A letter from a Navy Wife to the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy.

[IPD]

Or as someone said, "we have become a nation of the lawyers, by the lawyers, for the lawyers". And 99+per cent of federal elected officials are lawyers.

it IS the one career field that doesn't seem impacted by economic hardships whatsoever.

[BaadVR4]

it IS the one career field that doesn't seem impacted by economic hardships whatsoever.

Yep. The ONLY completely recession proof occupation under the sun. In fact, it's even DEPRESSION proof. And the only required qualifications are total selfishness and ability to shaft anyone and everyone equally.

[AgentOblivious]

Here's a plan. Every politician/civil servant who makes over $100,000.00 per year donates the amount over $100,000.00 to a fund that uses the donated money to provide transitional services (including grants) to separated members in need.

If I could run, I'd do it for Cost of living +$20,000, the rest can go towards that. With congressmen making upwards of $170,000 a year, that's $100,000+ for the grants, and a much better investment than what its probably being spent on now.

[j2k4]

If I could run, I'd do it for Cost of living +$20,000.

What an oddly Canadian idea.

[Vantage]

Obviously we are all in agreement that Congress and politicians are worthless. But to say the service doesn't give people the opportunity to make something of themselves beyond their career in the military, is simply not true. There are dozens of programs for people to seek assistance in everything from drafting your resume(hell, they usually just do it for you!) to getting you ready for school. Besides taking people right from the service and putting them straight into a job and giving them a wad of cash, how much more aggressive can they be? You say these are only questions I can answer, but yet your the one standing there saying service members are being pissed on, but you have no idea where to find an umbrella.

I do honor peoples service. The point I was trying to make was that people are given the opportunity to become mission essential, be it by attending certain schools, learning a critical job, or joining certain units. If they really want nothing more than to be in the service, but won't reach out and take whats in front of them, then they must not want it that bad. You should know, the military is not going to give you anything, you have to take it. And if at first you don't succeed...

Clearly the Navy has done an awful job implementing the ERB, and people are upset, but sailors have/had the opportunity to remain in the Navy, and switch to low strength jobs.

i have zero respect for anyone who uses the "i was drunk" excuse. NONE WHATSOEVER.

Well lucky for me, your respect isn't on my to-do list. Take your useless banter somewhere else.

[AgentOblivious]

What an oddly Canadian idea.

I'd do it for free, but I wouldn't be able to do my best if I had a second job to cover my expenses, so...

[IPD]

vantage, frankly i don't give 2/3rds of a flying fucking rats ass about your reception of my evaluation of your behavior. the fact of the matter is, alcohol is the 2nd most scapegoatted thing in history--trailing only religion. (i believe obama is a distant 3rd). when i was 15, 4 residents of my hometown who were would-be good samaritans responding to a crash were gunned down by the drunk who caused it. and no, he was not executed because of it--and his defense? you guessed it: alcohol.

so kindly go fuck yourself. your inability to own your own words or to show any modicum of personal responsibility not only makes me despise you as a person, it completely poisons any service record you've had in the US military. the trainees who got booted out of training the fastest were always the ones who couldn't admit to and own up to their own mistakes. i wholeheartedly endorse that policy. accountability is the most egregiously lacking aspect of anything in our government--and to have someone who blatantly dodges personal responsibility as you do...to be in the military...sickens me to the core.

p.s.
i also call BS on the "making yourself essential". military policy (as pushed by the bean counters who have never held a rifle in their goddamn lives) is one which promotes sycophants over scholars; brown-nosers over the bold; and shirt-thumbers over the shit-hot. i've watched quite a handful of my peers get drummed out--even while completing all the "wickets" that they're charged with completing. it's based on year/rank & total number in your field--nothing else. there isn't anything remotely logical about it. frankly, who gives 2-shits if you're overmanned in year "x". simply STOP recruiting for a period of time. regardless of how top-heavy the field may get, you'll still get to the end strength you want, and with very little pain involved for the members currently serving.

oh, and don't give me BS about how the military should do like the civilian world and hire newbies at 1/2 the pay to replace the old-timers who've been there forever. that's a sure-fire way to create brain-drain and to instill a sense of being "get what you can while you can" across the entire DOD. with an average wage of less than 50k across the all branches (last time i checked). that's not a lot of dough for someone who not only is away from CONUS on a frequent basis, but also is sworn to die in defense of the US constitution if necessary.

again though, i guess the rational aspects of it elude you.

[BaadVR4]

Okay, Vantage, here's your chance.

In the build up for war, policy makers DELIBERATELY recruit men and women who lack the intellect/skills to EVER do much besides cook/clean/act as infantry. We swell the ranks with otherwise nearly unemployable men and women, stick them in where they can contribute, if not excel. We allow them to remain in the service, even if they fail to advance. We know they barely have the aptitude/learning capacity to perform their entry level assignments, and will never be leaders. We promise them a retirement they can survive on if they stay in 20 years. Then, 10, 15 or 19 years on, we tell them "we don't need your services any more, here's a class on how to get a job."

And your counter argument is "it's their fault, they didn't prepare themselves to be Nuclear Weapons Specialists while they had the chance." I'm surprised you didn't take them to task for not getting at least a Master's Degree, if not a PHD while they were freeloading on the military dime. To hear you tell it, the average military job (except, of course, yours) allows plenty of time for members to re-train themselves into whatever career field they want.

Your argument is classic victim-stance; blame the victim. If someone gets murdered in a Pizza Hut robbery, it's their own fault for being there to start with. They should have known the area was unsafe and not gone to that Pizza Hut. If a woman is raped, it is her fault because she wore revealing/suggestive clothing.

If your defense of your position is "I was distracted/drunk", you are really saying "I was wrong, but....And that is the problem with your arguments. As soon as you say "But", you negate everything stated before the "but".

I'm not going to berate you as harshly as did IPD, but I am going to suggest you examine your statements/positions BEFORE you make them public. Otherwise, you run the risk of others actually concluding you really BELIEVE what you say. Once an indefensible, ignorant or stupid statement has escaped your mouth (or your keyboard), it is forever linked to you, stuck on you like white on rice. It just WON'T go away.

If you drink to the point of getting drunk, you should apply rule number one: "Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

[BaadVR4]

"Clearly the Navy has done an awful job implementing the ERB, and people are upset, but sailors have/had the opportunity to remain in the Navy, and switch to low strength jobs. "

And what if they are already in low strength jobs? What if they lack the aptitude to retrain? Oh, I forgot, that's their fault. Nothing to do with the intelligent elite like yourself. Life's not fair, get over it. You can't feed your children now that the Navy has separated you after 18 years of promises of a retirement if you just agreed to stay 20 years? Your fault, you should never have had children.

You really don't see just how ignorant and prejudiced you sound, do you? Too bad.

[Zaroth]

vantage, frankly i don't give 2/3rds of a flying fucking rats ass about your reception of my evaluation of your behavior. the fact of the matter is, alcohol is the 2nd most scapegoatted thing in history--trailing only religion. (i believe obama is a distant 3rd). when i was 15, 4 residents of my hometown who were would-be good samaritans responding to a crash were gunned down by the drunk who caused it. and no, he was not executed because of it--and his defense? you guessed it: alcohol.

so kindly go fuck yourself. your inability to own your own words or to show any modicum of personal responsibility not only makes me despise you as a person, it completely poisons any service record you've had in the US military. the trainees who got booted out of training the fastest were always the ones who couldn't admit to and own up to their own mistakes. i wholeheartedly endorse that policy. accountability is the most egregiously lacking aspect of anything in our government--and to have someone who blatantly dodges personal responsibility as you do...to be in the military...sickens me to the core.

It sickens you to the core that he appologized for posting 1 emotional post? It's not like he is trying to change his point of view on the topic. He is owning up to his own mistake... that is what appologies are for. No need to get in such a hissy fit over it.