Why Our Best are Leaving.

[Mamma]

No one has ever won a war by galvanizing the entire population to hating your guts. Yes they have. Throughout history, making the enemy's population suffer has been a strategy in war. Do you think the Japanese or Germans were happy with fire bombing? Targeting of civilians has been a strategy for centuries....all the way through WWII. or Thousands of Afghani's that may have never picked up a rifle, may now have a reason "Hey Achmed, I heard the Marines pissed on those Taliban guys who shot up our village last week and killed our tribal leader for sending girls to school. Lets take up arms against the Marines! Allah Akbar!" Here is a little news flash for you....most Afghanis do not like the Taliban." "Warriors" do not act to strengthen the resolve of their enemy. Yes they do. They kill the enemy and force them to accept our will. That is the Marine's primary job. I could just see Gunnery Sgt Hartman "You maggots will be careful to not offend the enemy or hurt his feelings! You will not make them mad and strengthen their resolve..." Why do you think the Japanese were ready to fight to the last person, they had been told we do these horrible things. Mothers jumping off cliffs with their childerend rather than surrender to Americans because of propaganda. This statement makes no sense.

Look at the contractors that were killed and their bodies hung from the bridge in Iraq. Their deaths may have just been a tragic cost of war, the desecration of their bodies however became huge deal in the American media and to Americans everywhere. It goes both ways.

I don't know what i was thinking when I wrote that statement....what I meant to say is "if you want to win wars, you have to understand that trivial things like pissing on bodies and stacking.....will happen." You have young men out there in stressful situations and young men do stupid things. There is a line though and while I do not condone these kind of actions, I don't think they rise to the level you think they do. A true leader will make it a teachable moment for the troops, dish out some administrative punishment and move on. You really can't compare random stupid trivial events to murdering contractors, burning them and then hanging the bodies in a city we conquered. The Marines, while they f'd up, did not commit another Mai Lai massacre like you allude to.

 

[SIG600]

I don't know what i was thinking when I wrote that statement....what I meant to say is "if you want to win wars, you have to understand that trivial things like pissing on bodies and stacking.....will happen." You have young men out there in stressful situations and young men do stupid things. There is a line though and while I do not condone these kind of actions, I don't think they rise to the level you think they do. A true leader will make it a teachable moment for the troops, dish out some administrative punishment and move on. You really can't compare random stupid trivial events to murdering contractors, burning them and then hanging the bodies in a city we conquered. The Marines, while they f'd up, did not commit another Mai Lai massacre like you allude to.

I can tell you first hand that we're already paying the price for what the Marines did, and I'll leave it at that. Feel free to PM me for s SIPR address if you want facts.

 

[xray678]

I won't argue about stupid things people do like stacking naked enemy troops up.

But this article hits the nail on the head. The military is full of mediocre leaders. All the best people I served with in the Air Force left as soon as they could. One guy from my UPT class has stayed in and made general. His resume looks like a cookie cutter example of filling squares while not really filing any true command positions or taking any risks. One school after another, punctuated by a couple of staff positions.

Its not just the military. I believe all goverment agencies are plagued by the same problems. True innovation is discouraged and mediocre folks who go along with the status quo are promoted to the top.

 

[Starbuck]

Prior Service

I must say the article is very interesting. While some the most talented officers and enlisted personnel are leaving the military there are prior service military personnel who would like to return. One way to solve unemployment is for the government to relax prior service requirements, and allow the ones who want to return to their previous career, or retrain have that opportunity. One big drawback of this idea is that some positions require security clearances which take forever.
Since I left the military in 2005, I have been unemployed several times. I tried to return to the military but red tape, and a few infractions of the law which was part of my record in the beginning of my military, and dating back 10-15 years keep me from joining.
My status is inactive reserve. I have a diverse background in aviation. My last performance report was as an instructor inflight refueling technician member on the KC-135. Other positions help are radio operator and maintenance technician. In the civilian sector, I worked as a flight dispatcher airport operations supervisor at O'Hara, and a flight manual technical writer.
I know this sound like a resume, but it just show you that there is a a lot of people with great experience who would like to become part of the team again. Me personally, I would like to fly drones since I am too old to fly military aircraft.
Well I feel that this site is great for networking, and if anyone besides a recruiter have any information on jobs at any units needing prior service flight crew members or base operations personnel please post.

 

[3GRNDWN]

...Me personally, I would like to fly drones since I am too old to fly military aircraft.
[/QUOTE]

I too would like to fly drones, or RPA's (remotely piloted aircraft), as they are called, for now. Is it possible to fly RPA's in the military without having gone through UPT? I'm a member of the Air Guard (ground pounder), have an ATP, and fly jets in the airlines. Does anyone know if there is program one can apply for?

 

[McGillicutty]

I totally disagree with this article. When did merit ever count for anything in the military! Geeeeez! As for being a superior Air Force officer (can't speak for the other services), the only criteria is to complete all your PME, which in turn will magically transform you into general officer material; maaaaan, SOS, ACSC, and AWC is some powerful stuff, wouldn't you agree! As for job performance.... once you make O-5, your duties should all be delegated to the CGOs and take credit for ALL of their hard work. Make sure to write your own OPR so that you can inflate the words. If your peg boys and girls don't perform, continue the beatings until morale improves. It will only make them stronger! Spend all of your time rubbing shoulders with only O-6s & above and make sure to spend atleast 2 hours a week with your wife and kids so that your kids won't join the base gangs. This will also prevent your spouse sharing a bed with your exec. Lastly, don't get caught surfing for gay child porn on a government computer. You da man, kernel!

You sound pretty whiney and entitled. Be a man, look yourself in the mirror and own up to the fact that you played the game and lost.

 

[Captain Morgan]

I'm not military but from what I've been reading on Vietnam, it seems that the mentality "cookie cutter career officer" started about that time. I've read about military officers like Ed Rassmussen and Robin Olds, true warriors that sacrificed their military careers to remain in the fight. I think Olds even sabotaged his numbers of MIG kills so that he wouldn't be made into a publicity figure and taken out of the fight. Maybe they should start circulating books like "Into the Mouth of the Cat" and "Fighter Pilot" to inspire future officers?

 

[JimNtexas]

I retired in 1994. Near the end of my service I was on the staff at HQ/ACC.

As someone who has always had a technical bent I was appalled at the technical ignorance that I saw among many of the General Officers I interacted with. Not only were they ignorant, they were open in their contempt for technical detail of any kind.

I vividly recall briefing a General (who made four stars) on an experimental jamming platform we were going to install in a Lear 35 for testing. He said he wasn't interested in the 'beeps and squeaks', but we did spend a lot of time fine tuning the Lear's paint job. Sigh.

On the other hand, his waistline was less than 32 inches, which I understand is a key ingredient of success in the current Air Force.

 

[T-1GUY]

I retired in 1994. Near the end of my service I was on the staff at HQ/ACC.

As someone who has always had a technical bent I was appalled at the technical ignorance that I saw among many of the General Officers I interacted with. Not only were they ignorant, they were open in their contempt for technical detail of any kind.

I vividly recall briefing a General (who made four stars) on an experimental jamming platform we were going to install in a Lear 35 for testing. He said he wasn't interested in the 'beeps and squeaks', but we did spend a lot of time fine tuning the Lear's paint job. Sigh.

On the other hand, his waistline was less than 32 inches, which I understand is a key ingredient of success in the current Air Force.

I always crack up reading AF times, about some guy who is a professional weight lifter while working in the AF. He couldn't understand why everyone else didn't come to the gym and pump iron three hours a day. I was reading this from the comfort of my crew seat at 35,000 somewhere over the middle of the Atlantic at 3am. I was only 15 hours into my work day. It sure would of been nice to only fly from nine to five, Monday through Friday, so I could get to the gym everyday...

 

[JimNtexas]

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