What is the worst part about being a service member or veteran?

CPT, I think you will find the majority of city and county employees in smaller cities and more rural counties to be good civil servant and working for less that the norm in salaries, a tradeoff for job security. When you get to more densely populated cities and suburban areas the attitudes are frequently quite different. The more people in the area, the worse the attitude frequently.

I can relate to your statement and totally agree.

sorry so off base I was one of those public servants you want to look down at also a vet. I didn't go into it for a paycheck and sure as hell didn't get one while working at it(FLA 1988-1998 started 8k ended 18k). But Y did receive a life saving award, saved well over 30 lives in my ten I did start a trend of law enforcement getting EMT certified because more times than no the patrol man is first on scene, when medical help in an hour away. All due respect sorry that's pure horse manure . If you cant walk a mile in my shoes then you have no right to judge. In my job i faced nepotism that promotion was only if you married into a family, faced daily corruption and abuse. In the locker room , Then went out to work a 8-19 hr day. My days off were not my own they were the days i sat in court. When i got out after ten i turned in 8 months of vacation time accrued. a month for each year. I never got to take a vacation because man power was always short. If you have zero concept of what your talking about its easy to throw doubt whole lot harder when you sit thru you hundredth holiday sitting in a cruiser patrolling knowing the best you'll see is leftovers or a compressed turkey roll when you get in. Both have the same morality we all try to save the world in our own ways , The lesson of it all is you cant save the world , you have to settle to fixing your own tiny sliver of it. We both wear boots for the same reason we walk thru piles of horse manure from people who just don't have one clue what the other does.

Agreed. My job at the VA is as close as you can get, in my opinion.

That is a wonderfully lengthy career, Sir. Thank you for your grit in service.

Although I agree with your statement, The Mission always comes first, no matter what.

SSG Scott Bregi - The mission is what is at hand!

It is the family as much as immediate access to "beans and bullets" on the battlefield that provides the Warrior Fighter the strength to support there "foxhole buddies/shipmates" (their immediate family of sorts) in the near term in the heat of the battle, and to know that what they are doing means something to them in relationship to their family back home. It is the family, a wife, children, parents, a grandmother along with your adopted family in the field that sustains you! So, family and mission are not separate, they are linked.

Therefore, senior leaders who dare to care yet demand individual accountability for preparedness to carry out the mission are those for whom I seek to serve! Always have!!!

SFC (Join to see) - Thank you brother

SGT Jodi WittBailey - Thank you

SGT Jodi WittBailey - Thank you

Come, come everyone, come to the light of RallyPoint

What a Life growing up, Brother. Something that I always wished I had. My Dad and Uncle Served in World War Two and never talked about it. They did their stint and got out. My Dad almost became General Whitehead's Motor Pool Staff Sergeant when they were Stationed in Tokyo in the Occupational Forces. Being born in '68, I would have missed out on being an Air Force Brat, but I still dreamed of being a Military Brat. A big Salute to you and your entire Family!

PO1 Sam Deel Thanks, Sam. Honestly, my parents deserve all the credit. It wasn't easy starting over every 3 years or so. My parents decided to make every aspect of living military positive. I saw plenty of others that made most everything negative and how that played into the family dynamics.
I would have loved to have had a family when I was active duty, but that didn't happen for me.

Try having a Civilian career, then dumping it to Enlist at 32. However, the culture shock was non-existent for me, having Dad, Uncle, close neighbors who all Served in World War Two. There was the Scout Leaders who had Served. I was an avid Military History buff from World War Two and up. I had a heck of a time not being caught smiling my way thru Boot, which for me, was only the 17 days Non-Prior Service Accession Course (NPSAC) Boot. My request for the full 11 week Active Boot was denied, as well as, A school, C school and Naval Aircrew Candidate School were all denied (no funding). I missed out on so much!

I couldn’t have said it any better. I did the “ETS” freedom bird countdown to get back to the “world” and couldn’t wait to get out, but once out all I could talk about was all the shit we all did in the Army. Years later I even looked in to joining the reserves or guard when we we in the gulf and the troops were not being allowed to separate, my kids were grown and I have a Medical MOS that I thought I would be in need, but they recruiters kind of laughed me off because of my age and the years I had been out. I think it was kind of funny now how time changes your perspective. I would have been a much better soldier with my attitude I posses today as a 60 year old man. Haha

It's interesting that recruiters were not taking you seriously when we got involved in the Gulf War.
I have a brother who was Army retired for 5+ years. He had been a the motor pool for most of his 20+ year career. He was re-called to AD and assigned to Ft Meade MD because of the number of casualties expected to be arriving at Dover. He said that on arrival at Meade there were a considerable number of retirees already assembled. They were training for and expected to be casualty escorts.
Needless to say, the casualty numbers were not what had been anticipated.