Posted on 09/04/2023 11:59:37 AM PDT by CodeToad
My son's girlfriend in high school was an avid runner and valedictorian. My son wrote the speech she gave at graduation. His girlfriend pushed him enough that he took 3rd place in the first 5K he attempted. I had him doing pullups on the tree out front. By graduation day at MCRD, he had lost significant muscle mass compared to starting day. There were lots of "fatties" that got re-routed for some weight loss to try to get through.
My son was in USMC bootcamp with a 4.33 GPA when the 9/11 attack occurred. His girlfriend with 4.86 GPA was at Georgetown and heard the impact at the Pentagon. Very different life paths following high school.
Draft was never done the right way. There should have been a universal male only draft since the nation got back on its economic feet after the Civil War. It should not have been a direct part of the military but should have been a separate service and 3 or 6 months of basic training with NO posting to duty stations. Trainees should be sent home when the course is done and then not permitted to enlist in the regular military for 6 months except during declared war. The result will be a population of young men who are fitter and have not that fear of losing ground in the society that the college bound young men have had since after WWII. A war will bring the recruits, already with some basic training. Fear of the unknown powered most of the draft dodging historically. With a universal male draft such as that in place the military service is a familiar thing.
In a small way, there were similarities to Easy Company in Band of Brothers. Our CO couldn't read a map to save his life, and my friend was excellent as XO, he always knew the right thing to do. He bore similarities reminiscent of Dick Winters. I was basically a good platoon leader who knew what to do during evaluations.
The CO would have had a successful command had he just stayed out of our way.
I’m not sure if that’s an actual term. My SIL was home a few weeks ago. He’s in the 82nd. We were talking about some of the idiots he has run into. I forget the exact term he used, but he used the word waiver. I asked if that meant the soldier in question had a low ASVAB score. He said “yeah”. Recruiting and retention are way down in the 82nd. It’s very concerning to me. You don’t want to go into battle already two men down out of ten.
Active duty 63-70 and reserve 70 until New Years Day 1984.
All of us vets who served honorably are a “band of brothers”.
Writer erred..there is no Fort Moore. He must have been referring to Fort Benning.
“I’m not sure if that’s an actual term.”
Okay. Just for general information, in recruiting world a waiver usually refers to criminal (like a DUI) or medical (like child asthma that you grew out of) issues. I retired in 98. People didn’t realize it but the wokeness was going 90 miles an hour even back then. Minority promotions seemed to be the main focus of the Navy.
Very well said, FRiend.
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