Posted on Feb 9, 2015
SSgt Thomas L.
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I wanted to address the stratification of service that exists within the military. There isn't much of that in the Air Force due to the very limited number of actual "Combat" AFSCs. I mean, I feel I did an important job in Iraq by being the COR of a contract that provided employment to LNs doing manual labor around JB Balad. Every Iraqi we gave a paycheck to was one less that was collecting a paycheck for picking up a gun and shooting at coalition forces. However, I am not a combat veteran. The mortars that came down around us on a daily basis doesn't qualify as "combat". Although I feel I earned my hostile fire pay, I still don't feel like I should get the same regards and benefits as combat vets. I get the good natured ribbing that goes down the line from grunts to "fobbits" (of which I proudly consider myself) to those who never deployed. I've never seen that kind of exchange as hostile... it's just part of the military pecking order.

How do you all feel about that? I know they don't have unnecessary jobs and that every job in the military is important... But how do you combat vets really view fobbits and non-deployers? How about inter-service? Is anyone genuinely hostile towards those of different branches?
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SPC(P) Jay Heenan
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Look at us! We SM always trying to 'one up' each others experiences. The services are filled with type A personalities, and that makes us pretty competitive. After I was injured, I refused to take part in Soldier of the Quarter boards because it was not possible for me to score higher than 250 points which meant I didn't get points for that event or I wasn't able to take part in the road march event. That meant that it was highly improbable that I would win...why would I compete in an event that I can't win?
We are taught to compete from the first day of basic and I am not sure why anyone is surprised when either people look at others who haven't deployed equally or when a SM is really bothered because he/she hasn't deployed. Truth of the matter, we are ALL Veterans, but some organizations or services are only available to those who are 'combat Vets' (i.e., VFW vs. American Legion).
Personally, I don't feel like I am 'special' just because I have deployed. We are all part of a very small population and we should be proud of that and take care of our brothers and sisters, regardless of deployments, duties and etc.
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As a career Navy guy, I deployed on six ships. In the Navy deployments are a regular thing, war and peace. I didn't see any combat but it was luck of the draw. I detached USS CALIFORNIA CGN 36 Dec 86. Jan 87 she deployed to Praying Mantis. I was Weps on CAPODANNO FF 1093 during Desert Storm. Where was I? In a dry-dock for regularly scheduled repairs.

So if the luck had been against me, I would have seen combat, but the luck was with me. I am grateful every day that I don't have any kills on my conscience. I am very aware that the Sixth Commandment says "Do not MURDER" (not do not KILL), but still human life is human life. As the Midrash (a rabbinic exposition on the Bible) says, when Egypt was drowning in the sea and the Angels cheered, God said, "Why are you cheering - those are my children too."

When I started in the Navy I didn't plan to become a rabbi, but when I retired, that was my goal, so I'm grateful that my career worked out the way it did.

Now, if only I weren't on total disability from those shipboard neck injuries...
CWO3 Us Marine
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All gave, some gave all.
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LCDR Sales & Proposals Manager Gas Turbine Products
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Anyone living and working in a combat area of operations can become a casualty. In that sense, everyone who's signed up for that deserves the respect accorded. Some folks end up doing things well outside their "job description"...and experience more risk, and spend more time in hazardous duties. They too, deserve their own level of respect.

Then, there are those whose training means that if there is "combat", they'll likely be part of it. They may spend years preparing for action that never comes. To my mind, they are still "combat" personnel, and have their own rightly derived sense of respect.

Finally, there are those who find themselves directly engaged, and engage, either directly, or by coordinating the direct actions of others. They may come from any service branch, rank or specialization...but when it mattered, they did what they were called upon to do. To my mind, whether an "operator", Combat Arms...or a cook who manned an anti-aircraft gun at Pearl Harbor, or an aviator who drew his pistol to defend his FOB...these are "combat veterans".
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SPC David Willis
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The only fobbits I genuinely hated were those that worked the chow hall. Being told I'm too dirty or sweaty to eat after coming off a two day rotation fosters quite a bit of resentment. Now I know they were only doing a job, but tell a tired pissed off grunt he cant eat because he's dirty while you sit in the air con in a garrison looking uniform and you've made an enemy. Other than that I was more jealous of folks staying inside the wire than anything, no real hostility at all.
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SGM Bill Frazer
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It is not hostility, hell there were times I wished I was in the rear- it's a morale thing- Yeah I'm an ass kicking grunt- you are a Fobbit pogue. It is the same thing between front line and DS support and GS support, Army vs Navy vs USAF vs USMC.
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SSG Tony Eychaner
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I can see what you say. I was a Scout for three deployments. The thing is that a lot of vets that have never deployed to any place except maybe Kuwait like to put themselves in the same light as COMBAT vets. It's insulting to have a POG act like they are on the same page, when we are miles apart in experiences. Fact: While it is true that just being in service can make you a vet, it should be noted that you are a non combat vet if you have never, in fact been in combat. Too many times I see people shaking hands and thanking Joes for their service, but the only thing they did was give me a TM or some rear D stuff, and I can respect that, but being in the Army and not deploying to war when others do and then claiming to be the same as kind is bullshit. I have seen female mechanics get CABs for being at the same FOB that was a target. Why? Politics. Political horseshit. I have seen a female S1 that had spent WAY too much time either with a Mortar platoon SGT alone in their CP, or just hanging out with the Mortars way too much. When our unit deployed they brought this non combat type along for a walk through the palm grove. Suddenly she was the first female in combat for our Division. Bullshit. She was window dressing for the mortars and the division, PC all over the place, follow? Fun Facts. Pregnancies increase among females (military) just before deployments. My wife has a National Guard friend who had gotten pregnant to avoid a deployment to a combat zone. Now she just came back from her stint in Kuwait. She had the balls to ask for a CARE PACKAGE. in ARIFJAN!!! Arifjan is not a deployment, by the way. It's a vacation, and a training and RnR facility, and that is all. So I respect those who do their service, yes, but this "hey, I am a vet too" shit has got to stop. Sure you are a vet, yes, but of what? Being in the Army two years just to get money for college does NOT make you like me. Choosing a non combat MOS does not a combat vet make. Granted, on some missions we had S! and mechanics come along, but hear is the clincher: they only came because a s Scouts we got into some nasty shit. Seems they wanted to get in on it too. Why? So they could hold the title of "Combat Veteran" and not be held in doubt, if not in their own minds. These kind we loathe. Wanting to go to war to see action. What kind of stupid are you? I have seen action. I have been blown up, shot at, and been pissed off. I have crawled over my friends burning guts to escape the EFP attack on out gun truck. There's some action for ya. I had a commander and his 2LT get blown to a fine mist just two days before we left. Ever see what a bullet does to a head? No, see the body bags are not water proof, they leak all over the front of my truck all the way to the LZ. True story. True combat. I could write a book on this stuff, but then I would go mad. I have been wounded and have permanent hearing lost and scarring on my brain. I will live. I am a combat veteran. and that is all I got to say. Attached is a pic of a combat vet, a Scout platoon leader, and my friend. We will meet at Fiddler's Green.
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SSG Tony Eychaner
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Bcd7e202
I can see what you say. I was a Scout for three deployments. The thing is that a lot of vets that have never deployed to any place except maybe Kuwait like to put themselves in the same light as COMBAT vets. It's insulting to have a POG act like they are on the same page, when we are miles apart in experiences. Fact: While it is true that just being in service can make you a vet, it should be noted that you are a non combat vet if you have never, in fact been in combat. Too many times I see people shaking hands and thanking Joes for their service, but the only thing they did was give me a TM or some rear D stuff, and I can respect that, but being in the Army and not deploying to war when others do and then claiming to be the same as kind is bullshit. I have seen female mechanics get CABs for being at the same FOB that was a target. Why? Politics. Political horseshit. I have seen a female S1 that had spent WAY too much time either with a Mortar platoon SGT alone in their CP, or just hanging out with the Mortars way too much. When our unit deployed they brought this non combat type along for a walk through the palm grove. Suddenly she was the first female in combat for our Division. Bullshit. She was window dressing for the mortars and the division, PC all over the place, follow? Fun Facts. Pregnancies increase among females (military) just before deployments. My wife has a National Guard friend who had gotten pregnant to avoid a deployment to a combat zone. Now she just came back from her stint in Kuwait. She had the balls to ask for a CARE PACKAGE. in ARIFJAN!!! Arifjan is not a deployment, by the way. It's a vacation, and a training and RnR facility, and that is all. So I respect those who do their service, yes, but this "hey, I am a vet too" shit has got to stop. Sure you are a vet, yes, but of what? Being in the Army two years just to get money for college does NOT make you like me. Choosing a non combat MOS does not a combat vet make. Granted, on some missions we had S! and mechanics come along, but hear is the clincher: they only came because a s Scouts we got into some nasty shit. Seems they wanted to get in on it too. Why? So they could hold the title of "Combat Veteran" and not be held in doubt, if not in their own minds. These kind we loathe. Wanting to go to war to see action. What kind of stupid are you? I have seen action. I have been blown up, shot at, and been pissed off. I have crawled over my friends burning guts to escape the EFP attack on out gun truck. There's some action for ya. I had a commander and his 2LT get blown to a fine mist just two days before we left. Ever see what a bullet does to a head? No, see the body bags are not water proof, they leak all over the front of my truck all the way to the LZ. True story. True combat. I could write a book on this stuff, but then I would go mad. I have been wounded and have permanent hearing lost and scarring on my brain. I will live. I am a combat veteran. and that is all I got to say. Attached is a pic of a combat vet, a Scout platoon leader, and my friend. We will meet at Fiddler's Green.
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SFC John Mikelson
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I retired with 26 years and no deployments. I was a Infantry Medic, recruiter, supply sergeant in a medical company that had just returned when I arrived and deployed after I retired. Was never on an assignment that went
Never avoided them just wasn't in the cards for me
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SPC Aaron Zehner
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I was a fobbit, I wasn't exactly happy about it but I believed in what we were doing was important.We trained the A.N.A. on prision duties and how to think before acting, however having to see Taliban everyday for a year knowing that one of our fellow service members had been killed by them pisses you off, but you respect what they have to go through, I believe that whatever your job is overseas that it has an important purpose, everyone's there looking out for our brothers and sisters and I know that I felt that working with other branches while deployed.
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