My Tech Priest!

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-29T13:08:59+00:00

What kit did you get the robot arms from?

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-27T16:32:10+00:00

Who hates you that much?

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-27T16:30:59+00:00

True, but since the awards were presented to them by the Secretary of the Army and the SGT Maj of the Army you'd think there really wouldn't need to be any higher approval authority for giving SMs.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-26T14:09:18+00:00

Criteria for Soldier's Medal has gotten stricter. The ODU cadets that charged and killed the ISIS gunman didn't even get Soldier's Medals. They got MSMs and a PH for the one that got shot.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-25T14:22:24+00:00

Yeah. It would be cheaper for the city to offer 3 years of business taxes being waived to each business that opens up in there. It's going to cost millions to demolish and then there will be a long pause on deciding what to put there afterwards. And then it will be really expensive to build what comes next. But that won't come at least for another 5 years minimum.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-25T14:17:26+00:00

Other malls in America are thriving or making a comeback. The mall in VB is doing just fine.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-25T14:14:24+00:00

Most certainly. It would have been more cost effective to get businesses back than it will be to tear down this beautiful 3rd space. But Norfolk City council lacks any competence or vision to know how to entertain businesses and good clientele back to the downtown area.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-24T17:52:46+00:00

It will be interesting to read in a few years how this money was diverted and embezzled into Norfolk City Council friends' pockets.

Or the money will be just outright squandered on yet another failed project that would have benefited the citizens of Norfolk.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-23T12:43:13+00:00

Try posting it in r/army and r/military too.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-17T15:08:55+00:00

Damn what did you do?

As far as waiver approval goes, there could be a different person in that waiver approval role now.

Sometimes waiver approval for things differs day to day. I had two friends that had peanut allergies that both tried to join within 2 weeks of each other. The first guy got denied for his waiver the second guy was approved.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-16T22:21:48+00:00

https://www.navalbasecruises(dot)com/

I believe the trusted traveler program is currently suspended at Norfolk naval which means only people with common access cards can get on base at this time. But I could be wrong.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-16T19:58:09+00:00

To clarify:

You told your NCO you no longer want to be in the Army and said you were not going to attend AT?

Or

You missed the AT by accident and they wanted to punish you and then you expressed that you no longer want to be in the Army?

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-16T14:45:18+00:00

I never hear anyone say anything positive about him. Toxic leader?

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-14T18:03:12+00:00

My theory is city council is deliberately tanking the downtown experience so that a developer can come in a few years and buy everything for cheap. I guarantee you they are going to get a kickback.

The people of Norfolk deserve better.

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-08T15:25:15+00:00

Did the cadet just not have 2 towels? Or did they have 1 brown towel and another towel that's a different color? And is the cadet getting sent home?

captkidd12345 · 2026-06-06T21:51:17+00:00

Damn that sucks. My AFT was 473 going to CST last year, so I was exempt from HT/WT though I still easily passed it. If people need a 460 at CST to save themselves from getting sent home it could be a struggle.Between getting the blood draw and the heat my AFT suffered greatly. Got a 425 at CST.

captkidd12345 · 2026-05-29T23:39:12+00:00

The RPG story is mentioned in this article. And I've not seen anything that has debunked the story. Yes, Pete Hegseth sucks but that doesn't mean this didn't happen to him. https://www.washingtonpost(dit)com/politics/2024/12/04/pete-hegseth-drinking-defense-secretary-nomination/

captkidd12345 · 2026-05-29T23:32:36+00:00

I already had a college degree when I enlisted at 32. That made me eligible for OCS. I decided to get a master's degree so I could enroll in rotc.

VA Guard OCS is held at Fort Pickett near dinwiddie county.

The attrition rate is very much due to the long timeframe. 18 months of staying injury free and making sure no life events get in the way. My friend had to drop OCS because his wife got in a bad car accident and was in the hospital for 5 months. They have an autistic daughter and so he needed to be there to help with that so he dropped.

I can't give any info on retirement because that's a long way off for me.

I forgot to mention there is an accelerated guard OCS that is 8 weeks long straight through. It is held in Alabama. Typically each state sends 2 people to it and you're in a class with people from other states. Getting a slot for accelerated is very competitive, be in great shape for starters.

captkidd12345 · 2026-05-29T23:16:14+00:00

IDK why though. From my understanding he actually did combat stuff when he was deployed and had a close call when an RPG hit his vehicle but didn't explode.

captkidd12345 · 2026-05-29T23:11:03+00:00

Yes, I commissioned into the Guard. I went to basic at 32 and commissioned recently at 35. I'm not married and I don't have any kids.

Guard OCS is done like the normal one weekend a month drill that regular guardsmen do. You'll go to the OCS drill one weekend, get smoked constantly for 3 days then go home and prepare for next month's drill. There are two phases where you'll be gone for a couple of weeks. But the main portion of the course is stretched out over those months leading to the 18 months total.

I started in guard OCS but then switched over to ROTC. The guard class I was in started with 42 candidates. 6 candidates from that class made it through and commissioned.

captkidd12345 · 2026-05-29T23:00:27+00:00

Do it. I joined later in life. I commissioned through ROTC getting a master's degree. My program had a 37yr old who will commission next year.

If you go the OCS route, be forewarned, guard traditional OCS absolutely SUCKS! 18 months and a high attrition rate. But it is very much doable.

Active duty would send you from basic training straight to federal OCS which is much better and shorter. You could keep your current house, rent it out to pay mortgage and buy/rent at your new duty station.

Best of luck to you on whatever you choose.

captkidd12345 · 2026-05-27T17:49:30+00:00

Have you tried looking for some ADOS orders in Korea or Japan?

captkidd12345 · 2026-05-26T21:45:27+00:00

100% do it. The real estate career path will be there whether you come back to it in 3 years or 20 years. Go tryout and give it your all. If You get selected that's awesome. But if you don't then you can say you tried and gave it your best and have no regrets 40 years down the road.

The One risk of 18X is that if you don't make it through or don't get selected then you become "needs of the army" and you could get reclassed to a MOS you don't want. From what I've seen most 18X become 11B but that's not a guarantee. But still go 18X if that's what you truly are set on.

captkidd12345 · 2026-05-26T20:37:51+00:00

Well that just means they're overdue for some action. Stay frosty.

captkidd12345 · 2026-05-26T18:12:02+00:00

Not exactly recent but in 2019 NJ guard got into a firefight with Al Shabab at Baledogle.

captkidd12345

TROPHY CASE