#250 Ariana Richards' younger sister, Beth, could be seen hanging around the set of JP. Apparently, she had a crush on Joseph Mazzello and tried to kiss him in a swimming pool. (From: 'jurassiraptor') Prev - Next
"Slackers in the military" On 3/20/2011 at 11:37:11 PM, dieterstark started the thread: Whats your opinion on the slackers in the armed forces. The kids who sign up for quick cash and don't take it seriously, and end up going AWOL, spending a little time in a army jail and getting dishonorably discharged? I had a friend who did that a couple years ago and he introduced me to some of his military friends (heavy cocaince users) who told me tale after tale of recruits and folks making drug runs for the barracks. :/
It got me thinking, "What the fuck man, I wonder the percentage of bullshitters in the armed forces." Then I concluded they were probably an isolated group and not the majority of military personel. Their should be higher standards for recruits.
Msg #1: On 3/20/2011 at 11:57:18 PM, Siir replied, saying: Don't really care. Incidentally, I had a friend who went to the recruiting office just to fuck with the recruiters. Took the aptitude test, scored high, told them he smoked A LOT of pot, they told him don't worry about it and set him up with a hotel room so he could swear in to the service the next day (or whatever they do), he took advantage of the free hotel and then backed out before formally enlisting.
Msg #2: On 3/21/2011 at 5:09:54 AM, Narrator replied, saying: My roommate is kind of a slacker, as in he kind of hates the marines, and is a heavy user of drugs, but he actually does pretty well. Doesn't go AWOL or anything like that but he doesn't take it as seriously as those douchebags who are defined by being in the military. He's also very Asian. He signed up because he was a geeky Asian kid
Msg #3: On 3/21/2011 at 5:39:25 AM, Trainwreck replied, saying: Drug use in the military is probably much lower in the military than the civilian world. Your ass gets caught (and we do get tested A LOT), you're pretty much sent packing. At least that's the way it is in the Air Force. Can't really speak for the other branches.
As for slackers: yeah, why else would we join the military? ;-) I often laugh at the guys who join the Air Force (again, I can't really speak for other branches) instead of going to college in order to get out of having to study.
At my point in my career, in order to stay competitive with my peers and have a chance for promotion, I have been:
-Flying my ass off -Going to school full time -Volunteering in the local community -Volunteering on base -Studying my career development courses, which are basically like correspondence packets they make you take whenever you're new to a job. I recently retrained, so I have to do CDCs for this new career field. -Going to work full time (duh) -Study for tests on my job knowledge that pop up every now and then, to ensure I stay qualified -Study the technical data, procedures, etc. that relate to my specialty -Study for promotion. This involved reading a 400 page pamphlet (keep in mind it was a big book with a tiny font, so it was PACKED with information), then using a program that's available to study and self-test myself on all of that material. This involved thousands of review notes, and thousands (2,601) mock-test questions. Before I actually tested for promotion last month, I made sure that I answered and re-answered all 2,601 questions until I got every single one of them correct. -Do some/much of this while TDY/deployed. And do it again later this year, next year, and the years after that with no reasonable expectation to believe that deployments and other operational commitments worldwide will ever slow down.
So, yeah. Not much room for a lazy douche. The individual requirements are higher than anything you're likely to find in the private sector. How many employers have you had that basically require you to do community service, advance your education, be subject to long hours at a moment's notice, and be worldwide deployable at all times (while often fulfilling that commitment)?
Slackers and bottom feeders typically are the ones who go for the shitty, easy jobs anyway: services, admin, supply, etc. Low aptitude, low requirement jobs. You get some awesome individuals in those jobs too, don't get me wrong; but the lower requirements combined with the lower demands ensure that more idiots gravitate toward those fields. If you have a history of drug use or a criminal record or even an unfavorable debt to credit ration, you can't even get the security clearance required for my job and many others.
Anyway, you guys sound like you need a new group of friends. Narrator, your dumbass Asian friend deserves nothing less than a dishonorable discharge and a revocation of any military benefits such as the GI Bill that he may otherwise be entitled to. I have no respect for your toolbag friend whatsoever. Replies: 4
Msg #4: On 3/21/2011 at 7:12:04 AM, Narrator replied to Msg #3, saying: Well, he also works full time and goes to school for engineering. He's a corporal. Not really sure how good that is. But he's not really looking for a career in the military, he's just going through the motions until he's out.
He is a dumbass though. He's very smart when it comes to math, computer programing, engineering, but he also does very dumb things. He's also an asshole. Motherfucker shaved half of my left eyebrow off a while ago. But I shaved the other one and ended up looking like spock, then shaved some pubes with his razor. And he lights off fire crackers in the house and wants to throw them at people. But I guess it's better than living with someone who thinks their better than everyone else because they're in the military. Replies: 5
Msg #5: On 3/21/2011 at 12:27:52 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #4, saying: Corporal is not very high-ranking or anything. Regardless of whether he's looking for a career, he shouldn't be breaching the most basic rules of the military; ie, don't use drugs and be an immature douchebag. Replies: 6
Msg #6: On 3/21/2011 at 7:51:23 PM, Narrator replied to Msg #5, saying: Not that I endorse his drug use, I don't really care, but most other marines I know are also Immature douchebags. Seems to be the standard. I know a few awesome guys that are marines, but most I know are simply an extension of the idiot highschool jock Replies: 7
Msg #7: On 3/21/2011 at 8:28:26 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #6, saying: Yeah, nobody really likes Marines, anyway. Replies: 11
Msg #8: On 3/21/2011 at 10:04:15 PM, Siir replied, saying: There's only two people I know (well) that have actually served. Both in the Army. One came out of it being an uptight, no-nonsense prick. The other is still serving in the Army and is just as much of a douchebag as before he enlisted. I don't know how competent he is at his job, I just know he's boasted that he gets paid for pretty much working out.
He wasn't the greatest guy ever: dropped out of high school, felt up my best friend's girlfriend while she was asleep, got his girlfriend pregnant, married her, got her pregnant again, cheated on her and got the second girl pregnant, divorced his wife and is currently engaged to this second girl (who has since had his third child).
I've not talked to him in forever, he was always more of a friend of a friend, but from what I have heard from that mutual friend, he's even more of an arrogant douchebag now than before.
Msg #9: On 3/21/2011 at 11:19:34 PM, Trainwreck replied, saying: Yeah, those are the guys who give the military a bad name...I usually don't have to deal with "winners" like that, ever. I hate to say it, but I think a huge reason is because the Army has lower standards than the Air Force when it comes to education, aptitude (ASVAB) scores, and personal conduct prior to and after joining.
I'm not trying to bash the Army (or any branch), because I've met upstanding troops from all of them and I've run across my share of idiots (though not nearly on the level you guys are talking about here) in my own, but you're going to allow a lot more riff raff in when you (meaning the Army) raises the maximum new enlistee age to 42 and grants education and personal conduct waivers to get higher numbers. Meanwhile, we're finding reasons to kick people out. Trying to get a couple guys in my unit out who chronically fail PT tests (one of them conveniently prior to every deployment in his seven year career, so he's never deployed), actually.
Siir, do you know what MOSs (jobs) your acquaintances held or hold in the Army? I'm curious to see if my earlier theory holds true.
I'd also really like to emphasize that taken as a whole, the military does generally fare better than the civilian sector when it comes to:
-Suicide rates -Education level -Personal level of conduct (even minor infractions can impact your career; a DUI will end it or get you demoted, at the very least) -Hell, probably even median salary
Msg #10: On 3/22/2011 at 5:20:21 PM, Siir replied, saying: I only know that he's "11B infantryman" (from his Facebook) and so far as I know he's stayed in Texas ever since enlisting (I think about two years now).
And why is there even a debate about this? There's shitbags everywhere, and shitbags in the military are either lazy and don't get promoted, or fuckups that get busted down and kicked out.
The only real slackers that I have come across have been female sailors...but no surprises there. Any guys I see that don't pull their weight end up being given a really hard time.
Anyways, the guy eventually got busted for running a meth lab in his barracks room. I guess a higher-up found the equipment on a field-day inspection and was able to identify what it was. No idea what happened to shithead after that but he pretty much disappeared overnight. Hopefully he got what was coming to him.
Long story short, it really makes you wonder why people like that join up at all if you're not going to have at least a little bit of pride in what you're doing.
Msg #23: On 4/18/2011 at 5:08:53 PM, Cameron replied, saying: If you're going to join up for an easier ride, IE the pay, education, etc, at least do the fucking job properly. Replies: 24
Msg #24: On 4/18/2011 at 5:52:55 PM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #23, saying: Easy ride?
"Beer Day" onboard CVN-75 cruising through the Med on our way home. We didn't even care that the beers were warm as a hot pocket. Replies: 27
Msg #27: On 4/20/2011 at 2:13:28 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #26, saying: It's been a few months since I've had a beer, so I'm pretty much ready to grab it from you and shove your happy ass overboard. ;-)
Msg #28: On 4/20/2011 at 6:22:08 PM, Majestic-1 replied, saying: I can play this game, too:
Typical Saturday morning breakfast. Replies: 29
Msg #29: On 4/20/2011 at 6:35:18 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #28, saying: Maj, you gotta be slacking in uniform to play! Replies: 30
Msg #30: On 4/20/2011 at 6:44:29 PM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #29, saying: This is about the best I can do then (old news if you stalk me on facebook). It only works if you count anything issued to me as a "uniform" but sorry, unlike SOME PEOPLE I never had time at work to sit around doing nothing, so fuck off.
Edit: Also, I'm not really complaining, I actually kind of miss some of it. Wtf. Replies: 33
Msg #33: On 4/20/2011 at 9:57:02 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #32, saying: I dunno, it's foggy outside. Inclement weather, better wear a reflective belt. Don't pretend you haven't had someone make you take completely unnecessary safety precautions. Anyway, the question you should ask yourself is: why WOULDN'T you wear a reflective belt?
You know, I actually miss my old job too...I worked much harder then. Replies: 35
Msg #34: On 4/20/2011 at 10:21:49 PM, elementry replied, saying: Heads up on deck, it's time for a FOD walkdown! All hands are invited to participate. Make sure your pockets and uniforms are free of FOD. Float coats and cranials are required.
Those damn announcements are burned into my brain forever.
Msg #35: On 4/20/2011 at 11:16:26 PM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #33, saying: Never had to wear one on the flightline, and if anyone ever tried to make me I'd tell them it's a FOD hazard. Replies: 36
Msg #36: On 4/20/2011 at 11:53:32 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #35, saying: EVER? You mean, even during nighttime hours? That's awesome, I wish I were you. Actually, they became second nature to us, and I even wore them during daytime hours because I didn't feel right without one.
At least we didn't wear them like Miss America sashes like the Army does. Replies: 37
Msg #37: On 4/21/2011 at 12:13:14 AM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #36, saying: No, nobody made us wear them on the flightline because: 1) That's fucking stupid. You aren't going to get run over by a helicopter. 2) Common sense prevails for once. That hardly ever happens.
Of course, you still have to wear a glowbelt when you PT from sundown to sunup (or something like that. I never PT'd on my own outside of the gym so I don't remember) or when you're running a PFT for score. Could be broad daylight at noon but if you're running a PFT then god damn you had better fucking have your doggone fucking glow belt rah?
..I don't miss it so much anymore. Replies: 38
Msg #38: On 4/21/2011 at 12:21:32 AM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #37, saying: Haha...well, with C-130s, A-10s, and HH-60s taxiing around my flightline at night, it's somewhat conceivable that one of those aircraft could have run me over if the pilot, I dunno, fell asleep or something. Especially since sometimes they would turn out the flightline lights for training purposes (don't ask - something about the aircrew not being distracted by the lights of the parking apron, etc. Whatever.).
We don't have to wear reflective belts with PT gear, since our PT gear is now reflective, lol. But I did get stopped by security forces once when I was at the tail end of some 7-mile run at around 0300 because he almost ran me down. He told me to wear something reflective next time. Replies: 39
Msg #39: On 4/21/2011 at 2:59:45 AM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #38, saying: Shit, our new PT gear has reflective strips built in but we STILL had to wear glow belts.
Because the people who made decisions for me were fucking retards, I'd wager. Replies: 40
Msg #40: On 4/21/2011 at 3:08:38 AM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #39, saying: I'm willing to wager that Air Force stupidity surpasses that of every other branch...combined. Replies: 41
Msg #41: On 4/21/2011 at 1:28:06 PM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #40, saying: That's impossible, because the Air Force is made up of people who weren't stupid enough to join the Marines.
Here, read this. Replies: 42
Msg #42: On 4/21/2011 at 2:26:22 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #41, saying: It's highly possible, when you've got people like me who are dumb enough to actually WISH they had joined the Marines or Army than the Air Force, lol.
That's a good list, and you may or may not be surprised to know that, despite whatever you hear about us either being super-smart or super-lazy or slackers, most of those reasons can be copy-pasted to an Air Force list as well. Replies: 43
Msg #43: On 4/21/2011 at 4:33:24 PM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #42, saying: How about field day shenanigans? Replies: 44
Msg #44: On 4/21/2011 at 5:05:23 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #43, saying: Defined as what, exactly? We don't really have "field days" for most career fields outside of basic training, SERE, periodic SERE refreshers, that sort of thing. We do have "exercises," where we get fake mortar and chemical attacks, use our ground crew ensembles, spend half the day in a chemical mask, and just generally hate life. I'm sure your "field days" are more comprehensive than ours. Replies: 45
Msg #45: On 4/21/2011 at 5:26:10 PM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #44, saying: "Field day" means "to clean." Usually every Thursday at the barracks you have to get in formation, listen to some gunny bitch about how "nasty" everyone is for about forty minutes, walking around in a line picking up cigarette butts for an hour, then being released to the mercy of your drunk NCOs who haze you all night.
And then sometimes your weekend will be spent doing the same thing, only in your service uniform, because on room inspections Friday morning someone in your shop/squadron/platoon/whatever left trash in their trash can. Replies: 46, 52
Msg #46: On 4/21/2011 at 5:47:38 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #45, saying: Haha, well I never had to live on base, because I was married at the time...but yeah they have inspections, and every now and then you hear of some underage kid drinking at some party in some other dude's room and everyone got busted, so they all have to work at some menial task that weekend.
More common in maintenance was hearing that someone from another shop left some FOD on an aircraft and QA caught it so everyone's working 12s through the weekend and all of next week or something. Replies: 47
Msg #47: On 4/21/2011 at 5:59:33 PM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #46, saying: If an underage kid was caught drinking then usually EVERYONE in the barracks is punished (the parties actually involved would be NJPd, as well). As far as FOD, QA would give whatever shop was responsible shit, which would trickle down to the person who's fault it was in a major way, and every non-NCO would feel it regardless. Replies: 48
Msg #48: On 4/21/2011 at 6:02:29 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #47, saying: Hmm. In our shop, usually everyone was punished just about equally...if everyone had to work the weekend, NCOs and Senior NCOs (and often even the flight commander) had to come in as well. Replies: 49
Msg #49: On 4/21/2011 at 8:56:55 PM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #48, saying: Well since we're trying to determine which branch is stupider, Marines use nautical terms like "bulkhead" and "porthole" (for wall and window, respectively) when we're on dry land nowhere even near a boat. The following exchange is something that happens every day: LCpl: "Hey Sergeant, if anybody needs me I'm going to be in the bathroom taking a shit." Sergeant: "Bathroom? BATHROOM?! I don't even know what that is, devil! Because I KNOW we call it a fuckin' HEAD, good to go?"
We also call pens "inksticks" for no discernible reason. Replies: 50
Msg #50: On 4/21/2011 at 9:31:58 PM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #49, saying: Well, we're now in the process of phasing out the use of the term "chow hall" in favor of "dining facility" or "D-FAC," both of which are incredibly gay. Luckily, counter to what you often see in movies (just watched Broken Arrow last night and they made this mistake), we don't use nautical terminology EVER. So if the pilot wants me to look out the left overwing hatch, he'll ask me to look out the LEFT overwing hatch.
Once I had our production superintendent (a MSgt I believe) correct my use of the time, "3 o'clock" by saying, "No, we're in the MILITARY, so we use 1500." Yeah, ok; that's great, if we're referring to something mission-related, say a timeline, or official correspondence. But if you're just talking to me casually, let me use normal-peoplespeak, kthx. Replies: 51
Msg #51: On 4/21/2011 at 10:35:05 PM, Majestic-1 replied to Msg #50, saying: Oh hell, I forgot about the time thing. "Five? When is that?" Or "I KNOW you meant to say 1500 there, devil" (see a recurring theme yet?)
We still say "chow hall" unless we're referring to the DFACs in Iraq. I'd rather say DFAC because "chow" is a stupid word. Especially when people say it instead of normal words like "lunch."
Msg #52: On 4/24/2011 at 12:39:13 AM, Grizzle replied to Msg #45, saying: I remember my first field day. It was about 4-5 weeks into boot camp and we found out that we had it the next day with no explanation of what it actually was. A bunch of us sat around in our bunks after lights-out discussing what it could mean. Theories floated around ranging from a day off, to skipping drill and going out "into the field", to some kind of carnival/fun day (yes, seriously). Only when some guy who learned the term from his recruiter spoke up did we learn what it really was. Needless to say next day was hell.
Also we had a giant triangle to sound for chow time in our bunker during my first deployment. It was more a joke than anything, but when evening chow time came, one of the lower LCpls or PFCs would ring the shit out of it and scream "DINNER TIME" which of course would echo throughout the entire goddam bunker. A MSgt down the hall put an end to that within the first month. His reason wasn't that we were ringing a bell but that we were using the term "dinner" instead of "chow". Replies: 53
Msg #53: On 4/24/2011 at 2:44:23 AM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #52, saying: Haha, wtf.
In our tech school, if you were unlucky enough to be one of the "cancers upon the detachment," as our MSgt liked to put it, you would be whisked away around 0300 and send to "correctional custody," in which you'd essentially be digging holes and refilling them or pushing over monster-truck tires every day for 30 days. This happened to both of my roommates, which was fine with me, since I got the room to myself, for a while...haha.
I don't have many "stupidity" stories from deployments except asshats making sure out shirts were tucked in, or that Army lieutenants were yelling at my squadron commander (a lieutenant colonel) for not saluting them in PT gear. It's also common for CMSgts to yell at us for stopping off at the chow hall unshaven (gasp!) after flying 21+ hour missions (equating to a 25 hour day) and NOT shaving first...
Msg #54: On 4/24/2011 at 4:09:41 AM, Grizzle replied, saying: Yeah we had a lot of stupid shit going on, especially during my first deployment. I was a computer guy during my 1st, and so we had very little to do then. The smallest infraction, such as sitting out in the smoke-pit w/o a flak jacket, would usually end with the normal punishment of digging up non-essential communication lines, laying down new cable, and then reburying them.
As the time went on and the war wound down, things got worse. I swear, it's like the less fighting or danger there was, the more the higher-ups found stupid shit for us to do. A good example that's similar to yours comes to mind: After my first deployment of sitting around doing absolutely NOTHING I switched to a radio MOS and was assigned to an infantry unit. During my last deployment, we had been out patrolling for 4 days with no food, little ammu and little food.
We finally get back to Al Asad after days of patrolling. All we're thinking of is hot food, a shower, and some sleep. For us, first stop after debriefing is the chow hall, and as I'm standing in line to grab my food, a 2nd LT comes up to my group and demands to know why we have facial hair on our faces. We explained our situation, telling him that we just got back from spending days outside the wire but he demanded our CO's name and ordered us to follow him to find out why we were unshaven. Obviously, once we arrived at our CO's office, he dismissed the idiot and told us not to worry, go back and grab some food, and get some sleep. It turns out that the LT was part of some MUX Unit and was fresh out of officer school on his first deployment.
Bottom line: The higher ups who get stuck on base always get wrapped up in trivial shit like saluting or shaving or dress code when they should be letting us do our job. I mean jeez man, it isn't going to kill you to let us eat with a 1/5 inch of facial hair, especially if we've been out killing terrorists while you've been sitting on your ass playing solitaire, Sir.
Msg #55: On 4/24/2011 at 5:51:43 AM, elementry replied, saying: Whenever we would come back from targeting ops, we were never shaved since they lasted for days sometimes. So when we flew back on the carrier and walked down the passageway to debrief and then get food, there was ALWAYS someone that stopped us and demanded to know why we hadn't shaved. I was always thinking, I'm in desert cammies ON A SHIP and you are asking me this....dumbasses. So very few people are actually part of the warfighter that it's sickening. Replies: 56
Msg #56: On 4/25/2011 at 12:01:27 AM, Trainwreck replied to Msg #55, saying: Recalling your report of the excessive training you spent on the new Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy repeal, I can't help but relay that I completed my training on it yesterday. It was a CBT full of videos of that I was able to click through quickly and with no delay. Also, there was no quiz at the end. Training: complete!
I maintain that any training which is essential for me to know will never be disseminated using a CBT. Hell, there's even a SERE CBT, wtf? Luckily though, that does NOT satisfy our pre-deployment or periodic refreshers on the course.
