What Was Your Rank?
- Thread starter lukem
- Start date
I was a SSgt E-5 at discharge from the USAF 22 Jan 1992 (Thank you Mr. Clinton for my permanent lay off). Eleven years and seven months in... Then the big budget cuts and thousands of E4 - E6 troops with 8-15 years of service were given honorable DD 214's and transformed into civilians. Some with Gulf War Syndrome, some with PTSD, and some with no other way to support themselves or their families.
I see this happening again with our new, never served in any branch of the service, CIC. Disarm America at home and reduce our military strength. Good strategy to keep the terrorists away. NOT!
I see this happening again with our new, never served in any branch of the service, CIC. Disarm America at home and reduce our military strength. Good strategy to keep the terrorists away. NOT!
Canis-Lupus
New member
The Clinton Legacy.
TXRN You Got That Right!
Know that feeling; whole divisions (20-30K troops + all their kit) just went away, no promotions or schools available. If U did not do 2-3 other soldier's jobs plus your own very well, then U just got your walking orders, 5 lbs over weight = goodbye, some I knew at 17-19 years active duty got the boot for no good reason. Max-ed-out inflated NCOER's designed to 'fairly' rate an NCO were inflated to top scores (125) to retain those who could spend 7 days a week at work doing maybe 15-18 hour days and still shine, 2 points below the 125 max NCOER was a ticket to a bar from re-enlistment. Kit was not getting fixed, no parts or troops skilled enough to fix/maintain them. The Army NG/AR was untrained and in a very bad way with even their best getting no-promotions or schools to get promotion points, the draw down from GW-1 was more like a complete demobilization of all branches of service. Even Army recruiters were turning guys away with college degrees who wanted to be just basic Infantrymen! USAF your test-out for stripes, hear they stopped even testing you fly-boys meaning stuck at E5 with no hope to make E6 was dead weight so they lost entire wings and squadrons and tens of thousands of air-men/women. Your highly trained pilots left in droves to fly commercial earning 4 times the pay with little of the active duty rules & regs + BS to worry about. The Navy saw many ships/planes/subs turned into scrap-metal, bases closed and sailors into civvies with even the USMC turning folks away as not needed!
Yup! Ex-Pres Clinton did what a good assault by Soviet forces rushing thru the Fulda Gap in W. Germany would have done to most USAEUR based troops without the bloodshed and bullets. It was not a good time to serve and few of my peers survived it to stay in to 20-year retirement mark, when the Dept of the Army started giving out lump-sum one time bonuses just to quit and walk at 15-19 years in, many took it, spent it in a year, and then realized what 'chump-change' even $40K was. Remember seeing good 91C's senior LPN's who took the early-outs $'s later working as hospital janitors for minimal wage, broke and miserable. Just think how useful/effective all that tri-service manpower and kit would have been after 9/11 deployed to Afghanistan?
Canis-Lupus
TXRN You Got That Right!
Know that feeling; whole divisions (20-30K troops + all their kit) just went away, no promotions or schools available. If U did not do 2-3 other soldier's jobs plus your own very well, then U just got your walking orders, 5 lbs over weight = goodbye, some I knew at 17-19 years active duty got the boot for no good reason. Max-ed-out inflated NCOER's designed to 'fairly' rate an NCO were inflated to top scores (125) to retain those who could spend 7 days a week at work doing maybe 15-18 hour days and still shine, 2 points below the 125 max NCOER was a ticket to a bar from re-enlistment. Kit was not getting fixed, no parts or troops skilled enough to fix/maintain them. The Army NG/AR was untrained and in a very bad way with even their best getting no-promotions or schools to get promotion points, the draw down from GW-1 was more like a complete demobilization of all branches of service. Even Army recruiters were turning guys away with college degrees who wanted to be just basic Infantrymen! USAF your test-out for stripes, hear they stopped even testing you fly-boys meaning stuck at E5 with no hope to make E6 was dead weight so they lost entire wings and squadrons and tens of thousands of air-men/women. Your highly trained pilots left in droves to fly commercial earning 4 times the pay with little of the active duty rules & regs + BS to worry about. The Navy saw many ships/planes/subs turned into scrap-metal, bases closed and sailors into civvies with even the USMC turning folks away as not needed!
Yup! Ex-Pres Clinton did what a good assault by Soviet forces rushing thru the Fulda Gap in W. Germany would have done to most USAEUR based troops without the bloodshed and bullets. It was not a good time to serve and few of my peers survived it to stay in to 20-year retirement mark, when the Dept of the Army started giving out lump-sum one time bonuses just to quit and walk at 15-19 years in, many took it, spent it in a year, and then realized what 'chump-change' even $40K was. Remember seeing good 91C's senior LPN's who took the early-outs $'s later working as hospital janitors for minimal wage, broke and miserable. Just think how useful/effective all that tri-service manpower and kit would have been after 9/11 deployed to Afghanistan?
Canis-Lupus
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DocBoCook
Not Negotiable, A Right
Don't kid yourselves to think this isn't happening now.
I will have 11 years and 5 months in when I get my walking papers on 02MAR09. I am getting my walking papers because after 28yrs of my life, I was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes and the Navy can't deploy me. So instead of me covering shore duty billets for a few more years until I retire on limited duty, they just give me my walking papers.
My supervisors petitioned the PEB, no avail. there is no getting around it. They are downsizing again. They don't want the best, they want the cheapest, and keeping trained, competent men and women on active duty is expensive. They would rather pay two E-1's than pay one E-5 or E-6 because some bean counter told them it would cost less.
Idiots, hope they never have a real war and need people to show a large amount of people how it's done. I'm a Corpsman, I could have been used at the schoolhouse in Great Lakes or at my specialty school, but once again, it's really about money.
Steelhorse
New member
Corporate America, like the USG, know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
Everything translates to cost efficiency, but not a mention of service effectiveness...and in the process, it marginalizes peoples worth, and worse: Gets people seriously hurt and killed.
Put the decision makers on a fence line and stand a post, or become the patient in an understaffed ED with inexperienced personnel. See how fast it all would change.
DocBoCook
Not Negotiable, A Right
they don't have to, they get catered to with the best money can buy, while we can't get money for band aids
Jeff Chance
New member
Sargeant, E-5 United States Marine Corps 1973-1977 OORAH!!!
da3394@yadtel.net
New member
USAR, 11-65 through 9-72
11Bravo, S.Sgt. E-6
BRM Instructor and Range NCOIC
11Bravo, S.Sgt. E-6
BRM Instructor and Range NCOIC
Ford Truck
New member
Cold War, Viet Nam Era
I got out as a Specialist 4th Class. I was Senior Heavy Vehicle Driver, Ammo Section, Headquarters & Headquarters Platoon, 'Alpha' Battery, 7th Battalion, 67th Air Defense Artillery, 3rd Infantry Division, USAREUR. Did 1 yr. in the States & 2 yrs. driving an ammo truck in West Germany. U.S. Army Jan69-Jan72
I got out as a Specialist 4th Class. I was Senior Heavy Vehicle Driver, Ammo Section, Headquarters & Headquarters Platoon, 'Alpha' Battery, 7th Battalion, 67th Air Defense Artillery, 3rd Infantry Division, USAREUR. Did 1 yr. in the States & 2 yrs. driving an ammo truck in West Germany. U.S. Army Jan69-Jan72
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Hamster
Hamster
leasantry::no:USMC(Ret)22408
New member
US Navy - HM2
USMC - Maj (Ret)
1980-2001
USMC - Maj (Ret)
1980-2001
Red Hat
New member
Welcome skyking. Were you stationed at Castle AFB? I was there 76-80. If you were I probably had you come through the firing range for qualification.
