Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On 2/25/2018 9:44 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point. Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise. Join the navy reserves while in high school. When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty. Then discharged. At least
when I was in high school.

That was pretty much everyone who was drafted when that was a thing
and the 4 years after your 2 "in" was inactive reserve.
Unfortunately they "extended" a lot of those guys in the late 60s,
exploiting that inactive reserve clause. The guys in the grass were
usually 2 and out if they didn't re up but there were a lot of support
USAF and maybe even navy guys with critical skills who had to do the
whole 6 year nut.
I was in a 1 year reserve program that got extended by a month (13
months active duty), putting me pretty much in the same VA category as
a 2 year guy. I never used any of it.



I did just short of 9 years active and was supposed to be discharged in
April. Started my short-timer's calendar and also sending out resumes
for jobs. Then, a few weeks before D-day, I was informed that my
enlistment had been extended for an additional 2 months. I went a
little bonkers because my understanding had been that after 8 years of
active duty, your required eligibility for military service was
complete. Anyway, I lost the argument but the CO of the command (this
was in Annapolis, MD) who was also a short-timer told me I could go home
for the last few weeks and just call in every morning for muster. I was
processed for discharge and my discharge papers would be mailed to me.
He also said he'd try to find out what the extension was all about
because it wasn't like I held a critical billet at the command and they
didn't need my replacement. The Navy was beginning to decommission the
command and were already mothballing equipment.

The CO found out that (unknown to me) I had been selected to attend a 5
week prep school called "Officer Development School (ODS)" which would
then lead to a direct commission to Warrant as an LDO (limited duty
officer). LDO's are not flag officers and can never be a CO of a ship
or anything. They usually serve in at commands that require their
educational and technical specialties.

Anyway, I didn't opt for it. The extension was to allow time for the
orders and the school schedule. Only problem was they neglected to tell
me about it in the paperwork shuffle. My only guess is that the Navy
had invested a lot of schools in me during my enlistment plus I had been
taking courses at local colleges and on-line and was not that far from
meeting a degree requirement.

My DD-214 includes the following statement: "Member's service extended
by two months. Extension was at the request and for the convenience of
the government".

Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On 2/26/18 1:26 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 05:24:36 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point. Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise. Join the navy reserves while in high school. When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty. Then discharged. At least
when I was in high school.

That was pretty much everyone who was drafted when that was a thing
and the 4 years after your 2 "in" was inactive reserve.
Unfortunately they "extended" a lot of those guys in the late 60s,
exploiting that inactive reserve clause. The guys in the grass were
usually 2 and out if they didn't re up but there were a lot of support
USAF and maybe even navy guys with critical skills who had to do the
whole 6 year nut.
I was in a 1 year reserve program that got extended by a month (13
months active duty), putting me pretty much in the same VA category as
a 2 year guy. I never used any of it.


I transferred out of my reserve unit 5 days before the general volunteered
the wing for active duty with the Pueblo crisis. He got another star and
all the rest of the unit pretty much got screwed.

We had a Lt Cmdr who resigned his commission in the USCGR because he
had decided the Coast Guard was going to call up a unit and the unit
they were most likely to call was the ORTAUG ("ship augmentation" deck
apes) in Washington DC.
In the end he screwed up. They never called up any units
It was really silly anyway. The only CG units in Vietnam were river
patrol boats and pretty much all of the reserves were there to provide
manpower on Navy vessels. There was no shortage of those Navy guys and
they would probably have wanted the guys in the ORTEL anyway
(Electronic rates).
They had more volunteers for the river boats than slots so that was
not going to be a thing.



Please correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that the only rec.boats
poster here who might have been shot at by elements of the various North
Vietnamese ground forces was Herring, and, in his case, deservedly so. :)

The rest of you fellas didn't see that sort of combat, correct? That
includes you, Luddite, Bilious Bill, FlaJim, W'hine, et cetera.

Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On 2/26/2018 6:44 AM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 2/26/18 1:26 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 05:24:36 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point.Â* Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise.Â*Â* Join the navy reserves while in high school.Â*Â* When
you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty.Â*Â* Then discharged.Â* At
least
when I was in high school.

That was pretty much everyone who was drafted when that was a thing
and the 4 years after your 2 "in" was inactive reserve.
Unfortunately they "extended" a lot of those guys in the late 60s,
exploiting that inactive reserve clause. The guys in the grass were
usually 2 and out if they didn't re up but there were a lot of support
USAF and maybe even navy guys with critical skills who had to do the
whole 6 year nut.
I was in a 1 year reserve program that got extended by a month (13
months active duty), putting me pretty much in the same VA category as
a 2 year guy. I never used any of it.


I transferred out of my reserve unit 5 days before the general
volunteered
the wing for active duty with the Pueblo crisis.Â*Â* He got another
star and
all the rest of the unit pretty much got screwed.

We had a Lt Cmdr who resigned his commission in the USCGR because he
had decided the Coast Guard was going to call up a unit and the unit
they were most likely to call was the ORTAUG ("ship augmentation" deck
apes) in Washington DC.
In the end he screwed up. They never called up any units
It was really silly anyway. The only CG units in Vietnam were river
patrol boats and pretty much all of the reserves were there to provide
manpower on Navy vessels. There was no shortage of those Navy guys and
they would probably have wanted the guys in the ORTEL anyway
(Electronic rates).
They had more volunteers for the river boats than slots so that was
not going to be a thing.



Please correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that the only rec.boats
poster here who might have been shot at by elements of the various North
Vietnamese ground forces was Herring, and, in his case, deservedly so. :)

The rest of you fellas didn't see that sort of combat, correct? That
includes you, Luddite, Bilious Bill, FlaJim, W'hine, et cetera.


Actually, my feeling is that it's none of your business but:

For me only a short, six week experience in coastal areas off Vietnam
early in my Navy adventure. Left due to an injury that although minor
(and not fully documented as to how), still required medical attention
not readily available and was eventually transferred back to the states.

No Harry. It was not "self inflicted". :-)

Certainly not a "combat vet" nor do I consider myself a Vietnam Vet even
though my service records document Vietnam service. Compared to others I
never felt I was there long enough nor did I experience what others
(like my Hospital Corpsman buddy) experienced. He disagrees but I have
too much respect for those who had to spend full tours there.

I never wanted to be thought of as another John Kerry so to me it was
no big deal.

Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On 2/26/2018 5:27 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/25/2018 9:44 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point.Â* Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise.Â*Â* Join the navy reserves while in high school.Â*Â* When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty.Â*Â* Then discharged.Â* At least
when I was in high school.

That was pretty much everyone who was drafted when that was a thing
and the 4 years after your 2 "in" was inactive reserve.
Unfortunately they "extended" a lot of those guys in the late 60s,
exploiting that inactive reserve clause. The guys in the grass were
usually 2 and out if they didn't re up but there were a lot of support
USAF and maybe even navy guys with critical skills who had to do the
whole 6 year nut.
I was in a 1 year reserve program that got extended by a month (13
months active duty), putting me pretty much in the same VA category as
a 2 year guy. I never used any of it.



I did just short of 9 years active and was supposed to be discharged in
April.Â* Started my short-timer's calendar and also sending out resumes
for jobs.Â* Then, a few weeks before D-day, I was informed that my
enlistment had been extended for an additional 2 months.Â* I went a
little bonkers because my understanding had been that after 8 years of
active duty, your required eligibility for military service was
complete.Â* Anyway, I lost the argument but the CO of the command (this
was in Annapolis, MD) who was also a short-timer told me I could go home
for the last few weeks and just call in every morning for muster.Â* I was
processed for discharge and my discharge papers would be mailed to me.
He also said he'd try to find out what the extension was all about
because itÂ* wasn't like I held a critical billet at the command and they
didn't need my replacement.Â* The Navy was beginning to decommission the
commandÂ* and were already mothballing equipment.

The CO found out that (unknown to me) I had been selected to attend a 5
week prep schoolÂ* called "Officer Development School (ODS)" which would
then lead to a direct commission to Warrant as an LDO (limited duty
officer).Â* LDO's are not flag officers and can never be a CO of a ship
or anything.Â* They usually serve in at commands that require their
educational and technical specialties.

Anyway, I didn't opt for it.Â* The extension was to allow time for the
orders and the school schedule.Â* Only problem was they neglected to tell
me about it in the paperwork shuffle.Â* My only guess is that the Navy
had invested a lot of schools in me during my enlistment plus I had been
taking courses at local colleges and on-line and was not that far from
meeting a degree requirement.

My DD-214 includes the following statement:Â* "Member's service extended
by two months.Â* Extension was at the request and for the convenience of
the government".


I should correct something. I didn't do "on-line" courses. I did
traditional correspondents courses on the ships when we were deployed.
On-line courses didn't exist back then. :-)

Also, (and unknown to me at the time) I had been advanced in rank to
E-6 however the advancement notices had not been published. E-6 and
above was a per-requisite for the LDO program and the 2 month extension
allowed it to become official. I wouldn't have done it anyway. Why
would a more senior enlisted want to start all over again as a very
junior officer? No thanks. Besides, I had pretty much had enough of
the Navy by that time.

Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill wrote:

John H. wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 15:34:05 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/25/2018 3:25 PM, John H. wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 14:41:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/25/2018 2:08 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 2/25/18 1:33 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/25/2018 12:55 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 07:05:10 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 19:43:52 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 16:46:21 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 13:03:42 -0500, Keyser Soze
wrote:

On 2/24/18 12:03 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 07:17:42 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I could see making an exception for an
individual who has a DD 214 with the honorable discharge

I would grant that exception to anything that has an age limit
on it.



Charles Whitman was honorably discharged from the Marines. Lee
Harvey
Oswald received a hardship discharge from the Marines. Timothy
McVeigh
was honorably discharged from the Army.

Obviously, an honorable discharge wouldn't catch all the deviants.
But how many of them used the
weapons under discussion to shoot kids in the schools under
discussion?

Well Whitman used a rifle to shoot students but it was a bolt action,
as was Oswald's., McVeigh didn't use a gun at all and racked up a much
higher death count. I am not really sure what point they are making in
an AR 15 rant. It really sounds more like my argument that banning ARs
is pretty meaningless.

Ask Harry. It was his rant against an honorable discharge.

I tend to ignore his anti military rants. I understand that if he had
served, that would be all we heard about.



It's obvious Harry knows very little about the military other than
what he's been told or heard.* He has already proven how easily he is
influenced by others.* He parrots daily the latest DNC talking points.



My point was that a honorable discharge shouldn't by itself be the
qualifier for obtaining a firearm. The discharge in the cases I cited
was not an indicator of decent behavior going forward. An age qualifier
of 21 plus a good quality background check are more significant.


I've lost what the original proposition was but I don't disagree with you.


I had proposed a higher age requirement, at least 21, unless the
individual had an honorary
discharge DD 214.



I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point. Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise. Join the navy reserves while in high school. When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty. Then discharged. At least
when I was in high school.

I don't think the Army ever had anything like that. The least time for a voluntary enlistment was
three years. For a draftee, the time was two years. But draftees weren't drafted at 18 either. I was
21 when I got my notice.

Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On Monday, 26 February 2018 08:31:31 UTC-5, John H wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill wrote:

John H. wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 15:34:05 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/25/2018 3:25 PM, John H. wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 14:41:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/25/2018 2:08 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 2/25/18 1:33 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/25/2018 12:55 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 07:05:10 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 19:43:52 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 16:46:21 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 13:03:42 -0500, Keyser Soze
wrote:

On 2/24/18 12:03 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 07:17:42 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I could see making an exception for an
individual who has a DD 214 with the honorable discharge

I would grant that exception to anything that has an age limit
on it.



Charles Whitman was honorably discharged from the Marines. Lee
Harvey
Oswald received a hardship discharge from the Marines. Timothy
McVeigh
was honorably discharged from the Army.

Obviously, an honorable discharge wouldn't catch all the deviants.
But how many of them used the
weapons under discussion to shoot kids in the schools under
discussion?

Well Whitman used a rifle to shoot students but it was a bolt action,
as was Oswald's., McVeigh didn't use a gun at all and racked up a much
higher death count. I am not really sure what point they are making in
an AR 15 rant. It really sounds more like my argument that banning ARs
is pretty meaningless.

Ask Harry. It was his rant against an honorable discharge.

I tend to ignore his anti military rants. I understand that if he had
served, that would be all we heard about.



It's obvious Harry knows very little about the military other than
what he's been told or heard.Â* He has already proven how easily he is
influenced by others.Â* He parrots daily the latest DNC talking points.



My point was that a honorable discharge shouldn't by itself be the
qualifier for obtaining a firearm. The discharge in the cases I cited
was not an indicator of decent behavior going forward. An age qualifier
of 21 plus a good quality background check are more significant.


I've lost what the original proposition was but I don't disagree with you.


I had proposed a higher age requirement, at least 21, unless the
individual had an honorary
discharge DD 214.



I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point. Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise. Join the navy reserves while in high school. When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty. Then discharged. At least
when I was in high school.

I don't think the Army ever had anything like that. The least time for a voluntary enlistment was
three years. For a draftee, the time was two years. But draftees weren't drafted at 18 either. I was
21 when I got my notice.

I stand corrected: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-...grow-the-army/

Something new, at least since I got out.

Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 06:44:09 -0500, Keyser Soze wrote:

On 2/26/18 1:26 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 05:24:36 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point. Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise. Join the navy reserves while in high school. When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty. Then discharged. At least
when I was in high school.

That was pretty much everyone who was drafted when that was a thing
and the 4 years after your 2 "in" was inactive reserve.
Unfortunately they "extended" a lot of those guys in the late 60s,
exploiting that inactive reserve clause. The guys in the grass were
usually 2 and out if they didn't re up but there were a lot of support
USAF and maybe even navy guys with critical skills who had to do the
whole 6 year nut.
I was in a 1 year reserve program that got extended by a month (13
months active duty), putting me pretty much in the same VA category as
a 2 year guy. I never used any of it.


I transferred out of my reserve unit 5 days before the general volunteered
the wing for active duty with the Pueblo crisis. He got another star and
all the rest of the unit pretty much got screwed.

We had a Lt Cmdr who resigned his commission in the USCGR because he
had decided the Coast Guard was going to call up a unit and the unit
they were most likely to call was the ORTAUG ("ship augmentation" deck
apes) in Washington DC.
In the end he screwed up. They never called up any units
It was really silly anyway. The only CG units in Vietnam were river
patrol boats and pretty much all of the reserves were there to provide
manpower on Navy vessels. There was no shortage of those Navy guys and
they would probably have wanted the guys in the ORTEL anyway
(Electronic rates).
They had more volunteers for the river boats than slots so that was
not going to be a thing.



Please correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that the only rec.boats
poster here who might have been shot at by elements of the various North
Vietnamese ground forces was Herring, and, in his case, deservedly so. :)

The rest of you fellas didn't see that sort of combat, correct? That
includes you, Luddite, Bilious Bill, FlaJim, W'hine, et cetera.

And what the **** does your comment have to do with the discussion?

Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On 2/26/2018 8:39 AM, John H wrote:
On Monday, 26 February 2018 08:31:31 UTC-5, John H wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill wrote:

John H. wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 15:34:05 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/25/2018 3:25 PM, John H. wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 14:41:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/25/2018 2:08 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 2/25/18 1:33 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/25/2018 12:55 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 07:05:10 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 19:43:52 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 16:46:21 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 13:03:42 -0500, Keyser Soze
wrote:

On 2/24/18 12:03 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 07:17:42 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I could see making an exception for an
individual who has a DD 214 with the honorable discharge

I would grant that exception to anything that has an age limit
on it.



Charles Whitman was honorably discharged from the Marines. Lee
Harvey
Oswald received a hardship discharge from the Marines. Timothy
McVeigh
was honorably discharged from the Army.

Obviously, an honorable discharge wouldn't catch all the deviants.
But how many of them used the
weapons under discussion to shoot kids in the schools under
discussion?

Well Whitman used a rifle to shoot students but it was a bolt action,
as was Oswald's., McVeigh didn't use a gun at all and racked up a much
higher death count. I am not really sure what point they are making in
an AR 15 rant. It really sounds more like my argument that banning ARs
is pretty meaningless.

Ask Harry. It was his rant against an honorable discharge.

I tend to ignore his anti military rants. I understand that if he had
served, that would be all we heard about.



It's obvious Harry knows very little about the military other than
what he's been told or heard.Â* He has already proven how easily he is
influenced by others.Â* He parrots daily the latest DNC talking points.



My point was that a honorable discharge shouldn't by itself be the
qualifier for obtaining a firearm. The discharge in the cases I cited
was not an indicator of decent behavior going forward. An age qualifier
of 21 plus a good quality background check are more significant.


I've lost what the original proposition was but I don't disagree with you.


I had proposed a higher age requirement, at least 21, unless the
individual had an honorary
discharge DD 214.



I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point. Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise. Join the navy reserves while in high school. When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty. Then discharged. At least
when I was in high school.

I don't think the Army ever had anything like that. The least time for a voluntary enlistment was
three years. For a draftee, the time was two years. But draftees weren't drafted at 18 either. I was
21 when I got my notice.

I stand corrected: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-...grow-the-army/

Something new, at least since I got out.



All branches of the military are having difficulty in recruitment of
new, qualified candidates. The main problem is that over 70 percent of
today's youth are *not* qualified or do not meet the minimum standards
for military service. Sad.

https://news.usni.org/2017/10/12/panel-pentagon-facing-future-recruiting-challenge-due-lack-candidates

Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 08:47:18 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/26/2018 8:39 AM, John H wrote:
On Monday, 26 February 2018 08:31:31 UTC-5, John H wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill wrote:

John H. wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 15:34:05 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/25/2018 3:25 PM, John H. wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 14:41:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/25/2018 2:08 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 2/25/18 1:33 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/25/2018 12:55 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 07:05:10 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 19:43:52 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 16:46:21 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 13:03:42 -0500, Keyser Soze
wrote:

On 2/24/18 12:03 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 07:17:42 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I could see making an exception for an
individual who has a DD 214 with the honorable discharge

I would grant that exception to anything that has an age limit
on it.



Charles Whitman was honorably discharged from the Marines. Lee
Harvey
Oswald received a hardship discharge from the Marines. Timothy
McVeigh
was honorably discharged from the Army.

Obviously, an honorable discharge wouldn't catch all the deviants.
But how many of them used the
weapons under discussion to shoot kids in the schools under
discussion?

Well Whitman used a rifle to shoot students but it was a bolt action,
as was Oswald's., McVeigh didn't use a gun at all and racked up a much
higher death count. I am not really sure what point they are making in
an AR 15 rant. It really sounds more like my argument that banning ARs
is pretty meaningless.

Ask Harry. It was his rant against an honorable discharge.

I tend to ignore his anti military rants. I understand that if he had
served, that would be all we heard about.



It's obvious Harry knows very little about the military other than
what he's been told or heard.* He has already proven how easily he is
influenced by others.* He parrots daily the latest DNC talking points.



My point was that a honorable discharge shouldn't by itself be the
qualifier for obtaining a firearm. The discharge in the cases I cited
was not an indicator of decent behavior going forward. An age qualifier
of 21 plus a good quality background check are more significant.


I've lost what the original proposition was but I don't disagree with you.


I had proposed a higher age requirement, at least 21, unless the
individual had an honorary
discharge DD 214.



I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point. Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise. Join the navy reserves while in high school. When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty. Then discharged. At least
when I was in high school.

I don't think the Army ever had anything like that. The least time for a voluntary enlistment was
three years. For a draftee, the time was two years. But draftees weren't drafted at 18 either. I was
21 when I got my notice.

I stand corrected: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-...grow-the-army/

Something new, at least since I got out.



All branches of the military are having difficulty in recruitment of
new, qualified candidates. The main problem is that over 70 percent of
today's youth are *not* qualified or do not meet the minimum standards
for military service. Sad.

https://news.usni.org/2017/10/12/panel-pentagon-facing-future-recruiting-challenge-due-lack-candidates

Saw that last time you mentioned it. Damn shame. But, I look at the 8-11 year-olds in the
neighborhood, and about 90% of them are very overweight. And their parents buy them electric
scooters. Unreal.

Kids Say the Darndest Things
 

On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 06:44:09 -0500, Keyser Soze
wrote:

On 2/26/18 1:26 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 05:24:36 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 25 Feb 2018 23:02:13 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


I wonder how many service members are discharged before turning 21
anyway, but I understand your point. Military service matures most.


Very few, I'd reckon.


Kiddy cruise. Join the navy reserves while in high school. When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty. Then discharged. At least
when I was in high school.

That was pretty much everyone who was drafted when that was a thing
and the 4 years after your 2 "in" was inactive reserve.
Unfortunately they "extended" a lot of those guys in the late 60s,
exploiting that inactive reserve clause. The guys in the grass were
usually 2 and out if they didn't re up but there were a lot of support
USAF and maybe even navy guys with critical skills who had to do the
whole 6 year nut.
I was in a 1 year reserve program that got extended by a month (13
months active duty), putting me pretty much in the same VA category as
a 2 year guy. I never used any of it.


I transferred out of my reserve unit 5 days before the general volunteered
the wing for active duty with the Pueblo crisis. He got another star and
all the rest of the unit pretty much got screwed.

We had a Lt Cmdr who resigned his commission in the USCGR because he
had decided the Coast Guard was going to call up a unit and the unit
they were most likely to call was the ORTAUG ("ship augmentation" deck
apes) in Washington DC.
In the end he screwed up. They never called up any units
It was really silly anyway. The only CG units in Vietnam were river
patrol boats and pretty much all of the reserves were there to provide
manpower on Navy vessels. There was no shortage of those Navy guys and
they would probably have wanted the guys in the ORTEL anyway
(Electronic rates).
They had more volunteers for the river boats than slots so that was
not going to be a thing.



Please correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that the only rec.boats
poster here who might have been shot at by elements of the various North
Vietnamese ground forces was Herring, and, in his case, deservedly so. :)

The rest of you fellas didn't see that sort of combat, correct? That
includes you, Luddite, Bilious Bill, FlaJim, W'hine, et cetera.

The reality is the vast majority of people in the military 65-74, were
not in the grass, just as the majority of Korea or even WWII veterans
were not actually in combat. What's your point?