What do you think might have been harder when the older vets went through their career than it is today? Easier?
Over the last few years I have had countless prior service civil servants tell me "back in my day things were different, you new troops have it so easy". I imagine that things were in fact different, harder even. But I would also venture a guess that some things today might be more difficult. Thoughts?
History (Major)
Civilians
The older guys had it easier when it comes to everyday soldiering....
There was no need for a paper trail on a bad troop..
The rule/regs were really black and white..
An E-4 respected and treated an E-5 correctly..
On the aspect of war, They had it a bit easier as well.
Conventional warfare has rules, granted many were unwritten but there was a form to it.
There jobs may have been harder because the tech was not there...
But as a whole, I think they had easier and in some ways better than we have it now...
I have heard it portrayed both ways. I am sure everyone has heard about how much harder it was back in the day. What I found interesting is when I spoke with some WWII vets, they said they would never want to have to fight a war like in Iraq or Afghanistan. The perspective they had was that it was easier to fight an enemy who had a distinct uniform and a clearly defined war front. While I agree with this logic, looking at the casualty rates between WWII and Iraq/Afghanistan, I would say that we were much more likely to get injured or killed in WWII, depending on where we saw combat.
Vietnam vets I spoke to about this are one way or the other. I have met a good mix of some who think it was hell compared to now, and some that say we have so much red tape now that it was cake back then. I guess it is all a matter of perspective, and we will not truly know which was harder unless we happened to be there for both.
Don't let the "I walked to school in waist deep snow, uphill, both ways" stories get to ya SrA T. We old timers like to whittle on our sticks and talk about how much harder we worked at it, but fact remains that the old saying is true. The more things change the more they stay the same. Cleaning a battle rifle is pretty much the same now as it was then.
I think you have more technology available to you that allows you to accomplish your mission faster and more efficiently than we did. But that technology has to be learned and more importantly maintained. I think because of that technology, sometimes more is demanded of you. Today's military personnel are more computer and tech savvy than we were.
Challenges you face now, that we didn't face has to do with social media and how many people can see your ah shits. We had knuckeheads back then, just like you do now...we just didn't have to worry about 1.5 million people seeing our knuckeheads showing their best side.
If I could impress anything on the new military is not to forget their basics. Fundamentals will save your hide. If the batteries go out in the GPS, having proficient land nav skills will come in handy. That would be just one simple example
Understood. I agree with you about the social media aspect, it IS a lot easier to make a clown out of yourself in a much wider scale, but that just means we have to be more vigilant and better at how we conduct our mission. I have seen many youger enlisted people of all branches post really degrading things on these sites and it has ended in a world of hurt for them (loss of stripes, reprimand, etc) when it all could have been avoided by thinking about what they were doing prior to posting. We all do stupid things from time to time. The difference? Smarter people don't display their stupidness to the world and in effect, their supervisors/commanders/OSI.
I also want to talk on the "basics" aspect of your response. Even since I went through basic training things have gotten easier IN basic training. From the reports that we get from our newer troops, it has become so bad that the instructors cannot raise their voice to the trainees and therefore making them softer. Basic used to be geared toward training troops to have respect for all higher ranks, render proper customs and courtesies and understand their place in the force. Instructors could take a bully, wimp, emo kid or even a mamma's boy and make them a responsible and honorable warrior. Nowadays it seems as if the character of the trainee is all that determines whether or not they will act as they are supposed to because we have lost the ability to "mold" said trainees. I, for one, am tired of brand new E-2's and E-3's talking to NCO's with zero respect and that this type of interaction has become the norm.
So yes, unfortunately, I would say that our basics and where we come from is slowly fading in our newer force. I will forever hold dear to MY heart what we are and where we came from and will do my best to uphold that standard, but as they say these days "its a different Air Force".
/rant
I can attest to the change in the Air Force basic. I had a son who went through Lackland in 2004 and then a daughter who went through in 2007 (I think). It was amazing the difference between the two. Then again it changed after my daughter went through. She was one of that last flights to do the 6 week basic.
I wish I could remember who but someone posted on one of these threads that you could go back for each generation and eventually you would get to the guys at Valley Forge who would say...Psssh you guys bitch about shining boots? We didn't have any boots?
Harder? It's just my personal opinion, but the Army BCT is not as intense as it was when I went through. A couple examples would be phone calls and Drill Sergeant to private interaction. I got one phone call while I was in basic. It was the Red Cross telling me that my youngest daughter had been born. You wanted to write letters? You sliced off a chunk of sleep time to do it. Saturday was training. Sunday was Church/ G.I. Party and get ready for Monday morning.
Drill Sergeants were in your face. My DS carried a four foot piece of 1/2 inch rebar while he was on range. If you were repeatedly failing to exhibit proper breathing and sight alignment, you could expect him to ring your steel pot like a bell.
When I went to basic we were isolated from anything. No TV, no newspapers. Cells weren't an issue, but no phone calls unless authorized. There was no connection to the outside world. Definitely no families checking the Unit FB page every day complaining because little johnny didn't get 8 hours of sleep. I think we need to go back to that.
I have a buddy I was in with, his son was a DS at Jackson. He told me stories of having to come up with creative training methods because of the attitude that got flipped by privates. He said families being on FB and getting involved with the training was a problem too.
Easier? Technology makes things somewhat easier. But I think sometimes we rely on tech too much in the military.
We are "brainwashing" the next generation as we speak. My daughter was Air Force and is trying to lead my grandson into "the wild blue yonder". I am convinced that I can make a Ranger out of him.
Sometimes I feel a little out of place around RP. I only did one hitch in the military. I didn't do the cool guys stuff. So I don't have 20 years of miltiary experience to pull from. I really wish that some other people had commented on your post. I would have liked to heard from some real life Drill Sergeants who have first hand knowledge to help you with. But alas you're stuck with me.
My thanks to you as well for your service. You are in a very small brotherhood.
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