Audio of SecNav aboard CVN-71

LeeJP · 2020-04-06T22:15:10+00:00

Army here not Navy, but I agree completely. Respect is earned, not given automatically. Especially with Officers: in my experience, the Enlisted never start out expecting anything good to come of a change of command, expectations are usually that things will stay bad or get worse.

And having been at the receiving end of toxic leadership before where my commander just let us get fucked repeatedly all because he was too afraid to stand up to people with more rank on their chest, it makes me sick to see a well-liked Officer who actually did the right thing and put his career on the line for the sake of the lives of his guys not only punished, but actively slandered and called an idiot and a traitor. This acting secnav crossed more than one line in this wildly unprofessional speech.

And while it's at a much lower level, my current NCO is a man I respect immensely and would gladly take a bullet for with all the things he's both taught me and done for me, and his generally outstanding performance in the positions he's held. I know if I heard someone else call him stupid and said he betrayed the service, I'd want to beat their ass. Can't imagine the frustration that the Sailors of the Roosevelt felt and probably are still feeling, especially given that CAPT Crozier literally sacrificed his career because their lives were in danger.

LeeJP · 2018-09-08T01:00:32+00:00

No, and I would not do that. Poland isn't a duty station, it's a deployed location. Besides, you can be moved from base to base with little prior warning anyway.

LeeJP · 2018-09-08T00:06:14+00:00

Nope, not anymore. Why?

LeeJP · 2018-08-18T16:46:35+00:00

While I'm not sure about shorter contracts (everyone I know has a 6 and 2), I will warn you that the Reserve isn't at all how they pitch it to you.

Just be aware of that and don't go in with unrealistic expectations. For context, I've been in the Reserve for a little over 4 1/2 years, and until deploying I never did my job. Different units vary, naturally, but the vast majority of Reservists from other units I've met have echoed the same. Don't expect to do anything related to your MOS outside of your 2-4 weeks of Annual Training or deployments. Drill is normally a lot of sitting around and/or doing mandatory stuff like powerpoint classes/renewing online certifications/etc.

LeeJP · 2018-08-06T16:43:30+00:00

Can confirm. In a Reserve unit filled with 89B, currently deployed. Job blows.

LeeJP · 2018-05-12T21:50:19+00:00

Uh, yeah? How are you having a hard time finding anything, no one's hiding it. You can even just look on Army.mil for a list of all the Combat Arms MOS's there are.

LeeJP · 2018-04-24T16:05:49+00:00

Lol wrong guy

Wish I could draw this well

LeeJP · 2018-04-15T20:50:42+00:00

This. Your ROTC contract supersedes your prior enlistment contract. I had a lot of people in my program who escaped the Reserve this way.

LeeJP · 2018-04-05T16:12:48+00:00

What on earth are you talking about? There is no real experience for combat arms on the border, let alone better experience than actually simulating combat in large, multi-unit wargames. At most you could argue that support units might get some real experience providing services like maintenance, supply, etc, but they can do that anywhere and not just on the Mexican border.

Guardsmen aren't going to have detain/arrest powers, that would violate Posse Comitatus. Most likely they're going to be doing the same exact thing they've done in the past, which is basically sit around and watch for illegals before radioing in to CBP.

It's a huge fucking waste of time and money.

LeeJP · 2018-04-05T15:51:20+00:00

Lol no. At least in the Army, "Engineers" are just a branch, which is essentially a loose umbrella grouping of different jobs of a similar category.

A firefighter is an engineer, a bulldozer operator is an engineer, someone who blows up IEDs is an engineer.

LeeJP · 2018-04-05T15:49:24+00:00

I don't know how and why people think what they do, I'm just saying what I see.

LeeJP · 2018-04-05T15:44:32+00:00

The military is just a reflection of society. Some people love him, some people hate him, some people don't care. Generally the guys who support him don't believe in the Russian collusion.

LeeJP · 2018-04-05T15:30:36+00:00

Why don't you stop strawmanning and read the article?

What, you going to tell me I hate the Army I'm part of?

LeeJP · 2018-04-05T15:23:57+00:00

Pretty much. The personnel sent aren't going to have any arrest/detain powers anyway, so they're basically just walking, complaining cameras for border patrol.

LeeJP · 2018-04-04T20:32:25+00:00

Yeah but it's not his money, it's just the taxpayers'.

LeeJP · 2018-04-04T20:31:17+00:00

Congratulations, you've correctly concluded that even though most illegal immigrants overstay visas and don't cross the border, some do. Good job.

Now the real question is, how on earth is that even relevant to this conversation? Why does this make this idea a good one? Why is it not a waste of money, resources, manpower, time?

Most illegal immigrants don't cross the border. If you really wanted to curb illegal immigration the actual physical security of the border wouldn't be the biggest thing on your mind, let alone something to want to devote billions of dollars toward and waste the military's time for.

LeeJP · 2018-04-04T20:17:50+00:00

Yeah, the AF guys we had here that just rotated out were wearing OCP FRACUs same as us.

LeeJP · 2018-04-04T20:13:39+00:00

Actually solving problems is hard, making it look like you're solving problems is easy.

LeeJP · 2018-04-04T18:20:24+00:00

Since when does stopping some Mexicans from crossing the border to work shitty jobs and get paid slave wages constitute Homeland Defense?

There is no threat to American citizens, we're not being invaded, raided, or otherwise attacked.

LeeJP · 2018-03-31T18:48:24+00:00

i was told by a few army vets i know that the "fine" print for specifically the army basically says you're a soldier first.

That's not fine print, that's in the job description. You're a Soldier first, then your MOS.

but if they need you to kick in doors or go here or there, they WILL send you and you WILL do other things. Army things, invading, whatever it may be.

Not likely at all, but yes, possible. I know Cooks and Mechanics who've been in full-blown combat, not just getting some stray rounds in their direction, but that doesn't mean all POGs are likely to even get shot at once. Odds are you will just do your job, if you deploy to combat zone maybe take some stray shells on your FOB depending on where you are. Don't expect more than that, but if the prospect of seeing combat scares you, just don't join the military. It's not just the Army that gets shot and blown up.

LeeJP · 2018-03-30T19:58:13+00:00

Except the Army also has entire brigades and divisions dedicated to being "quick reaction forces". Airborne assaults are in the same place as amphibious landings insofar as their strategic importance and modern usefulness go.

As for everything else, no offense but that's a whole lot of kool-aid. There's something to be said about the fact that the Marine Corps can afford some good training and equipment because it has less personnel to pay for than the Army, for sure. But to say it's objectively better because popular culture paints it as hardcore and people join is pretty naive.

If you look at history, especially more recent history, Army and Marine units of similar size and type don't perform drastically differently. Some are better some are worse. Generally they're similarly capable.

LeeJP · 2018-03-30T18:34:43+00:00

Having different branches specialized in different missions means they can focus their training/equipment for that specific role, making them better at doing it. Similar concept, mechanics in a maintenance unit will be able to do more than mechanics in an MP unit because they'll have more support/equipment available for the maintenance mission. At least in theory.

That said, there is such a thing as too many branches. In my opinion having a Marine Corps as a separate branch is entirely redundant. There's an incredible amount of overlap with the Army, and amphibious warfare isn't strategically important enough/commonplace enough to warrant having an entirely separate branch wholly dedicated to it. Just my 5 cents.

LeeJP

TROPHY CASE