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I am clueless about this. Sorry you felt that way. As a former active duty Marine that also did time in the reserves and the daughter of a Marine that was in Korea and Vietnam (who indoctrinated me about his military beliefs all of my life, including an ongoing aversion to Jane Fonda), I can tell you I never felt this way nor heard anyone speak badly of reservists. Honestly.
My older brother was a "petroleum supply specialist" at Ft. Lee, so I probably gave him too much credit when he suggested I go into the Army Reserve because "you just have to go in one weekend a month and drive trucks around".
17 year-old me: 'Yay!'
43 year-old me: 'God, what in the hell was I thinking?'
Some of the guys in my unit were rounding out their enlistments and had been to Germany, Korea, had all sorts of training and opportunities. In my case I was pretty much stuck in NM until my six years ran out and by the time the Gulf War rolled around I was already in the mindset of finishing my enlistment and getting on with my life since the Reserve had offered me nothing I could really use.
(On a side note; my right shoulder patch is the XVIII Airborne Corps/20th Engineer Brigade castle insignia with an AIRBORNE tab, and I feel a little guilty about ever wearing it since the closest I ever got being airborne was falling out of the back of a 5-ton... but it sure looks sexy. )
Last edited by DeltaFiveTwo; 11-11-2012 at 09:35 AM..
Reason: Updated info
My older brother was a "petroleum supply specialist" at Ft. Lee, so I probably gave him too much credit when he suggested I go into the Army Reserve because "you just have to go in one weekend a month and drive trucks around".
17 year-old me: 'Yay!'
43 year-old me: 'God, what in the hell was I thinking?'
Some of the guys in my unit were rounding out their enlistments and had been to Germany, Korea, had all sorts of training and opportunities. In my case I was pretty much stuck in NM until my six years ran out and by the time the Gulf War rolled around I was already in the mindset of finishing my enlistment and getting on with my life since the Reserve had offered me nothing I could really use.
(On a side note; my right shoulder patch is the XVIII Airborne Corps/20th Engineer Brigade castle insignia with an AIRBORNE tab, and I feel a little guilty about ever wearing it since the closest I ever got being airborne was falling out of the back of a 5-ton... but it sure looks sexy. )
Ha! I bet it does look great! You were prepared to go, and you would have went had they needed you. Wear the tab with pride.
When people ask me what I did, I get to tell them my oh-so-exciting MOS, 7041, Aviation Operations CLERK. They always look vaguely disappointed that they are not talking to some former Airborne person, or a Navy SEAL, or some Recon Ranger.
When people ask me what I did, I get to tell them my oh-so-exciting MOS, 7041, Aviation Operations CLERK. They always look vaguely disappointed that they are not talking to some former Airborne person, or a Navy SEAL, or some Recon Ranger.
What's that they say about the truth getting in the way of a good story? You might have to make some stuff up.
Over the years I've read up on experiences in previous wars, mostly Vietnam and Korea. In contrast to my own experiences it's hard not to feel like a "fake" veteran, ya know? All we did during Desert Storm is crossed the border, drove north for about three days, had a nice lunch, drove back. The only (ONLY) difference between this and what we did on any normal FTX was that we had live ammo and fewer trees.
(Incidentally it was on that third day when I discovered how much of a piece of crap the M-16 really is, but that's another story.)
Ha! I bet it does look great! You were prepared to go, and you would have went had they needed you. Wear the tab with pride.
When people ask me what I did, I get to tell them my oh-so-exciting MOS, 7041, Aviation Operations CLERK. They always look vaguely disappointed that they are not talking to some former Airborne person, or a Navy SEAL, or some Recon Ranger.
I know the feeling, when I'm around combat Marines or Army grunts they tease me for being in the "Chair Force" and when I tell them that I'm a medical administrative specialist they are on the floor laughing, until I tell them what I did when I was in the sandbox. My job was to co-ordinate the wounded out of theater to Germany and to make sure that when they were in the hospital that their loved ones knew that they were ok........they stopped laughing then.
To my pleasant surprise, we never had an issue with our M4's in Afghanistan.
Without derailing the thread more so than I already have -- it was that day I found out how tiny, miniscule dust particles can totally freeze up the locking lugs and keep it from functioning. I suppose it's a good lesson to clean your weapon every day (maybe several times a day) even though it never leaves your shoulder... just being outside in a brisk wind can screw up a M-16. Apparently.
Forgive my bitterness about all that. I was no slouch in the marksmanship department, just perhaps the daily maintenance bit. That weapon had seen much worse in the wild boonies of Santa Fe (/sarcasm) and hadn't let me down til then.
What's that they say about the truth getting in the way of a good story? You might have to make some stuff up.
Over the years I've read up on experiences in previous wars, mostly Vietnam and Korea. In contrast to my own experiences it's hard not to feel like a "fake" veteran, ya know? All we did during Desert Storm is crossed the border, drove north for about three days, had a nice lunch, drove back. The only (ONLY) difference between this and what we did on any normal FTX was that we had live ammo and fewer trees.
(Incidentally it was on that third day when I discovered how much of a piece of crap the M-16 really is, but that's another story.)
My only good story is when a drunken corporal tried to force his way into my room at 3 am. I punched him in the face and he had a black eye for a week. The Sergeant Major summoned me to his office, stating that when he first learned that a PFC punched a corporal he was going to make sure I got what I deserved. Then when he found out the circumstances, he wasn't going to do a doggone thing. To the Cpl's credit, he was the one that told the Sergeant Major when they asked what happened to his eye - he told the whole truth eventually. I wouldn't have told on him.
Now what kind of story is that compared to being in Desert Storm, in any capacity?
I know the feeling, when I'm around combat Marines or Army grunts they tease me for being in the "Chair Force" and when I tell them that I'm a medical administrative specialist they are on the floor laughing, until I tell them what I did when I was in the sandbox. My job was to co-ordinate the wounded out of theater to Germany and to make sure that when they were in the hospital that their loved ones knew that they were ok........they stopped laughing then.
Darn right. I never heard the term Chair Force before. The Air Force is professional. We Marines are a bit crazy and we appreciate those who have the good common sense to look after the jarheads!
The owner of a construction company has been sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for defrauding a federal program that set aside contracts for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today. Warren Parker, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States, one count of major program fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of money laundering and one count of making a false statement. In his plea, Parker admitted he falsely claimed to be a service-disabled veteran and a war hero in order to obtain more than $6.7 million in contracts from the Veterans Administration and more than $748,000 in contracts from the Department of Defense. The contracts were awarded under the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program.
The owner of a construction company has been sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for defrauding a federal program that set aside contracts for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today. Warren Parker, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States, one count of major program fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of money laundering and one count of making a false statement. In his plea, Parker admitted he falsely claimed to be a service-disabled veteran and a war hero in order to obtain more than $6.7 million in contracts from the Veterans Administration and more than $748,000 in contracts from the Department of Defense. The contracts were awarded under the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program.
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You might have to make some stuff up.
