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I will agree to some point that having some CREDITABLE military service should give a candidate a leg up over a draft dodger ONLY when running for the presidency since they would be in charge of all of the branches of services. I guess that I would feel more comfortable in knowing that at least that person should know what each branch can and cannot do. If they went through OTS (Officer training School) they would also have a better understanding on how to conduct military conflicts instead of relying on a bunch of "yes men generals and admirals".
My time was not Bush's time, and I was RA while he was not.
Apples and pears.
So you are saying that it was easier getting rank during peacetime than during the war where Lts were being replaced constantly? Because many of them knew very little outside of what they taught in college about actually fighting in the bush? I have a cousin who was basically an idoit, but knew how to survive and he did quite well in the jungle and was promoted at least three times while he was there.
I can only assume that you do not know many generals or admirals.
Don't assume anything, I was partly responsible for my Col to get her star and I worked with one in PSAB and another in Texas who was the hospital commander (two star)
So you are saying that it was easier getting rank during peacetime than during the war where Lts were being replaced constantly?
It's never easy getting rank.
Quote:
Originally Posted by simetime
Because many of them knew very little outside of what they taught in college about actually fighting in the bush?
I can make neither heads nor tails of that comment. Nobody "knows" about combat until they've been there. Period.
Quote:
Originally Posted by simetime
I have a cousin who was basically an idoit, but knew how to survive and he did quite well in the jungle and was promoted at least three times while he was there.
1. The plural of anecdote is not data.
2. There are a lot of different ways to be intelligent. Some are better suited to some circumstances than others. While you may consider him an "idoit" I'm confident he would not characterize his achievement of three promotions as "easy" either.
Don't assume anything, I was partly responsible for my Col to get her star and I worked with one in PSAB and another in Texas who was the hospital commander (two star)
That was a completely inapposite response to my comment. Especially given the age old prerogative of junior military to disparage and ***** about their commanders.
Again, I contend that you cannot possibly have known many generals or admirals. In contrast, at least 25 of my classmates, most of them personal friends since we were teenagers, have achieved flag rank (out of a graduating class of just over 900). I cannot honestly call a single one of them a "yes man." The "yes men" tended to top out at LTC.
So even at that time it was almost a given provided that you do what you were suppose to do.
On active duty, depending on the branch, yes, that is not out of the ordinary.
However, just a gentle reminder, academy graduates have a minimum of 5 years active obligation, with an additional 3 years of IRR. I double checked with a graduate from that time period, who said it was the same back then. I'm not going to beat a dead horse, but a reservist/guard member during the Vietnam Era, would have a significantly slower promotion rate than active duty members of the time, and even reservists or guard members of today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by simetime
So you are saying that it was easier getting rank during peacetime than during the war where Lts were being replaced constantly? Because many of them knew very little outside of what they taught in college about actually fighting in the bush? I have a cousin who was basically an idoit, but knew how to survive and he did quite well in the jungle and was promoted at least three times while he was there.
In the Reserves or National Guard, at a time period when they were exempt from combat, and there was an ugly war going on? You betcha.
Your cousin was promoted so much because he survived in a combat situation, not the Guard or Reserves.
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