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Originally Posted by willravel
Your priorities are given to you through the command structure.
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Those weren't the priorities I was talking about...
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Originally Posted by Crompsin
WARNING, WARNING: SELF-RIGHTEOUS GI JOE TALK DETECTED!
Debaser,
As you well know, the military is a grand crusade, testing the manly virtues, the intestinal fortitude, and shaping personal hardness. I saw you were in DCUs, so I assume you're not some wet-ear ACU baby who's only seen Brown & Root chow, shiny M1114s, brand new MBITRs, and 24/7 chopper support. As you also probably know: the real casualties of that crusade are time and relationships back home.
I was damn good at what I did in uniform, but at the end of the day? All I did was keep a bunch of rowdy kids together while we spent endless nomadic months rolling around the desert digging up roadside bombs that should have killed us, getting shot at by people who might have thought we were the Russians coming back for round two, and not being given permission to return fire by a command structure that was more interested in round counts that body counts. The only thing that ever mattered was keeping joe alive.
I miss being a paratrooper, but I think I miss the idea of the Army more than the reality. The reality of it? Stupid ass games. How many days out of the four years were good? Maybe a dozen. I shoulda put in my SF packet when I got back from OIF in 2004 instead of doing the joe-wrangler NCO thing.
I was militant and disciplined before I entered the military. I will be militant and disciplined for the remainder of my life. I am not a soft person by nature. I don't worry about that. I didn't need a O5 to tell me that I'm a Sergeant. Some of us grunts are born Sarge and just wait to get the paperwork.
(/bullshit)
I'm glad I'm a civilian. Its more high speed than the military, anyway.
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My point was that the only way to get along in a soft society without friction (which is what you are bitching about) is to go soft yourself. Hard people don't get along well in this country anymore. That is why relationships fail, most spouses lack the perspective gained from your experience, not to mention the patience to work out the differences.
As for Army BS, I was an NCO for years before going to the dark side. I thought I could change things from above easier than below. Guess what, you can't. Now I'm the one that sounds bitter, but believe me I haven't stopped trying yet. I put in my packet a month ago, I head to selection in April.
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Originally Posted by willravel
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By the way, will, you realize that those aren't US soldiers in those pictures, right? Wrong uniform.