Ask Any Military Question

[BigPete]

It was a full ride I recall. He's afraid he won't be respected though if he goes this route - he doesn't want the easy path if it means the active duty guys won't respect him. I agree with him but of course his parents are only looking at the free ride and nothing else.

In a short amount of time no one will care. Besides, you don't wear a special tab on your shoulder that says, I was ROTC. The cool thing about these programs is that while on summer and spring break they get special access to plenty of schools like Airborne and Air Assault and RIP (short Ranger program) so they are qualified long before entering active duty. I would be concerned with the amount of service required after school is completed. I don't think it is just 2 years on active duty, that seems way too short. Academy members for instance have an 8 year commitment if I remember correctly. Below is where you will find real answers.

http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/college-students.html

http://afrotc.com/

http://www.navy.com/navy/joining/education-opportunities/nrotc/

 

[BigPete]

He's a good looking kid - athletic, fit, and the chicks like him. I'm sure he'd like being with 99% females - but the guys might think he's *** and give him crap as you mentioned. His parents want him to do it but he's 50/50 at the moment - has to decide this week.

You need to understand this about the military. The only place that has young men running around giving shit to other young men about potentially being *** is the infantry. Everywhere else it is hardly ever mentioned and very discouraged, especially now that they have rolled out the sensitivity training. If this kid is really worried about that he will have WAY more problems getting through the rigors of the military lifestyle. It may not be constant up hill torture, but it is not a fucking cake walk for anyone.

 

[tvltre]

Ehh, for home protection I prefer blades. If you're going to go through the trouble of killing someone you might as well actually get blood on your hands and feel their flesh ripping rather than just squeezing a finger.



Although you're right, there is psychological points to the sound of a shotgun cocking.



How about this: F22 vs F35?

Since neither are in service right now. Would be hard to compare.

 

[winos5]

You need to understand this about the military. The only place that has young men running around giving shit to other young men about potentially being *** is the infantry. Everywhere else it is hardly ever mentioned and very discouraged, especially now that they have rolled out the sensitivity training. If this kid is really worried about that he will have WAY more problems getting through the rigors of the military lifestyle. It may not be constant up hill torture, but it is not a fucking cake walk for anyone.

I doubt Army grunts hold a monopoly on that behavior in the military.

 

[BigPete]

Fair enough and you are right. But I saw first hand when I got to Fort Campbell, a really big base with around 20,000 soldiers and airmen of ALL occupations and the only one's that stood out as digging on gays were the infantry. But that was a really bad time for them anyways, as several had beaten a fellow soldier suspected of being *** and then in a separate incident a handful destroyed a fellow soldier's truck with baseball bats, on post no less, for the same reason.



Simply put, the vast majority of that generation does not care if you are *** or not. Unfortunately there will always be people who object to it, and there will always be simple minded, 18 year old, testerone filled boys that can't look past it. But those that take action will have the full weight of UCMJ on their heads now that the military openly endourses GLBT community members enlisting.

 

[supraman]

Since neither are in service right now. Would be hard to compare.

F-22s are in service but currently grounded due to rust....F-22 = hangar queen

 

[tvltre]

Okay...from those in the know:



AR-15 (M-16), or AK-47?

The M16 is now the M4 and it's 5.56 round vs the AK-47's 7.62. Stopping power...definitely the AK.

Accuracy..M4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6BpI3xD6h0

 

[TSD]

It was a full ride I recall. He's afraid he won't be respected though if he goes this route - he doesn't want the easy path if it means the active duty guys won't respect him. I agree with him but of course his parents are only looking at the free ride and nothing else.

Then all he has to do is earn their respect. But yeah, alot of enlisted men dont care too much for "ROTC" types. ALOT of the guys I went to basic with are officers now, but they all started as enlisted men, then went to OCS.



There is just this mentality that the ROTC folk were coddled on their entry into the military. I have no idea if its warranted or not I was never in ROTC, but from my experience I never once saw a cadet getting his ass chewed out or getting smoked by anyone or being stuck using subpar equipment.



I did have alot of exposure to ROTC cadets, because when i was still at ISU, I would opt to go work the retention program in springfield instead of going up to crestwood, to just sit around and go to dumbass sexual harrassment classes over the weekend.



Alot of cadets from ISU would go there on that weekend to train as well. From what i saw their training was pretty "stress free" by comparison to the enlisted recruits. The enlisted recruits this was basically a 1 weekend a month basic training prior to actually going to basic training complete with drill sergeants.

 

[JOVE23]

It was a full ride I recall. He's afraid he won't be respected though if he goes this route - he doesn't want the easy path if it means the active duty guys won't respect him. I agree with him but of course his parents are only looking at the free ride and nothing else.

If he doesn't carry himself like a dickhead butter bar and listens to his NCOs I don't see how where he got his commission will be a problem.

 

[jaxhawksfan]

The M16 is now the M4 and it's 5.56 round vs the AK-47's 7.62. Stopping power...definitely the AK.

Accuracy..M4

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6BpI3xD6h0[/media]

I've heard time and time again that the objective in a combat situation is to wound an enemy and not kill them outright. Thus, the 5.56 was designed to enter, spin around and do lots of internal damage, but not neccessarily kill the person. They say that an injured enemy has to be carried by 2 others......thereby occupying 3 instead of just deleting 1. Any truth to that?

 

[bubbleheadchief]

If he doesn't carry himself like a dickhead butter bar and listens to his NCOs I don't see how where he got his commission will be a problem.

This right here is the key. Throughout my career, the JO that acted the most "holier then thou I am an officer so therefore #1 I immediately know what I am talking about, and #2 my shit don't stink" category were: Academy Grads. For the most part ROTC JO's had it drilled into them to listen to their Chiefs, they know what they are talking about. Mustang JO's (a former enlisted that usually had 10 yrs in already) were rarely ever a problem....more often then not, they had a tendency to forget they weren't enlisted anymore and liked to get their dickskinners dirty instead of letting the guys get their work done. The guys that bothered me the most were the guys that gave up their anchors to accept a Warrant.......they tended to be extremely wishy-washy.



As to the whole getting rid of the retirement and going with a 401k.......bad, bad idea. And that is the cleanest answer I have given since I read about the first time weeks ago. This won't affect me or anyone that has already retired, but if they go through with this, they wont have to worry about culling through the military to get the force down to a "workable" size, ALOT of people will jump ship.

 

[LordKOTL]

On the AR-15 vs the AK-74, the thing I heard is that the 47 is a LOT more rugged and doesn't jam as easily. The 15 is more accurate, but that makes it jam more easily because of tighter tolerances.



It seems to me in open space warefare the AR-15 would work better, but in extremely dirty and close-combat situations, the AK-47 would be better.



Granted, I've been closer to a Vz.58 than either of those rifles.

 

[BigPete]

As to the whole getting rid of the retirement and going with a 401k.......bad, bad idea. And that is the cleanest answer I have given since I read about the first time weeks ago. This won't affect me or anyone that has already retired, but if they go through with this, they wont have to worry about culling through the military to get the force down to a "workable" size, ALOT of people will jump ship.

It is impractical anyways. You don't get any retirement pay if you didn't retire (meaning serve ~20 years and request it). Plain and simple: If you were enrolled into a 401k and the gubmint put money into it with the notion that you were going to someday retire...what do you do with that 401k and the money in it if the service member leaves prior to becoming eligible to receive said benefit? That money is now locked into a 401k for someone that is not allowed to claim it.

 

[winos5]

It is impractical anyways. You don't get any retirement pay if you didn't retire (meaning serve ~20 years and request it). Plain and simple: If you were enrolled into a 401k and the gubmint put money into it with the notion that you were going to someday retire...what do you do with that 401k and the money in it if the service member leaves prior to becoming eligible to receive said benefit? That money is now locked into a 401k for someone that is not allowed to claim it.

That was actually one of the issues this aims to address. You could roll that 401K over if you left the service, so you'd still have it.

 

[TSD]

On the AR-15 vs the AK-74, the thing I heard is that the 47 is a LOT more rugged and doesn't jam as easily. The 15 is more accurate, but that makes it jam more easily because of tighter tolerances.



It seems to me in open space warefare the AR-15 would work better, but in extremely dirty and close-combat situations, the AK-47 would be better.



Granted, I've been closer to a Vz.58 than either of those rifles.

I can tell you first hand the M-16 blows monkey balls in anything other than Ideal conditions. Constantly having to slap the bottom of the magazine to chamber a round because you had to low crawl through some muck, isnt my idea of fun.

 

[BigPete]

That was actually one of the issues this aims to address. You could roll that 401K over if you left the service, so you'd still have it.

Understood, and that is a great added benefit to service members. BUT, who is going to incur all of that extra cost which is not currently on the books? Tax payers, to the tune of billions of dollars every decade.

 

[tvltre]

F-22s are in service but currently grounded due to rust....F-22 = hangar queen

Actually the F-22's have been grounded since May due to issues with the oxygen delivery system. Pilots were passing out from lack of air. Recently it was reported that pilots have been found to have carbon monoxide as well as other chemicals in their system from breathing.

 

[tvltre]

Anyone go to the airshow this weekend?

 

[MassHavoc]

I went from my balcony. It was pretty sweet.

 

[chasman]

I could not see it in the redwood forest, the trees we in the way.