Posted on Nov 5, 2015
I guess I have officially fallen behind. I have been slacking on my RP time.
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Today was the first time I had ever seen a regular old civilian on RP. I have nothing against civilians, as I am now out, I work around them every day. I simply thought that this was a forum that was specifically reserved for those of us who are or have served. If I feel the urge to talk to civilians I know I can find more than my fill on FB. Please, tell me if I am missing something here.
Posted in these groups: 
Civilian Supporter
RallyPoint
Civilian Supporter RallyPoint
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 3
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SFC Perry,
Interesting posts related to the subject. In my case I spent 6 plus years as a civilian contractor in Iraq, Afghanistan and Djibouti. I wasn't sure I had the qualifications to be on RP, but a former co-worker who had prior service assured me I did. While I didn't pick-up a weapon and perform clearing operations I can tell you that I wasn't some REMF who was kept out of harm's way. While I won't pretend to know the hell that you and many of your brothers and sisters went through out in the field, I did attend more ramp ceremonies than I care to think about as well as memorials for my civilian co-workers (I was in Mosul when the Marez D-FAC was attacked; in fact if the attack had occurred 24 hours earlier I probably wouldn't be writing this). I can appreciate your concern in regards to maintaining the integrity of RP: I just wanted to give you some perspective in regards to some of those that are classified as civilians on the site.Thank you for your service.
Interesting posts related to the subject. In my case I spent 6 plus years as a civilian contractor in Iraq, Afghanistan and Djibouti. I wasn't sure I had the qualifications to be on RP, but a former co-worker who had prior service assured me I did. While I didn't pick-up a weapon and perform clearing operations I can tell you that I wasn't some REMF who was kept out of harm's way. While I won't pretend to know the hell that you and many of your brothers and sisters went through out in the field, I did attend more ramp ceremonies than I care to think about as well as memorials for my civilian co-workers (I was in Mosul when the Marez D-FAC was attacked; in fact if the attack had occurred 24 hours earlier I probably wouldn't be writing this). I can appreciate your concern in regards to maintaining the integrity of RP: I just wanted to give you some perspective in regards to some of those that are classified as civilians on the site.Thank you for your service.
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SFC Christopher Perry
And in some cases, such as this, there is a very good reason that you are here. I for one say welcome.
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Sweet, now the civilians are checking out my profile. Feel free to jump on into the conversation. I would love to hear exactly how you feel that your addition to this forum adds some form of value. Contrary to my origional comment I made months ago, saying that if this happened I would most likely have to exit stage left, I vow to stay open minded on the topic.
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Rhonda Likins
Professional networking before transition back into civilian life? Young civilians thinking about starting a career in the military and wanna ask the experts? Though I do agree with you that as military personell are checked before they can join RP, so to should civilians somehow, if they want to be allowed to post. When I logged in after a several-month break, my account was still active, but there was nothing about verifying my employment or intentions within the site. Maybe this is all covered in the CEO statement but I haven't been able to see that yet.
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SFC Christopher Perry
Rhonda Likins I for one would like to thank you. While your profile is not complete, it is by far the most complete civilian profile I have seen. I am not sure how the other folks feel, but if I open a civilian profile and it has darn near zero information telling me who you are, I want nothing to do with you.
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SFC Christopher Perry
Marie Butler I am afraid that you will need to expound a bit. I am not too sure where you are going exactly with your one word comment. Do you have something to add to the conversation?
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Hi SFC,
This isn't the first time this question has come up, and it won't be the last. Our CEO and founder wrote a good response about civilians on RP about 18 months ago. Check it out!
This isn't the first time this question has come up, and it won't be the last. Our CEO and founder wrote a good response about civilians on RP about 18 months ago. Check it out!
What is your opinion on Civilians on RallyPoint? | RallyPoint
What is your opinion on Civilians on Rally Point that have no military affiliation? I noticed today, a few civilians that had commented on a post were civilians. Now if their input contributes to the conversation it can be pertinent but do civilians understand or have the applicable experience to intelligently add to the conversations without military experience? Will this lead to an overrun by military spouses? I'm even seeing civilians now...
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SFC Christopher Perry
SSG Carlos Madden What is his name? You posted the entire thread. Funny, that was the original posted conversation, and I saw my response. I am still trying to determine whether my original reaction was appropriate.
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SSG Carlos Madden
SFC Christopher Perry - MAJ Yinon Weiss:
Hi, here is what is going on with RallyPoint and civilians.
RallyPoint is a site for those who serve and have served, and will remain so. RallyPoint is also a place for networking, for learning, and for career progression. There are times when civilians can contribute in these areas to your benefit, and we plan to create compartmented groups within RallyPoint where this professional interaction can take place. To be clear, these interactions will be compartmented to just their own subject areas, and will not cross over into the rest of RallyPoint. Examples:
- Corporate recruiters who want to help you with your resume, job search, or job application.
- Military families who want to learn from each other and how to better support their units and spouses (any potential "drama" will be kept separate from the rest of RallyPoint).
- Potential recruits interested in joining the military, and want to learn more about opportunities besides just what their local recruiter can tell them.
- Employees of various local businesses who want to help veterans in their job search.
If the above is not of interest to a RallyPoint member, then you do not have to engage in any of it, or even see it. However, helping military members advance their career both inside and outside the military is one of our primary missions, and to support the "outside the military" piece of it, allowing civilian recruiters (for example) on the site that can help you, if you seek it, is part of the way we intend to help military members in their transition.
Your feedback is very important to us and we are definitely interested in your input. This is part of the reason we are being very deliberate in how we approach introducing this resource.
Hi, here is what is going on with RallyPoint and civilians.
RallyPoint is a site for those who serve and have served, and will remain so. RallyPoint is also a place for networking, for learning, and for career progression. There are times when civilians can contribute in these areas to your benefit, and we plan to create compartmented groups within RallyPoint where this professional interaction can take place. To be clear, these interactions will be compartmented to just their own subject areas, and will not cross over into the rest of RallyPoint. Examples:
- Corporate recruiters who want to help you with your resume, job search, or job application.
- Military families who want to learn from each other and how to better support their units and spouses (any potential "drama" will be kept separate from the rest of RallyPoint).
- Potential recruits interested in joining the military, and want to learn more about opportunities besides just what their local recruiter can tell them.
- Employees of various local businesses who want to help veterans in their job search.
If the above is not of interest to a RallyPoint member, then you do not have to engage in any of it, or even see it. However, helping military members advance their career both inside and outside the military is one of our primary missions, and to support the "outside the military" piece of it, allowing civilian recruiters (for example) on the site that can help you, if you seek it, is part of the way we intend to help military members in their transition.
Your feedback is very important to us and we are definitely interested in your input. This is part of the reason we are being very deliberate in how we approach introducing this resource.
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SFC Christopher Perry
That is very interesting indeed. So how exactly are compartmentalize specific people? I will have to go back and check to see where the civilian responded to my comment. I will be curious to see how much they are able to weave themselves into the conversation. He does make some very good points in his explanation. I guess time will tell as to whether the overall intent becomes a reality or if this is aloud to become another FB.
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Rhonda Likins
I remember reading that discussion last year before civilians could post. I was trying to find the exact post that the CEO said about it but its apparently buried under many pages of posts. I was dissapointed then to read all the dissent about civilians posting, when this is a site for professional networking and other networking sites like LinkedIn don't "require" you to be a civilian to join/post, and bar you if you're in the military. That said I'm glad to see that we can now post at least to some things, if seemingly limited.
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