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True North[_2_]

On Monday, 26 February 2018 16:08:56 UTC-4, John H wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 11:47:26 -0800 (PST), True North wrote:

On Monday, 26 February 2018 14:00:55 UTC-4, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/26/2018 12:38 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/26/2018 12:33 PM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 12:10:31 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/26/2018 11:42 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 07:40:08 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

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.
When you
graduated, went to basic and 2 years duty.Â*Â* 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.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.
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.Â* I didn't do "on-line" courses.Â* I did
traditional correspondents courses on the ships when we were deployed.
On-line courses didn't exist back then.Â* :-)

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

I was supposed to be fast tracked in the CG and it was not uncommon
for guys to be E-6 (FT1) in 4 years with the CPO as the incentive to
ship over. Unfortunately me taking the GM 3&2 course and pushing that
instead of the FT3 that was pretty much automatic after "A" school,
derailed that path. When I got to my reserve unit I was in an ORTAUG
and back to being a Gunner's Mate until they finally found me 3 years
later. They gave me my FT3 crow and shipped me off to the ORTEL
(electronics unit). I couldn't wait to get out after that.

I don't know of anyone who was "fast tracked" in the Navy.Â* Some were
given E-3 straight out of boot camp if they had a college degree.Â* I
also never heard of anyone getting advanced as an incentive for
re-enlisting. Money, yes,Â* as a re-enlistment bonus for critical
(needed) rates but no advancement in rank.Â* To be advanced you had to
have completed the qualifications, done the courses, get the sign-offs
and recommendations, have the required time in your current rank, take
the test and wait and see if you made it.

Often the Navy had several "increments" of advancements.Â* If you scored
high enough on the test combined with time in rank, you might make it on
the "first" increment, meaning sooner than others.Â* Some may be advanced
but would have to wait until the second or third increment.Â* I remember
that some delayed advancements permitted you to sew the new "crow" on
your uniforms and take on responsibilities for the new rank but you had
to wait until the official date according to what increment you were
advanced under to receive the additional pay.

The Army publishes promotion 'scores' for each grade and specialty
monthly. Soldiers earn points for
schools, time in grade, efficiency reports, and a few other things.
There is no such thing as using
a promotion as an incentive to stay in. If a specialty is hurting for
soldiers at a particular
grade, the published promotion score is lowered to get more soldiers
in the right grade for that
specialty. If a specialty is overstrength in a particular grade, the
score for that grade is made
very high so few people will qualify.

Pretty much the same as the Navy, at least back in my time when ships
had sails.Â* :-)

This conversation made me remember something. When I left the Navy my
father-in-law was giving me hell for not sticking it out after 9 years
so I'd get a pension. He *was* my wife's father after all. :-)

So, after a couple of months of being discharged I went to see a
recruiter about joining the reserves. If I joined within a certain time
frame, the reserve status could convert back to active duty with no time
lost for retirement benefits. Since I wasn't sure about a civilian
career and to get my father-in-law off my back, I signed up for the
reserves for 2 years.

I asked the recruiter or whoever I was talking to what the chances of
getting advanced to E-7 if I signed up. The original "art of the deal"
negotiator. Ha!

He just laughed at me. Said if I signed up right away they wouldn't
reduce me in rank.

You'd see a lot of that here in a Navy town. Guys would do their 25 and get out in their early 40's and hopefully into a civvy job. The smarter ones would get on with maybe an electronic or weapons contractor and others would end up in the post office. Depended on your useable military skills.
One of my cousins retired as a Lt Colonel in our Air Force and the next week moved down a floor to take a Reserves job at our Defense Headquarters in Ottawa.

According to Harry, he must have sucked to retire at only a Lt. Colonel.

No war time or battlefield promotions for him. He had to earn them the hard way.

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