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Kerfuffle

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I was watching 'Saving Private Ryan' last night. Remember the guy in the platoon that was the clutz and the weakling? He brought the wrong ammo to Tom Hanks in one scene, and in another when they stormed the German machine gun sentry they left the kid at the back rather than having him charge in with the rest. Having never served in the military I wanted to know if this was a realistic scenario? When you have guys in a platoon or unit is there a guy like this whom everyone know is a good kid but just overall a dork and weaker than the rest? Or, are these guys weeded out during basic training?
 

TSD

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I was watching 'Saving Private Ryan' last night. Remember the guy in the platoon that was the clutz and the weakling? He brought the wrong ammo to Tom Hanks in one scene, and in another when they stormed the German machine gun sentry they left the kid at the back rather than having him charge in with the rest. Having never served in the military I wanted to know if this was a realistic scenario? When you have guys in a platoon or unit is there a guy like this whom everyone know is a good kid but just overall a dork and weaker than the rest? Or, are these guys weeded out during basic training?



That was a little bit different of a situation. You probably wouldnt see a scenario like this very often. As I recall Upham (the characters name) was just a translator and did shit with maps, he wasnt ever intended to be in combat. All the other guys were battle hardened Rangers and fought in North Africa and Italy already.



You have to take into account he had only gone to basic and never had any real combat training. (basic hardly prepares you to hop right into battle). Now adays even non-infantry units do their fair share of combat training. I was a commo guy and our 2 weeks every year in the guard was dedicated to combat training, they had to start doing this because there is no front line in Iraq and afghanistan. Guys from my unit when they were in Iraq and afghanistan had to move around to fix/setup commo equipment and would get ambushed, they didnt show up on a base and stay there for a year.
 

bri

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Does the British Navy get paid more money than our Navy? I just watched Househunters International and some guy in the British Navy bought a house for 1.3 million in New Zealand. I don't think of guys in our Navy as being able to afford that, but I guess Bubble or Casey could answer that better.
 

supraman

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Does the British Navy get paid more money than our Navy? I just watched Househunters International and some guy in the British Navy bought a house for 1.3 million in New Zealand. I don't think of guys in our Navy as being able to afford that, but I guess Bubble or Casey could answer that better.



Was the guy an admiral or something? I know the high ranking guys in the military get paid nicely
 

winos5

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Was the guy an admiral or something? I know the high ranking guys in the military get paid nicely



It's possible, but higher ranking officers in positions of leadership tend to have quarters on post, at least in my experience. Could be he was retired military, you could easily take some career paths in the military and turn them into 6 figure jobs as a civilian. Combine that with your pension and you could probably afford a home like that. Alos was that in US $?, Pounds , or Kiwi $.
 

bri

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It's possible, but higher ranking officers in positions of leadership tend to have quarters on post, at least in my experience. Could be he was retired military, you could easily take some career paths in the military and turn them into 6 figure jobs as a civilian. Combine that with your pension and you could probably afford a home like that. Alos was that in US $?, Pounds , or Kiwi $.





It was U S dollars. He had a wife and 2 young kids. He was a Lt something I think.
 

bubbleheadchief

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It was U S dollars. He had a wife and 2 young kids. He was a Lt something I think.

Here are some questions, are you sure it was $US the amount? Was he from money? Also how do they work out their mortgages and the rest? many factors to take into account, also a Lt Commander in the Royal Navy can make up to 57K pounds....about $93K a yr.
 

JOVE23

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Probably a lot of that is booty he pilfered from a pirate ship in the Spanish Mai-wait.
 

Tater

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So he bought the house with Doubloons?
 

bri

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Here are some questions, are you sure it was $US the amount? Was he from money? Also how do they work out their mortgages and the rest? many factors to take into account, also a Lt Commander in the Royal Navy can make up to 57K pounds....about $93K a yr.





Yes I am positive it was U S dollars. They always put the figure in U S dollars on the screen. I don't know what his background is. It didn't say if he was a Duke or anything. It just said he was in the Navy and he ran around in a little white Navy outfit. And he wasn't like a major geezer or anything.
 

BigPete

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Don't forget that even rich people and royalty serve in the military in Great Britain. It is not necessary but often to show selfless service to the crown and hence the nation. The princes of England both serve and those two are rich beyond most of our comprehension.



So this guy might have had a lot of old family money. Or he could have been smart with the stock market. I had a Chief Warrant Officer in the Army that made a lot of money on the market. He got lucky on the ground floor investment of XM and Sirus satellite radio companies.
 

bri

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Gee and I was practicing up my best "Hey Sailor" and getting ready to head to the nearest port and wait for the ships to come in.
 

bri

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I just read this article about a soldier who reenlisted because he was promised an additional $500 a month to go back to Iraq. It sounds like he mostly based his decision on that because he was getting divorced and was hoping the extra money would help him afford a house when he got back and provide a better life for his twins. He has never seen the money and the military is now saying he didn't qualify for that program. My question for all the military/ex military is how often does this kind of bullshit occur. It seems very shady and unethical and so wrong.





http://qctimes.com/n...1cc4c002e0.html
 

BigPete

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If it was in the contract and he has the gumption to get a lawyer then chances are the government will cut him some kind of settlement check when they are found to be wrong.

Most times, people are promised things by their recruiters or they reenlistment counselors that simply are not true. That is why you have to read the fine print of the contract. I have not heard of anyone being offered extra money of X dollars every month just for saying they will go back to Iraq. Sounds hokey or like the guy misunderstood something. Here is a possible statement by the reenlistment person, "you know, if you reinlist and go back to Iraq, you are going to make about $500 extra a month." What he means, is that combat pay, tax free zone benefits, and such will give you an extra 5 bills a month compared to what you would get if you were stationed stateside.

If the soldier misunderstood that conversation and didn't look to see if it was in the reenlistment contract, then he's a dumb shit.
 

BigPete

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Regarding that story Bri, keep in mind that it is the Iowa National Guard that screwed up, not the United States ARMY. Big difference.



Sounds like somebody in Iowa offered something they shouldn't have. In my opinion the state of Iowa should cut this guy a check. It will be interesting to see who he sues, the Iowa NG or the actual state of Iowa. Probably both...
 

bri

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Don't know if you read the article. It was called a a Deployment Extension Stability Pay Program.
 

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