What confuses you most about "sister services?"

Master Sergeant John - it's for the same reason that the other service-members' heads explode when you tell them about "Firewall Fives" on evals. NONE of the other services use that mentality, and it is totally foreign. THAT is why the Air Force gave up the Good Conduct - because 99% of their people got them and the rest were kicked out. In the other services, it actually MEANS something - and it's pretty common to see an Army/Navy/Marine/Coastie senior NCO with one-too-few oak leafs on their GCM... from an Oops from back in the day.

The Air Force Training Ribbon is ridiculous.  Wearing of the uniform signifies your completion of Basic Military Training.  The Good Conduct Medal in the Air Force should be earned through good conduct, not by completing 3 years of service with a 3 or greater EPR each year and not getting into disciplinary trouble.  When I was a First Sergeant I denied an Airman's good conduct medal because he hadn't had good conduct throughout the 3 year award period.  Started a war with his supervisor, myself and the Commander.  In the end I won but it was ridiculous that I had to 'fight' to prove he didn't deserve the medal.  The Air Force has this 'do your time, get your medal' mentality, it's ridiculous.

Master Sergeant Koss, I had arguments with Air Force Senior NCO's that held the belief that an Article 15 wasn't enough to keep a person from having Firewall Fives OR a Good Conduct Medal, as it was "only one occurrence."

Good on you for sticking to your guns!!

AF Training Ribbon can be interesting because you get it for going through Basic or one of the Officer accessions; prior-enlisted have a device on theirs.  Other than that, it doesn't really serve a purpose.

A little note on the AF Good Conduct Medal that piggy-backs off MSgt Koss:  not everyone gets one, and the reg even goes so far as to point out that missing one is noticeable.  Or at least can be for those who take the time to count GCMs and longevity devices.

Master Chief; in my experience, you'd be hard-pressed to push a firewall-5 on someone with an Article-15 during the reporting period.  That said, if it was an isolated incident and the member sprung back from it and continued to perform well, there's no reason the report shouldn't reflect that.  A practice I've seen manifest in recent time though is the command-directed EPR after someone takes an Article-15.

The eye pro I can see why. Guys at FOB Wilderness got mortared so much, there was no time to prepare, son they wore eye pro around the clock to protect their eyes.

LTC Mackay

The 101st should issue gloves for wear at home as well because there are hot items like curling irons and stoves in the home.

Eye pro was ridiculous down range as well. I don't know about FOB Wilderness but at every other FOB I went to in the Stan and Iraq, the most imminent threat to the eyes were rocks flying from vehicles. This same threat applies in garrison too.

My point sir, is just that it's overkill. Ridiculous overkill.

I am wondering, how many shots were fired at night at the bases with personnel wearing reflective belts? I know that they would make fine targets.....

SSG Woods not saying people should wear gloves and eye pro until they ETS. It is the commander's prerogative to prescribe a uniform that supports the mission, safeguards the soldier and enforces good order and discipline. From what was presented, it sounds overboard, but I am not there and do not know what the commander's intent was. We did not do what was described in the BN I served with in Afghanistan, but we were eye pro and gloves on mission, running the HLZ, or when it was otherwise required. Wearing PPE takes discipline. If the unit in question did not have it, it may have been the approach that command team took to instill it.

BTW, they still won't fly in lightning, so none of them are "all" weather.

I'm not sure the "Improved" refers to dealing with all-weather; I'm pretty sure it refers to other improvements made to the aircraft.

I concede that it might be the case.  But they're still not "all weather aircraft" if they don't fly in "all" weather!  ;)

I know this subject well. Yes, the AF aircraft are All Weather. But the Pilots are Fair weather pilots. So in other words, if the the weather is foul, they won't fly. One snowflake, they won't fly. Now for thunder storms, its a little bit different. It will depend on how far away the storm is. And, if they have to land, they will divert to another base, if the the storm is right on top or lightning is within five miles of the base.

SPC B, I'm pretty sure this is true... lol  Thanks for sharing!

SPC Patterson, what kind of fun would it be if we all just held hands and got along? There's more fun in a little bit of rivalry and trying to out do each other, while kicking anyone's rear who tries to mess with the other branches.

As far as the Navy ranks for Petty officers just think of it as being backwards, the fewer stripes, the higher the number so if you see one upside down chevron, it's a Petty Officer 3rd Class, 2 (the only one that makes sense) is a second class, and 3 stripes is a Petty Officer First Class. Then if you see a rocker that's a Chief, and one star above the rocker is a Senior Chief and two stars is a Master Chief.

How can I argue with someone who is in a service so young that you still do not understand the difference between Tradition and Rumor?  Of course you do have a lot more Ribbons and Medals than all of the other services combined - so there is that going for Air Force.

Yes, MCPO Gene P., That's our reward for being the coolest, cleanest, and best looking branch, as I have heard others say.

I'll never forget rendering honors while manning the rails four times while passing our shipmates on the USS Arizona.&nbsp; It is amazing how quiet an aircraft carrier can be!&nbsp; Very emotional.<br>

Just thought of it, but a picture is really worth 1,000 words - USS Anzio (CG-68)&nbsp;

Manning the Rail I think I did that once or twice. I know I did it the 50 aniversary of VJ Day.

As a deck seaman at the time, I manned more than my fair share of rails

SSG B, he will probably get a kick out of it, that is if he hasn't already seen it, AF types seem to laugh at themselves more than anyone else every could... Go Blue! lol

CPT Krogh he was waiting on you to say Hello Bill LOL

The Air Force is a bit more casual about these things and I consider it is a good thing that he thanked you.  Grace and humility is honorable.   But we saluted officers in the Air Force in the Cold War and late Vietnam_Era.   And I dealt almost exclusively with officers.

I noticed in my AF Career that officers started saying thank you to those who saluted them around the mid nineties.  My opinion is that time is when the Air Force started looking to 'corporate answers' for the shrinking manpower dilemma.  One thing that was really embraced by the service was "Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of highly effective leaders" and "How to win friends and influence people" That was one of the seven habits specifically embraced by the leadership at the time.  Thanking people for doing their job as it gives them validation blah blah blah. 

When I salute Coastie officers they thank me all the time. I don't see a problem with them thanking me.

...a great site for Navy ratings for enlisted personnel:  http://www.eugeneleeslover.com/ratings.html

Army Specialist ranks were originally intended to be for, well, specialists in their technical field, who were not on a leadership track (sort of like the difference between a Master Sergeant and a First Sergeant; one has no command responsibilities, and the other does).  At one point, the Specialist ranks went up to SP8 (although I have never seen or heard of one).  When the Specialist ranks went away, for some reason, SP4 was kept.

As it stands, in the Army, when you are advanced to paygrade E-4, you are a Specialist (SPC).  If your unit is short on NCOs, it is slotted for Corporals, and you are an outstanding SPC, you can be laterally promoted to Corporal, which is an NCO.  However, I call Corporals NC-Joes because junior enlisted don't really take Corporals seriously (except possibly in the Infantry) and SGTs and above use Corporals for the more onerous details that require a NCO but no one really wants to do.  So the Corporal is kind of in limbo until s/he is promoted to SGT or lateralled back to SPC.

Specialist rank went to Spec 9 in 1958. 1968 the Army killed Spec 8 and 9 when CSMs were created.

Spark and Quill, I think I recognize that CTO1 at your service.

I think the army does it the same but what is the 1SG doing when you have a Company Gunny.

True, as a junior NCO I recall filling a SSgt(E6) vacancy and covering down often for the GySgt(E7), agreed... absolutely not uncommon.

@SSG Pabon .. my picture is right above yours .... but,  I still have my cover....badge number 3462

Small unit leadership, we like to push more responsibility to the lower grades.  Typically...