Dinosaurs in the Armed Forces...

CW2 Paul Beiss — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 22:01:13 -0400

After serving, proudly, for 20 years, I have been forced to realize a lot about myself during my transition. An amazing DOL instructor enlightened me during my "mandatory" TAP week of ACAP. She went into detail of how Soldiers spend their careers, however long or short, labeling everything. He's a civilian, she's a Soldier...etc. Her final statement that impacted me was, "What do Civilians call each other?"...People.

I'm just sharing my experience here, so I hope that I don't offend or find myself on blast, but I have come to realize I was nowhere near as grown up as I had thought myself, even with 20 years of increasing responsibility. So many experiences that I have encountered, others haven't and vice versa.

Just an observation here: Those who "did it" before me probably had it harder, those who "did it" with me had it rough! But those who didn't do it with me, or after me, will never have it as bad as I did!

I would like to say that is a poor and flawed train of thought and close with this. Old saying, Treat others as you wish to be treated. Even better, don’t see yourself as better than your subordinates, instead, see your subordinates potential to be better than you! Thank you ALL for your service! It's been my privilege to serve with all of you.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Sep 15 at 2014 10:19 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 22:19:44 -0400

Well done CW2 Paul Beiss !!!!! Enjoy the sloooooooow life. You deserve it.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Sep 16 at 2014 10:52 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 22:52:15 -0400

Chief Beiss, believe it or not people aren't all called people in the civilian world, many of us are referred to as "the poor bastard I threw under the bus and whose work I took credit for to get this promotion." Any skill set is perishable. I'm a software developer and a lot of the job descriptions out there expect you to know everything about everything - it's impossible! I miss the good old days where I wore the same business suit 5 days a week, knew what to expect and what my next career goals were. Life was simple then...

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 16 at 2014 11:00 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 23:00:19 -0400

Dinosaurs in the Armed Forces???? That would explain why that went extinct. It was the VA health care. That explains a lot.

Response by LTC Hillary Luton made Sep 17 at 2014 8:43 PM

LTC Hillary Luton — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 20:43:10 -0400

Gentlemen, great comments! This old dinosaur is also getting ready to hang it up once and for all in a few short months. I'm actually looking forward to it. I guess the advantage I may have in this situation is that I was only full-time for the last 11 years and TPU for 21 years prior to that, so for me, I'm just going back to being a civilian all of the time instead of most of the time.

CW4 Paul Shelter, love your comments about respect. Spot on! Maybe its not appropriate to say, but I will take the respect of my subordinates and my peers over the respect of my superiors any day. Don't get me wrong, I had the honor of working for some fantastic leaders (and some not so fantastic) as I'm sure we all have. But a few too many leaders didn't appreciate the fact I didn't mind getting my hands dirty. I believe in the philosophy that I would never ask my subordinates to do something I was not willing to do myself.

I'm not the world's greatest leader, and at my age, I still have a lot to learn, but even though I will miss working with Soldiers, I am happy to take this step into the next stage of my life. Of course, I still get to do things for service members through my volunteer work, so I'm happy.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2014 6:21 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 18:21:58 -0400

This reminds me of something that LTG Weinstein (former Army G-2) said when he visited a course I attended in 1986. One of his points during the working lunch was that you can go 20 or 30 years in the Army and have only a few days of "experience" if you do the same thing, day in and day out. He encouraged us to take on the tough jobs and to have more than a few days of experience when we finally hang up our hats. Just thought I'd share that. It may not be exactly on track with this thread, but your post reminded me of this wise man's philosophy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_T._Weinstein

Sidney T. Weinstein - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sidney T. Weinstein was a United States Army Lieutenant General. He is considered by many to be the father of the modern military intelligence corps.[1]

Response by SFC Boots Attaway made Sep 18 at 2014 7:39 PM

SFC Boots Attaway — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 19:39:23 -0400

I was a true dino in the Army, my people joked that my first set of dog tags were clay tablets and I was in on the original Desert Storm with Moses. I was active from 75 - 84 then out. I re-uped in 07 after they changed the age limit and passed the physical. I stayed in until they med retired me in 13, and I would go back in in a heart beat.

Response by SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS made Oct 10 at 2014 3:43 PM

SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 15:43:32 -0400

Thank you for your service to our great Nation Chief. I think you comments are great ones. I had a t shirt from my days as a Marine. It said "If your 782 Gear doesn't look like this then don't talk to me about old Corps." A NAVMC 782 form was what we signed for receipt of our field gear. The image depicted knights armor.

My point is, we all have "our period" in the military. We lived it, we loved it, and forever we remember it. Better, worse, or the same, I don't know. I just know, I would go back if I could and do it all over again.

SFC Joseph M. Finck USA (Ret)

Response by CW2 Paul Beiss made Oct 29 at 2014 9:51 AM

CW2 Paul Beiss — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 09:51:32 -0400

Just realized I had a "thumbs down vote"...and without any kind of comment?

Response by CW5 Sam R. Baker made Dec 2 at 2014 2:18 PM

CW5 Sam R. Baker — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 14:18:57 -0500

Trying to figure out which Dinosaur I am and the classification. I mean am I a:

Tyrannosaurus Rex
Velociraptor
Triceratops
Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus)
Diplodocus
Brachiosaurus
Carnotaurus
Stegosaurus
Spinosaurus
Ankylosaurus
Iguanodon
Allosaurus
Parasaurolophus
Deinonychus
Sauropods & Titanosaurs

I am not sure where I fit in this list which is pretty endless as these are just a few. I tried looking at the pictures enclosed, think I qualify for the flying type, but not sure having spent so much time walking on the planet in multiple colors and uniforms over the 20 plus.

Response by SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 2 at 2014 2:30 PM

SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 14:30:05 -0500

CW2 Beiss, what a great eye opener I'm sure. In my 21 years of service I have witnessed a ton of what you are talking about. I have always treated my subordinats well. They were people before they were Marines or Airmen. I rely on my young airmen to teach me about new things like Technology. This makes me a better SNCO and it also fosters a better working relationship with my subornates. I never claim to know everything about the AF or my career field. I continuously learn more and more and a lot of the time it's the younger generation keeping me up to date so I don't become a dinasour. I say this with the utmost respect, but folks seriously have to get over their egos in order to maintain the respect of their Airmen, Seamen, soldiers or Marines. Your rank is your accomplishment and frankly no one needs it shoved in their face that you out rank them. We all learn the rank structure in basic or boot camp so it's a given. If I only had a dime for every time I've heard "I am a MSgt!" Who are you trying to convince me or yourself? My leadership style fosters great ideas by all members of my team. I feel that everyone from the lowest ranking to the highest has something to contribute. If we think that because we are the highest ranking that we know all or know better, we have just lost the respect of our personnel because we are saying that their opinions don't matter to us. I've been fortunate to deal with a lot of civilian employees and contractors in my career and some I call friends and jobs await me when I retire because of my leadership style. It's important to respect everyone, rank comes second in my opinion.