On 12/3/2013 8:02 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 12/3/13, 7:52 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2013 4:31 PM, John H. wrote:
On Tue, 03 Dec 2013 13:49:55 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/3/2013 12:45 PM, Hank© wrote:
On 12/3/2013 10:18 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2013 10:15 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 12/3/13, 9:32 AM, True North wrote:



You are an amusing old fart, Johnny.
You are the self assigned leader of talking down to others.
I'd bet it was due to your Lt Colonel rank in the army. You still
expect everyone to salute you.
Well, I will.. but only with one finger.



Half the lieutenant colonels in the Army who stayed in got
promoted to
full colonel. Herring stayed in but got passed over for promotion,
probably for insulting one too many "soldier of color."


Doubtful. I don't know about the Army but in the Navy any
demonstration
of overt racism would be cause for immediate dismissal from the
service,
at least in the years I was "in".


You know why Harry is so ignorant of military policy, don't you?



My understanding is that John was an Army equivalent of a "Mustanger"
meaning he was enlisted, continued school, went to OCS and was
commissioned. That could have occurred well into his military career.
I don't know.

I know that the Navy had several programs whereby an enlisted person
could continue school leading to a commission. Often they became
"Limited Duty Officers" or "LDOs". An LDO was a specialist in a
particular field like electronics or whatever and was not a "Line"
officer meaning they were not eligible for command. Most LDOs in the
Navy never advanced beyond the rank of Lt. Commander.

I was drafted with a high school education. Became an artilleryman.
After about a year I applied for
and went to OCS - still with a high school education. During the
Vietnam era, a college degree
wasn't required for OCS. After Vietnam, the Army sent me to college,
with the proviso that my degree
be 'engineer or engineer related' and that I finish the 84 hours I
needed within 21 months. And, I
had to find a school which would state that it accepted the hours I
had and could complete the
program leading to the degree in the time allotted. (Later, the Army
paid for an MS at USC. VA
picked up the tab for 'almost' another MS at GWU.)

The University of Tampa accepted all I had, 30 hours of which was from
the College Level Examination
Program (CLEP). The rest was night courses. I graduated.

The Army then wanted me to get a secondary specialty in operations
research/systems analysis (ORSA).
This was, partially, to 'utilize' the education provided by the Army.
So, I got my first OR/SA job
at the Army Concepts Analysis Agency. After some more schooling, I
went to Korea, to the Combined
Forces Command OR/SA Branch, followed by four years at the Army
Personnel Center as the Chief,
Programs Management Branch, another OR/SA job.

Remember, I was trained to be a Combat Engineer, and wore the castles.
But, there were no slots for
OR/SA guys in Engineer Battalions, no one wanted a Battalion Commander
who'd never been a battalion
operations or executive officer, and without a battalion command, one
did not make O-6 as an
Engineer. As a major, I missed the engineer battalion positions
completely.

It would be like giving a Navy Commander the command of a ship when he
had not been near ship since
he was a junior lieutenant. And, obviously, one doesn't make it to
Captain in the navy ship arena
without having some command time somewhere.

Once I made LTC, I knew I would never be promoted to full colonel.
There was no way for that to
occur. So, I made the best of the situation, did my job, and enjoyed
my time. I did not 'sacrifice'
myself for my career.

There, now everyone knows why I didn't make full Colonel. The Army was
good to me. I hold no
grudges. A court action found that my last selection board
discriminated against a class of us, and
we received a settlement in excess of $64,000.

Please pass this on to Harry. He can gloat about his much better
education, etc.

John H. -- Hope you're having a great day!




Good going. I share a certain comradeship with those who achieved their
education "the hard way". I know what years of night school and
scrounging around for every credit you can get is like. :-)

I think Harry missed out in some aspects of his education.




Really? I worked all sorts of jobs during the college year. In the
summers before my junior year, I worked as an apprentice welder, a
loader driver, and in a factory.

My junior year, I was hired as a full time reporter for a major
newspaper...I went to school days and worked five nights a week. Other
than wasting time in the military, what do you think I missed.

Social skills for one.

--
Americans deserve better.