
 
Jredbaron96 said:
I was gate guard for months on Hood, where I would deal with massive lines and check thousands of IDs.

On FIG there is no gate. You literally just drive onto it, in the middle or rural Pennsylvania. Obviously the important stuff, the airfield and like, are all guarded, but it just sort of starts with no ECP and then ends when it trails off into the highway. I mean it's a NG post, so it makes sense, but it just feels weird.

That ended up helping at BLC, where I was one of a handful of active duty guys.
Click to expand...

I remember driving from Wisconsin to Florida. Tooling down a freeway in Georgia I was sleeping with my wife was driving. Freeway went from six to four to two lanes.... I wake to the sound of helicopters and my wife saying we must have missed a turn off. We were inside Fort Benning army base and more than halfway through.
 
Oozlefinch said:
And I have known more than a few officers who turned in their bars after a break in service, and returned to the military as enlisted. One I even went to High School with. Graduated from ROTC from UCLA, did 6 years as a Marine Infantry Officer, got out and became a teacher. Like a great many after 9/11 he joined again, but as a Sergeant in the Army Reserve. Did that for 6 years and got out for good.

One big advantage of being enlisted, a lot less of the "political games" that Officers have to put up with. I have seen that first hand all to many times, they are expected to have the right car, be married to the right wife, have the right Merit Badges on their uniform (Air Assault, Jump Wings, CAB, EIB, etc) if they hope to stay in and progress past a certain point.

Plus their career options in many ways are much more limited. As enlisted I had 2 tours in what is known as "Premier Posting", Marine Barracks duty. The first such tour was as a guard at a Naval Weapon Station, the second was as the NCOIC of the rifle range at the West Coast Security Command & School. The kind of things in the 1980s they sent us Marine Grunts to if we were high speed enough and needed a break from humping the hills at Pendleton or the swamps of Lejeune.

But those kinds of postings? Few and far between for Officers. At my first post, we had around 150 enlisted Marines, 1 CWO4, and 4 Officers (1 Major, 1 Captain, 2 First Lieutenants). If I had taken Annapolis, then odds are I would have spent my entire career rotating between Lejeune and Pendleton, there were damned few positions for Officers at such postings.

And yes, I had several postings way above my paygrade, so I was not some "barely hacking" individual. As a Corporal I held the position for 2 years of Battalion Maintenance Chief, which on paper called for a Staff Sergeant. And it was a tough job, being in charge of all the maintenance for an entire Battalion. But I did it with distinction, and the Battalion Commander even refused a Staff Sergeant when offered, saying he was more than happy with the job I was doing as a Corporal.

Lieutenant Fuzz seems to have a common problem with those that think of themselves as superior and intellectually elite. He confuses schooling with intelligence. I have known complete morons who were able to get degrees. For me, school simply never held that much interest.

Yes, I have taken college courses many times over the year. However, not in pursuit of any kind of degree but simply for personal enrichment. I greatly enjoyed the 2 semesters of History I took, as well as the 2 semesters of Business Management. But I am very much a "hands on" kind of person, and simply had no interest in getting a degree only to end up riding a desk for years.

Several years ago I worked for a dot com, doing remote administration of servers and routing equipment all over the country. I was damned good at it, but to be honest it bored me to death. I would have much rather been the tech on the other end of the phone actually working on and troubleshooting the equipment, not sitting at a desk resetting servers and answering his questions.

I was even offered a management position at Hughes Aerospace about 20 years ago, and turned it down. I did not want to spend my days filling out spreadsheets and doing planning for the 50 man team of technicians, I wanted to actually be the technician.

This is why getting a Warrant did appeal to me. They are subject matter experts, doing most of the work of Enlisted, but getting paid as an Officer. And in their area of specialty not even Officers second guess the Chiefs very often.

And more than a few enlisted have degrees, or like me parts of degrees. Sergeant Major of the Army Dailey has a Bachelors in History. Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Green holds a Bachelors in Science in Cybersecurity and a Masters in Cybersecurity Policy. Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Giordano holds a Bachelors in Management.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Wright is a real rock star here. Associates in Science in Dental Assisting. Bachelors in Business Management. Associates in Instructor of Technology. Masters in Business Administration, and a Graduate Course in Executive Leadership from Cornell.

I dare Lt. Fuzz to tell any of those individuals that they "do not have what it takes" to be an Officer. I guess he simply believes that nobody in their right mind would pass up the chance if offered to them, and anybody that does must be broken.
Click to expand...

So very true...

Stand by for more Cadet posts. :lamo
 
Gee, without NCO how would the world manage eh. You guyz who are able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Which is what attracts me to the 5000 word Post #189 by Oozlefinch which quotes Fledermaus....who himself had quoted Oozlefinch after Oozlefinch had quoted Fledermaus and so on.

I mean, if people didn't aspire to be NCO where would they be in life. Where would we all be eh.

I'm entertained to read NCO telling us about how they are masters of the universe. Most NCO retired owe it all to being a lifer NCO Right Winger For Life, they just won't ever admit it. Indeed, because of Super NCO Man we don't need generals any more. The reasons would be that NCO are omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. And everyone should want to be an NCO. Reality is however that when a dumb kid enlists, he does a reup to become a dumb nco. And a dumbo Right Winger through and through.

Trump would have been an NCO if he hadn't been Cadet Bone Spurs to begin with. Trump too is self declared as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. The Ultimate NCO Man. I'd bet his post career GPA would be 3.9 too. With his flash in the pan tweets. Because we see what happens when you guys put a platoon sergeant mentality in charge of the country. Trump in the White House is the perfect illustration.
 
PirateMk1 said:
Ok, a thought exercise for today and however long people are interested.

Pretend that we have to cut our military budget drastically for the foreseeable future. By one quarter, by one half, and by three quarters. In each of these three scenarios, how would you do it? Would there be priority differences between the three different size cuts in budget, or would you maintain similar priorities regardless the size of cut?

As the Iron Chef says "Begin!!!"
Click to expand...
id start with selling off all the cows and let the solders poop tofu. Then I’d design a ICBM that uses water balloons instead of warheads. Next footwear, burn them gawd aweful boots and put my solders in cork lined berkenstocks...two pair, third ones on you. Airplanes gotta go, we’ll use seven masted sailing ships...by the time we get there cooler heads might prevail, turn around and be home to watch top chef. These are but a few innovative ideas that I really shouldn’t take credit for, butt **** it! I’m an opportunist...learned that from the lefty ;)
 
Tangmo said:
Gee, without NCO how would the world manage eh. You guyz who are able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Which is what attracts me to the 5000 word Post #189 by Oozlefinch which quotes Fledermaus....who himself had quoted Oozlefinch after Oozlefinch had quoted Fledermaus and so on.

I mean, if people didn't aspire to be NCO where would they be in life. Where would we all be eh.

I'm entertained to read NCO telling us about how they are masters of the universe. Most NCO retired owe it all to being a lifer NCO Right Winger For Life, they just won't ever admit it. Indeed, because of Super NCO Man we don't need generals any more. The reasons would be that NCO are omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. And everyone should want to be an NCO. Reality is however that when a dumb kid enlists, he does a reup to become a dumb nco. And a dumbo Right Winger through and through.

Trump would have been an NCO if he hadn't been Cadet Bone Spurs to begin with. Trump too is self declared as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. The Ultimate NCO Man. I'd bet his post career GPA would be 3.9 too. With his flash in the pan tweets. Because we see what happens when you guys put a platoon sergeant mentality in charge of the country. Trump in the White House is the perfect illustration.
Click to expand...

Oh, look.

Tangmo doesn't like that real veterans converse with each other.

Tangmo likes to make claims about what other real veterans say. The only problem is that the Tangmo version are lies.

Like the whole "masters of the universe" nonsense.

Or that generals are not needed.

I guess the Cadet feels that he must lash out and lie about the real veterans.

Sick and sad.

You are dismissed Cadet three pips Tangmo B. Busted.....
 
PirateMk1 said:
Ok, a thought exercise for today and however long people are interested.

Pretend that we have to cut our military budget drastically for the foreseeable future. By one quarter, by one half, and by three quarters. In each of these three scenarios, how would you do it? Would there be priority differences between the three different size cuts in budget, or would you maintain similar priorities regardless the size of cut?

As the Iron Chef says "Begin!!!"
Click to expand...

Good idea for a thread!

I think whatever level of defense cuts you mandate, the last thing I'd want to cut would be the Navy and Marine Corps. I'd want to maintain their viability to preserve as much force projection capability as possible. The bulk of the cuts I'd make would be to the Army... the more we draw down defense spending, the less potential we're going to need for taking and holding vast swathes of territory for an extended period of time. I'd concentrate on reducing regular Army strength to the bare minimum and handing over as many of it's functions as possible over to the National Guard. The Air Force and general Defense-wide spending, I'd put somewhere between those two extremes. Overall, my cuts would be divided roughly as follows:

Army - 37.5%
Air Force - 25%
Defense-wide - 25%
Navy & Marine Corps - 12.5%

So, overall, we'd be looking at a more Pacific-oriented Defense posture with our regional allies in NATO and South Korea assuming more of the responsibility for providing their own land-based defense with our naval capabilities acting in support. This is necessarily also going to involve a drawback in some areas of operation such as the Persian Gulf and the Non-NATO former Soviet states, with a more focused emphasis on the Mediterranean/Suez, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
 
Fledermaus said:
Why do you feel the need to lie about and libel real veterans?
Click to expand...

This is how you started out 4 years ago. Down there in the basement.

12 of the last 15 Who Quoted Me posts are yours Fledermaus.

Whatever it is you've got going on upstairs it's broken. Long since in fact.
 
Tangmo said:
This is how you started out 4 years ago. Down there in the basement.

12 of the last 15 Who Quoted Me posts are yours Fledermaus.

Whatever it is you've got going on upstairs it's broken. Long since in fact.
Click to expand...

Why do you feel the need to lie about and libel real veterans?

And isn't it embarrassing that practically none of the other veterans wish to speak to you.. You are "flyover" territory for most posters....
 
PIPEWRENCH said:
It was really stupid in my opinion to place vanity over efficiency. I would stand at the main gate for hours in the sun in 100+ degree temperatures wearing a uniform whose design inhibited my ability to perform to my potential in order to look good. That is clearly the case of those who sit in AC behind a desk in safety deciding what people in the field who could come under fire should wear. Hopefully we have smarter people making decisions today.
Click to expand...
I have bad news for you :-(

Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using Tapatalk
 
Oozlefinch said:
And I have known more than a few officers who turned in their bars after a break in service, and returned to the military as enlisted. One I even went to High School with. Graduated from ROTC from UCLA, did 6 years as a Marine Infantry Officer, got out and became a teacher. Like a great many after 9/11 he joined again, but as a Sergeant in the Army Reserve. Did that for 6 years and got out for good.

One big advantage of being enlisted, a lot less of the "political games" that Officers have to put up with. I have seen that first hand all to many times, they are expected to have the right car, be married to the right wife, have the right Merit Badges on their uniform (Air Assault, Jump Wings, CAB, EIB, etc) if they hope to stay in and progress past a certain point.

Plus their career options in many ways are much more limited. As enlisted I had 2 tours in what is known as "Premier Posting", Marine Barracks duty. The first such tour was as a guard at a Naval Weapon Station, the second was as the NCOIC of the rifle range at the West Coast Security Command & School. The kind of things in the 1980s they sent us Marine Grunts to if we were high speed enough and needed a break from humping the hills at Pendleton or the swamps of Lejeune.

But those kinds of postings? Few and far between for Officers. At my first post, we had around 150 enlisted Marines, 1 CWO4, and 4 Officers (1 Major, 1 Captain, 2 First Lieutenants). If I had taken Annapolis, then odds are I would have spent my entire career rotating between Lejeune and Pendleton, there were damned few positions for Officers at such postings.

And yes, I had several postings way above my paygrade, so I was not some "barely hacking" individual. As a Corporal I held the position for 2 years of Battalion Maintenance Chief, which on paper called for a Staff Sergeant. And it was a tough job, being in charge of all the maintenance for an entire Battalion. But I did it with distinction, and the Battalion Commander even refused a Staff Sergeant when offered, saying he was more than happy with the job I was doing as a Corporal.

Lieutenant Fuzz seems to have a common problem with those that think of themselves as superior and intellectually elite. He confuses schooling with intelligence. I have known complete morons who were able to get degrees. For me, school simply never held that much interest.

Yes, I have taken college courses many times over the year. However, not in pursuit of any kind of degree but simply for personal enrichment. I greatly enjoyed the 2 semesters of History I took, as well as the 2 semesters of Business Management. But I am very much a "hands on" kind of person, and simply had no interest in getting a degree only to end up riding a desk for years.

Several years ago I worked for a dot com, doing remote administration of servers and routing equipment all over the country. I was damned good at it, but to be honest it bored me to death. I would have much rather been the tech on the other end of the phone actually working on and troubleshooting the equipment, not sitting at a desk resetting servers and answering his questions.

I was even offered a management position at Hughes Aerospace about 20 years ago, and turned it down. I did not want to spend my days filling out spreadsheets and doing planning for the 50 man team of technicians, I wanted to actually be the technician.

This is why getting a Warrant did appeal to me. They are subject matter experts, doing most of the work of Enlisted, but getting paid as an Officer. And in their area of specialty not even Officers second guess the Chiefs very often.

And more than a few enlisted have degrees, or like me parts of degrees. Sergeant Major of the Army Dailey has a Bachelors in History. Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Green holds a Bachelors in Science in Cybersecurity and a Masters in Cybersecurity Policy. Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Giordano holds a Bachelors in Management.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Wright is a real rock star here. Associates in Science in Dental Assisting. Bachelors in Business Management. Associates in Instructor of Technology. Masters in Business Administration, and a Graduate Course in Executive Leadership from Cornell.

I dare Lt. Fuzz to tell any of those individuals that they "do not have what it takes" to be an Officer. I guess he simply believes that nobody in their right mind would pass up the chance if offered to them, and anybody that does must be broken.
Click to expand...

LOL, I turned down the officer route twice (once Army, once Marine Corps), and regretted it precisely zero days.

Much like eventually getting out :D
 
Tangmo said:
Gee, without NCO how would the world manage eh. You guyz who are able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Which is what attracts me to the 5000 word Post #189 by Oozlefinch which quotes Fledermaus....who himself had quoted Oozlefinch after Oozlefinch had quoted Fledermaus and so on.

I mean, if people didn't aspire to be NCO where would they be in life. Where would we all be eh.

I'm entertained to read NCO telling us about how they are masters of the universe. Most NCO retired owe it all to being a lifer NCO Right Winger For Life, they just won't ever admit it. Indeed, because of Super NCO Man we don't need generals any more. The reasons would be that NCO are omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. And everyone should want to be an NCO. Reality is however that when a dumb kid enlists, he does a reup to become a dumb nco. And a dumbo Right Winger through and through.

Trump would have been an NCO if he hadn't been Cadet Bone Spurs to begin with. Trump too is self declared as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. The Ultimate NCO Man. I'd bet his post career GPA would be 3.9 too. With his flash in the pan tweets. Because we see what happens when you guys put a platoon sergeant mentality in charge of the country. Trump in the White House is the perfect illustration.
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Man. The more you talk, the more you sound like someone who's just angry at his E8 Dad.

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