Posted on Dec 31, 2015
Why is it all the people that were whining around crying, "I didn't sign up for this" while on deployment are now claiming they Volunteered?
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I have noticed a giant change in military personnel and how they talk about deployment now that they are at a minimum. In 01 almost everyone wanted to go, by 04 there was a lot of "I didn't sign up for this," and by 05 it was f**k this I'm out. In 07 when I got out, troops were wore out, and deployment rumors caused AWOL en masse.
Today I hear a lot of "I volunteered for all of my deployments" and "Man, I am trying to get deployed" or "Your lucky, I wish I could get over there"
Why is the shift so dramatic?
Today I hear a lot of "I volunteered for all of my deployments" and "Man, I am trying to get deployed" or "Your lucky, I wish I could get over there"
Why is the shift so dramatic?
Posted in these groups: 
Warfare
Deployment
Warfare Deployment
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 39
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Years ago when I was a newly commissioned officer, a man from my church was very interested in my service and what I would be doing. He had served in the Air Force and at that time, he worked on an assembly line at Caterpillar. My mom said that for him, his military service was probably the most exciting thing he would ever do with his life and wanted to relive those memories. As I have now retired, I can fully understand what she meant. I think for many that deployed, it will be one of the most significant things they will do in their lives. So as much as it may have sucked then, it is now something to reflect back on. I think with time, the negative memories become less and the positive things grow. Even in 2004 after I returned from my first mobilization as are reserve officer, my civilian job did not seem to have the same importance. Attitudes and memories do change with time. So I don't think it is as much of a dramatic shift as you state but a matter of time.
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COL Vincent Stoneking
COL Jon Thompson absolutely spot on about the return to the civilian job. It just seemed so.... trivial and hard to take seriously. In my case, in a few years, I parlayed that into a move into management and a reputation for being calm and collected in crises. (Not that I ever saw one on the civilian side......)
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Interesting viewpoint. Being out during this whole war I only saw the first and last of your stages reported in the media. I saw plenty of the other attitudes in Viet Nam, but we did not have an all-volunteer force then.
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SPC Rory J. Mattheisen
I have seen reels from Nam, and I could feel the f**k this coming off the screen. Terror, Hatred, Disgust, and Darkness, I am amazed every time I see a Vietnam Vet alive. Between the War and the homecoming I don't know if my generation could live through what you guys did.
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Capt Seid Waddell
SPC Rory J. Mattheisen, the anti-war and anti-military media of the day distorts the view a great deal; the real thing was not that negative, and about half the country supported us and our mission.
That being said, there were many leaders in the community that opposed the war and who took it out on those of us that served, and more than a few draftees that came in with a bad attitude and joined with others that were like-minded and mutinous. When I was there officers and senior NCOs in I Corps were not allowed to ride in closed-top vehicles - they had to be able to get out quick if their men tossed a grenade in with them. There were also race riots in-country that shut bases down for a day or two.
However, this was mostly in the Army which had to take the bulk of the draftees. You can wash and shave a Hippie doper and put him in a uniform in the war zone, but that doesn't produce a soldier - it just makes an armed Hippie doper, which is not an improvement.
There were many of us that believed in the mission and were proud of our service when we came back, even if the left of the day behaved dishonorably towards us.
If I had to do it again I would do it in a heartbeat; the South Vietnamese people I knew were good people and deserved a chance to live free. It was the left in our country that betrayed them - and us. Just as they are doing now; a leopard cannot change its spots.
That being said, there were many leaders in the community that opposed the war and who took it out on those of us that served, and more than a few draftees that came in with a bad attitude and joined with others that were like-minded and mutinous. When I was there officers and senior NCOs in I Corps were not allowed to ride in closed-top vehicles - they had to be able to get out quick if their men tossed a grenade in with them. There were also race riots in-country that shut bases down for a day or two.
However, this was mostly in the Army which had to take the bulk of the draftees. You can wash and shave a Hippie doper and put him in a uniform in the war zone, but that doesn't produce a soldier - it just makes an armed Hippie doper, which is not an improvement.
There were many of us that believed in the mission and were proud of our service when we came back, even if the left of the day behaved dishonorably towards us.
If I had to do it again I would do it in a heartbeat; the South Vietnamese people I knew were good people and deserved a chance to live free. It was the left in our country that betrayed them - and us. Just as they are doing now; a leopard cannot change its spots.
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SPC Rory J. Mattheisen It is human nature to complain. I when the deployment pace was one year in the box and one year off, it was too much. So I get it. Now so few are actually getting deployed, I really won't tolerate it. I am heading back overseas for the third time in ten years, pretty reasonable considering we have been in a war the entire time. If you are going back to the box, good for you, try to make a difference for your unit and peers.
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