Sir, there was a big change in the military between '66 and '76. Sorry you missed it, my story is true.
Cringe-worthy Army Commercial
- Thread starter BasementDweller
- Start date
You don't remember the Zoomie Navy? Marines were mostly "volunteered" by court order US military or jail. The Marines had lower acceptance standards than the other branches. They were looking for a few good men, and looking, and looking.... Pay was squat.
The military got huge pay raises in '80, '81' 82. Raise in 79 was 5%, '83, 4%.
Military pay raises by year:
| 1980 | 7.0 | ||
| 1981 | 11.7 | ||
| 1982 | 14.3 |
I saw that commercial about a week ago and could not believe that the Army would do that. I’m sure every pool player that saw that said whaattt
MurrayNevada
Well-known member
Picked up 5,000 Marines??? That's where your story failed completely. I spent six months on an old APA (Attack Transport) and our berthing spaces were immaculate. You know nothing of Marines. Next time you encounter a group of Marines be sure to repeat your story.
Never counted. We were advertised to put an entire battalion of marines on the beach with all their beans, bullets and BS in three hours. It was a boatload. a full battalion plus their air department. Like I said I never counted.
Project 100,000 under McNamara. It included every service, although the vast majority went to the army.
It ended in 1971.
I suspect I’ve spent more time aboard the gator navy than you, including 6 months each on 2 LHA’s, the Saipan and the Nassau.
I’ve never seen anything even close to what you’re describing. The overall professionalism of both our hosts, the sailors, and our Marines was exemplary.
If you did in fact experience something like that, it was an absolute aberration. And though I wasn’t there, I really question the accuracy of your memory.
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I was obviously mistaken at the size of the Marine detachment. A battalion is under 1500 men.
Even with their air arm that would be around 2000, my bad.
And yes, it was that bad. Of course, during those 30 days we were mostly anchored just off the surf at Camp Pen. Their only duties were daily offload practices. They were so bored they were getting surfers to bring cases of beer to the well deck.
Small world, one other sailor and I wrote the air traffic doctrine for the LHA class ships, mixing helos and Harriers was not always easy.
The other guy went with the LDO program and ended up working in FAA HQ doing all kinds of things. He was in Iraq reestablishing an air traffic system.
Even with their air arm that would be around 2000, my bad.
And yes, it was that bad. Of course, during those 30 days we were mostly anchored just off the surf at Camp Pen. Their only duties were daily offload practices. They were so bored they were getting surfers to bring cases of beer to the well deck.
Small world, one other sailor and I wrote the air traffic doctrine for the LHA class ships, mixing helos and Harriers was not always easy.
The other guy went with the LDO program and ended up working in FAA HQ doing all kinds of things. He was in Iraq reestablishing an air traffic system.
No Marine NCO E-4 or above would have allowed his Marine to be bad guests on Navy ship, your story is like that of guy who says he was Navy Seal.
After listing to Swiss Cheeze story I contacted someone who could authentic claim this guys Seal story.
Yes guy was in Navy, 4 years, and couple of months. Was ET, never even attempted BUDS. Let Navy as E-1, super zero.
So now when he tell Seal stories I chuckle inside. No need to start fight with FAUX Superhero.
Don Shipley does it for you. Best thing since sliced bread. Having a bad day, watch this guy!No Marine NCO E-4 or above would have allowed his Marine to be bad guests on Navy ship, your story is like that of guy who says he was Navy Seal.
After listing to Swiss Cheeze story I contacted someone who could authentic claim this guys Seal story.
Yes guy was in Navy, 4 years, and couple of months. Was ET, never even attempted BUDS. Let Navy as E-1, super zero.
So now when he tell Seal stories I chuckle inside. No need to start fight with FAUX Superhero.
I work on a U.S. military base in Germany, and have long held the opinion that the Army purposefully targets low-income high school students, as they have less options for a better life. Seems honorable on the surface, but the problem is, low-income kids bring in low-income mindsets, that cannot necessarily be trained out of them. Then they have kids themselves who grow up with the same ignorant attitudes. Theft is a problem on nearly every Army base I have ever been on.
Ex-Army soldier here....
Well the Military including Army, Navy, Air Force offers some of the Best Techchnicsl, Medical, and C vocational people can get for sweat equity.
Does everyone qualify, or graduate programs. No knuckleheads, and dumb bell don’t because they want, but do not work for goal.
Failure is on them for not do home work, or being unmotivated to finish training.
Then you go the few with out smart that get crap jobs, little training, because they are the kids who did not do
in high school, or life.Their problem.
Thank God you were safe on your ship with no chance of being injured other than a little sodomy from your fellow saylors
You were probably too excited about all that new meat you couldn't think clearly
I dunno about all that. Very little of military training, even when in jobs that have a civilian counterpart, results in a profitable career outside of the military. Because it is specific to military equipment that doesn't really get used outside the military.Well the Military including Army, Navy, Air Force offers some of the Best Techchnicsl, Medical, and C vocational people can get for sweat equity.
Does everyone qualify, or graduate programs. No knuckleheads, and dumb bell don’t because they want, but do not work for goal.
Failure is on them for not do home work, or being unmotivated to finish training.
Then you go the few with out smart that get crap jobs, little training, because they are the kids who did not do
Their problem.
In my case, I lucked into getting training at a specific unit 25 years ago that put me on the path to becoming an IT Security Engineer. The military actually ended up converting their tactical communications towards a more COTS (Computer Off-The-Shelf) setup, which makes military communications one of the very few jobs you can get that is immediately leverageable in the civilian world. Of course, that only applies if you get your training and immediately bail while you are young, as the civilian IT world is very ageist. Not much chance of retiring from the military and getting a civilian IT job at 40+ years old, unless you go for DoD jobs that require a clearance.
But in the end, what got me jobs outside the military was pursuing IT certifications on my own. Which is something anyone with even a high school diploma can do. The only real advantage of getting the training in the military, is the clearance that comes with it.
I will say that those who get into the Defense Language Courses do have some career mobility.. But they have to either sweat being deployed to a hostile zone, or get it with Military Intelligence. That does provide an avenue to get NSA type jobs after leaving the service.
But as an illustration of what I am talking about.. Combat Arms MOSes. Completely useless outside of the military, beyond getting the G.I. Bill for college. And the small business loans that get earmarked for veterans.
Your entire post is almost 100% wrong.
Obviously from someone with a very limited knowledge of the civilian business world. Sadly, some military personnel with specialized training are so limited in their exposure to the military beyond their specialized occupations that they simply don’t even understand the capabilities of their fellow servicemen and women. Sometimes it’s simple ignorance, and sometimes arrogance. Yours strikes me as a combination of both…
Anyone with military leadership experience, from E4 and above, is prepared for and sought after in the civilian sector for management positions in any number of industries, regardless of occupational specialty.
Enlisted and officer personnel with specialized experience in aviation, supply, logistics, heavy equipment operations, maintenance, communications, IT security and many others are actively recruited by the private sector because they understand that these people come to them with not only technical skills, but a level of discipline and work ethic not often found elsewhere.
It’s the rare individual who was successful in the military, who upon leaving active duty, isn’t able to leverage that experience into a successful and even more financially lucrative career in the private sector should they so desire.
Just curious. What service were you in? How old are you, and what years did you serve? Maybe your experience was different than mine. I spent 9 years in the Army, and during a short stint where I had been away from my main technical IT trade for a few years, it was pretty difficult to find a position. ANY position. I don't really consider a "manager trainee" at Aaron's Sales and Lease, chasing down people to either get furniture/TVs back, or get them to pay their monthly payment, a prime job.
And sure, OFFICERS and NCOs with some rank have some leverage when looking for management type jobs, because they will ALWAYS be chosen over an E4 for any of the decent management type jobs. I categorically disagree that anyone is headhunting Specialist Joe Schmoe for a management job, just because he made E4. Maybe an E4 was something back in the late 70s or something, but these days, you better have a little bit more under your belt than being a squad leader. Though in the current economic environment, companies (because of their sh**ty pay) are scraping the bottom of the barrel for ANY employees, so this may apply over the past year or two...
23 years in the United States Marine Corps. 1982 to 2005. Combat arms. Just a dumb old tank driver.
Since then I’ve worked the last 20 years as an executive in the private sector and have actively recruited and hired many dozens of military members for any number of positions.
And yes, we’ll actively recruit young squad leaders with just a few years of experience into our management training programs knowing that they‘re extremely well prepared for the challenges ahead. Many of those young, former squad leaders, are senior managers and executives today.
You can “categorically disagree“ with anything you want. But the bottom line is, you’re simply ignorant when it comes to this. As I said, combined with an arrogance about your technical training which you seem to feel should be held in higher esteem than the training and experience others might have.
In the real business world, give me a young soldier, Marine, or sailor who’s actually lead others in difficult situations, or even combat over some technician who has spent nine years behind a keyboard any day. In 10 years I’ll tell you which one will have the better chance to be a senior manager or executive making a genuine contribution to a major corporation…
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Folks, if you need an example of rampant homophobic projection, look no further.
Jason is obviously in search of some big juicy manmeat.
