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I believe Infantry and Operators should be treated with a higher regard in the military.
Even officers and NCOs of all other military specialties should show respect to our nation's true warriors.
The general military is doing a good job of promoting everyone is a warrior but those non combat arms specialties do not train or destroy their bodies like true combatants. I would even say that infantry line medics and navy corpsman that are attached to the marines deserve the same regard.
This is not intended as a put down of other specialties but an awareness that some put in more than others in combat arms.
Even officers and NCOs of all other military specialties should show respect to our nation's true warriors.
The general military is doing a good job of promoting everyone is a warrior but those non combat arms specialties do not train or destroy their bodies like true combatants. I would even say that infantry line medics and navy corpsman that are attached to the marines deserve the same regard.
This is not intended as a put down of other specialties but an awareness that some put in more than others in combat arms.
Posted in these groups: 
11B: Infantryman
11B: Infantryman
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 413
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Man, this post has caused quite the stir. Everyone knows how proud infantrymen are about their MOS, and y'all do some pretty badass work. However, without all the other comments below to say it's not a good idea, think about the average infantryman's deployment. The majority of the "war" has been Coalition forces driving (or walking) around praying we don't get blown up and wanting to shoot the few bad guys we do come across- all to be stifled by strict ROE's. Based on my experiences in Afghanistan, which I'll list below, I don't believe 'infantry' should be considered the 'elite warrior class":
-sitting at the front gate for eight hours a day
-sitting in a guard tower overnight talking to yourself to stay awake
-sitting on ground lock in your vehicle for 24 straight hours to secure a section of road
-hazing soldiers to the point of suicide (happened at a COP near the base I was on)
-seeing how many Rip It's can be drank before a mission
-losing weapons in the porta-shitter
-burning shit in a barrel
-drawing pictures of genitalia on the bathroom wall...IMO, these don't warrant a label update. Just an end of tour award.
OBVIOUSLY, this isn't how all Infantry deployments go. The surges in Iraq and Afghanistan proved that it's a very dangerous MOS to choose. However, just because it's dangerous doesn't mean it should be the "elite warrior class". We have Valorous awards to distinguish folks who deserve it, so let's use them to the fullest!
-sitting at the front gate for eight hours a day
-sitting in a guard tower overnight talking to yourself to stay awake
-sitting on ground lock in your vehicle for 24 straight hours to secure a section of road
-hazing soldiers to the point of suicide (happened at a COP near the base I was on)
-seeing how many Rip It's can be drank before a mission
-losing weapons in the porta-shitter
-burning shit in a barrel
-drawing pictures of genitalia on the bathroom wall...IMO, these don't warrant a label update. Just an end of tour award.
OBVIOUSLY, this isn't how all Infantry deployments go. The surges in Iraq and Afghanistan proved that it's a very dangerous MOS to choose. However, just because it's dangerous doesn't mean it should be the "elite warrior class". We have Valorous awards to distinguish folks who deserve it, so let's use them to the fullest!
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Ok... So, after much thought, I feel that there is already a respect for the Infantry and Special Operations. I have been nothing but a grunt. I have, obviously, worked with those in support roles and with operators. There is a different kind of respect given to each. I love when I get hot chow. I love when I get MREs. I don't get them by walking to the factories that make them. And I don't cook the food myself. When it comes to combat, yes, everyone is trained to fight to a different level. I've talked to POGs that have pencil whipped their rifle quals for years. And I've seen MPs (sometimes to my amusement) practice battle drill 6. I will say that grunts are the experts at fighting (Operators included when I say grunts). In ground combat, no one else compares. Grunts see the majority of combat actions. More so than 19 series and 13 series for sure. We not only risk IEDs, but we come face to face with the enemy and often. It's our job. I remember hearing about the extra money you get a month to be airborne. I always thought grunts should get a bump like that as well. Just for saying I will face the enemy. Not saying I will, if it comes to that, but my main focus is my xxxxxxx job. I still think that would be great. But I've never thought to push the issue.
But, in being a grunt, you should learn to be a silent professional. Breaking a rule of mine in this post, I apologize. But the way we should all behave is in silence. Not braving or asking for more recognition. POGs work their assets off in their jobs. Some are turds, but so are some grunts. We've been given so much throughout our history though. Are you not proud of your CIB? (granted, I don't wear one on my ACUs). The blue chord? The blue discs? We have our recognition. And we shouldn't point it out. I've never seen an 82nd guy pull out his LES on me to brag about his pay. And apart from joking around, beret color and blue shit on our uniforms aren't thrown in people's faces. We are professional. This post is not.
That being said, POGs, don't feed into this. There is no quantifiable way to make what he wants possible. Nor would it happen. Power point classes saying love grunts sound like fun to anyone? Sound like they'd work? No. And it's stupid to act like they are needed. If we don't respect everyone in every job, what are we?
I'm sorry, SFC, but as a section leader, I am tactfully asking that you think hard on your statement. It does not represent the Infantry or special operations.
To everyone else, you should recognize a foolish idea when you see it and know that it is not representative of a whole organization.
Lastly, I want $150 a month for being a grunt. Why? Because I want $150 a month. Lol.
But, in being a grunt, you should learn to be a silent professional. Breaking a rule of mine in this post, I apologize. But the way we should all behave is in silence. Not braving or asking for more recognition. POGs work their assets off in their jobs. Some are turds, but so are some grunts. We've been given so much throughout our history though. Are you not proud of your CIB? (granted, I don't wear one on my ACUs). The blue chord? The blue discs? We have our recognition. And we shouldn't point it out. I've never seen an 82nd guy pull out his LES on me to brag about his pay. And apart from joking around, beret color and blue shit on our uniforms aren't thrown in people's faces. We are professional. This post is not.
That being said, POGs, don't feed into this. There is no quantifiable way to make what he wants possible. Nor would it happen. Power point classes saying love grunts sound like fun to anyone? Sound like they'd work? No. And it's stupid to act like they are needed. If we don't respect everyone in every job, what are we?
I'm sorry, SFC, but as a section leader, I am tactfully asking that you think hard on your statement. It does not represent the Infantry or special operations.
To everyone else, you should recognize a foolish idea when you see it and know that it is not representative of a whole organization.
Lastly, I want $150 a month for being a grunt. Why? Because I want $150 a month. Lol.
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CPT Quentin von Éfáns-Taráfdar
"I love when I get hot chow. I love when I get MREs. I don't get them by walking to the factories that make them. And I don't cook the food myself." --------This reminded me of something that happened during the VN war. After my first tour I volunteered for an extra six months and, as was the custom, I was granted 30 days leave and 2 weeks travel time. I used this to go around the world visiting friends in various countries where I had lived. In Istanbul while I was having lunch with the former Head of the Turkish armed forces, his wife, his daughter and her husband (he had been the Turkish naval attaché to Italy) I was asked about the VN war and how tough it really was. I told them about how we got one heli-borne hot meal a day in the field, tactical situation permitting plus ice cream and coke etc. Then I told them about all the leave and rear area facilities, including the 9 hole golf course and movie theater at MAC V headquarters in Saigon. The daughter who, along with the rest of this family had been in the States, suddenly quipped, “It’s a very American war, isn’t it. If the American GI can’t have his color TV and air conditioning he isn’t going!” Her father who had been an infantry officer before becoming a general remarked, “Any fool can be uncomfortable in war but it takes real American ingenuity to make war comfortable.”
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This is, by far, the most ridiculous thing I have read in these forums. Made even more so by the fact the poster who wants more acknowledgment for what he's done as an exceptional soldier yet his pic in uniform shows a clear violation of Army standards. Respect is given to those who deserve it, not to those who demand it. BE, KNOW, DO.
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The CIB is exactly that distinction. Just advertise its significance outside the military.
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I'm a POG in the 173rd Airborne. I guess my body lands on pillows and beds of flowers whereas the grunts land on rusty nails and broken glass. So I guess I see the point in how our bodies don't take the same abuse?
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As a retired Infantry senior noncommissioned officer with four deployment to Iraq. I would disagree, there's more to being a soldier. I've served with various MOS's, and can say that every person on the ground had a purpose. I had served with Artillery, Armor, scouts and even supply as my counterpart, and can tell you that everyones heart was there to win the fight. If your looking at a specific entitlement then look at the CIB. The military has worked so hard to bring its man, and women in service to work together. Man and women have lost their lives keeping this nation safe, and give so give credit to the ones who lost thier life. Patric coley U.S.A. Retired Infantry First Sergeant.
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