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Cry Havok and let loose the dogs of the [Military Thread]
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I've heard nothing but horror stories about people not getting their VA benefits right, which sucks dick.
Most of us signed up primarily for that college assistance, then we get fucked by it.
Not looking forward to that battle.
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I hear you. It doesn't help that I spoke with two O-3s who had the same methodology in their plan months ago, and are probably now at home (as civilians) looking at the same paper going "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-".
Because really what this says is, if you're going to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill, go to a state school and/or wait until you get into the 100% tier. Otherwise it helps a lot less than it could.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
I doubt it's true, but if only /wishful sigh
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It is absolutely true, but the situation I was aware of was a tad different.
The school waives room and board fees (~10k/year) for those on US government scholarships to include ROTC 3 and 4 year plans.
If you happen to be on a Presidential (of the school) scholarship which covered any and all fees, you were essentially being paid to go to school twice.
Because schools like getting money instead of not getting money, they let the US govt pay for this guys school, waived him room and board, and wrote him a check for the average room and board fee every year.
Not a bad scenario.
And the same unit that's screwing me over is also sending a lot of their dudes home early, the kicker being that the FOB is already understaffed. My unit (a route clearance unit in support of these guys) has been forced to guard the FOB ECP because of lack of manpower, and now we are doubling our efforts on account of them leaving.
Are you unable to access AKO? You should be able to go over his head if you can email the S1 NCOIC or someone at brigade.
Call him? Offer to teach him to dougie?
That's like, the international sign of bro-ness, right?
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Apparently none of the 5 jobs I was interested in were available. Instead they offered me Signal Intelligence Analyst. That seems neat, so I'm going with it. Hopefully the security clearance goes through, I go back next week to do contracting and stuff, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Well, that's just the bureaucracy. Sponsorship is one of those things units always screw up and people always dodge. I was assigned to sponsor someone the exact same time I started getting ready to leave here, and even throwing around the regulation about not assigning someone who was within their 60 days to leave, I had to plead with coworkers for someone to take over for me. Other circumstances, I'd have happily done it.
Just keep contacting him and reassuring him that you're not gonna abandon him. Once he shows up and you're there for him, it'll work itself out.
Man, you guys make it seem like so much work. My last two people I sponsored just wanted some info on the area, I never even saw them in person until they in-processed. Then again, they were both NCOs so they turned down my offers of hand-holding.
What kind of craziness do you have to do for your guys wherever you are?
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Dude, what do you need post military? As an officer you're going to be making plenty of cash, you've got a pretty sweet career ahead of you. If you want to get out, having officer experience looks really good on any resume since you're going to be in charge of a bunch of things. Pretty much screams management position.
#Officerproblems
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Post-military work is a problem for everyone, not just enlisted.
As for the pilot/rated jobs outside the military, well they're pretty limited. You can work for an airline, or stay with the DoD as a civilian of some kind. Honestly there are far better choices if you're looking to continue in a certain path.
Edit: although I suppose 'pilot' doesn't necessarily imply 'fighter pilot'
I was more trying to imply his worry about work outside the military isn't as bad as say... a 2/4 year infantryman who was never an NCO and has no college. Officers have a degree in a field, actual management experience/skills (Using that term loosely, hah), and whatever job knowledge/experience/skills they picked up in their field. Not to mention if he gets in as a pilot or in an aerospace related field his odds of being force shaped are much lower than if he's in mission support. If he stays in the pay+benefits are much more competitive than they used to be (Although medical/law fields are still behind depending on how you look at it).
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Most of the people we get are just out of school which means they generally do need someone to walk them around to the various places to check in. Especially since most don't have a vehicle on arrival here. Then there's the fact that most of our support and training staff work inside a SCIF which requires an escort for anyone without a clearance, which is also pretty much everyone just out of school. But regardless, the building is fairly large and if you don't know your way around it can be a huge pain finding everyone.
I fucking hate those things. Sounds like a huge PITA to me.
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Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
XBL: Mega Spooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138
Oh god yes. Civilian companies LOVE certifications because it means THEY don't have to pay to certify you and keeping you certified is just so much cheaper. Do you have any idea what a Secret clearance COSTS a company? Tens of thousands of dollars, at least. I've been told anywhere in the 50-100K region. Having it is awesome because not ONLY did you save them that cost, you saved them the possibility of paying and you being TURNED DOWN.
Same with hazmat handling. If you can inspect and verify hazmat stuff for shipping and what have you, there are companies that would LOVE to have you on board. Especially if they're any number of contract companies doing government work.
They key to turning a military career into a civilian one is all about selling them your skills. The Lt. Col. for my ROTC was an Armor officer, 20 some odd years. What were his employable skills? Not that he can command about 100 tanks in combat, put a round into a T-72 from 2 miles away, or field strip an M2 with his eyes shut. No, it's that he was responsible for the accountability of over $20 million of equipment, supervised the maintenance program and improved efficiency, and was lead operations planner for complex wartime actions. Basically, his OER bullets (which you will become MUCH more familiar with after a year or two as an officer. Same goes for NCOs, taking that evaluation and turning it into civilian speak. That's how you get the jobs.
Or be a Logistics guy and have random companies email you out of the blue, cause that's been happening to me.
I've been offered all kinds of money to spend contracting time in the desert. If I were closer to retirement, I'd pay more attention, but I'm not going to leave with 10 years of service. I've heard anywhere from 80-150k to start, and it goes up from there, just because I have this job and my particular set of skills. Maybe when I'm done with the Air Force, I might spend a year or two out there (if we're still at war... HA) and come back home to buy a house straight cash.
Also, just arrived in Germany, holy balls it's cold here.
XBL: Mega Spooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138
Comparatively warm. It was about 40 degrees colder 2 weeks ago!
EDIT: Basic math fail, more like 30.
This is what I was referencing. Once you make it to a position where you're in charge of a lot of shit, it looks really good on a resume. Obviously that alone won't usually get you a job, but if you meet all the requirements otherwise it's shit like that which makes you look a lot more appealing than the candidate who just has their B.A. and was head of some school-based program.
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I shouldn't complain, Korea was down to singles and negatives when I left, but living in 60-80 degree weather in the States en route was nice.
XBL: Mega Spooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138
Approximately how many submariners are there in the Navy?
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Hmm right now we have like 70 boats commissioned with ~130 crew per, but SSBN/SSGN have two crews so ballpark it at ~11,500 currently attached to boats. As far as submarine-designated personnel on shore duty that's a WAG, but I'd say ~2/3 so my made-up number for active duty submariners would be about 20,000.
Is is true you guys get the best cooks and the best food? I've heard it from official type sources before, but just wanted to confirm.
Also, you guys actually get exposed to less radiation than the average person because of the (obviously) shielded reactor and all the time spent submerged? Does this have any impact on vitamin D intake for the crew or do they just give everyone supplements, make you all drink your milk, or just "enhance" all the food?
XBL: Mega Spooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138
All the food is Sysco and ordered from the same stock system everyone gets; the main differences are a) there is a slightly higher bar for entry onto submarines, so your cooks are inherently a little smarter and b) preparing smaller portions makes it easier for them to idiot-check the recipe cards. You still end up with someone using salt instead of sugar in the cookies on occasion, though.
Also, food service is one of the driving factors for quality of life and most of the cooks know this. I was fortunate enough to serve with some good people who busted their asses to make life suck a little less. Even operating in the constraints of the "catalog" we got creative and enthusiastic solutions.
Cosmic radiation is a greater contribution to total dose than that from naval nuclear propulsion, yes. I don't remember exactly what I'm allowed to say on the topic; I'll check the classification guide and update if appropriate. Anecdotally I can say that in over 8 years of work (~7 actually on an operational platform) my exposure from naval nuclear propulsion is less than half of what the average person receives annually from natural sources.
The menus are selected such that everyone gets a well-balanced diet, but nothing special gets put in the food. Supplements and vitamins are not provided, but pretty much everyone brings multivitamins along.
Sweet. So you know Green then, right? E5 type.
(I love when people ask me stupid shit like that.)
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While it is a pretty stupid question, I actually met a girl a few years back in Panama City who asked me if I knew someone that turned out to be a guy from my company in Fort Lewis. I was taken by surprise to say the least.
Hah! Dumb luck, that.
Also quite partial to, "Oh you're in the Air Force? What kind of plane do you fly?" and, "You're a cop? Is that like CSI?"
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I did my first day of PT with the recruiter and other future soldier people today.
We did 3 hill sprints and called it a day. A girl who's leaving for basic in a few days said she was done halfway through the second one. What the hell.
I went and ran around some more after everyone else left because a 2 minute workout is not a workout.
She'll have fun in basic. Fun's the word people use to describe horrible pain, right?
Good on you, that's the right attitude to have. There's tons of resources online for what kind of shape to be in before you go, I'd simply suggest that you get good at the big 3. Running, pushups and situps.
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Since I don't ship for 6 months, maybe I can push myself to 100s in all three by then.