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?

You cannot train stupid

Volun-told for my deployments. I think personnel enlisting today are a little wiser and aware of what they are signing up for and do so knowing they will go to war if they stay in long enough.

This makes a lot of sense. All the commercials about "working with computers" and the guy running through the desert wearing unauthorized PT gear - I, for one, had the wrong impression of the Army. The Army marketed itself to me as an institution of training of cutting edge tactics and technology.

It was after 9/11 and I knew I would actually have the opportunity to use this training. So, I went to BCT and learned how to fight the Soviets. In the forest.

After finishing AIT and getting to my first duty station in Germany, I basically stuck around long enough for my smallpox vaccination to clear up before I went to Iraq.

That was the only one of my four deployments that I whined about. I was sure I could handle myself against the Soviets in a forest, but against civilian insurgents in urban areas and desert? WTF do i know about that? I was married with a kid; can I at least get them on this side of the ocean before I go? No? Ok, then.

My second deployment came about and I was like "yay let's do this."

My third deployment came around and I was like "15 months? Hell yes!"

My fourth deployment came around and I was like "I can barely move anymore, but yay one more time!"

Between each deployment, I was soundly trained by people who had never spent 5 minutes outside the wire. It was always great for THEM to teach ME what they learned from my AAR comments. They gave their BS war stories, to which I usually replied "No you didn't. I was there, and it happened nothing like you described."

In short, the Army is full of big talkers who leave no room for guys who actually do things.

SGT Laskaris you are indeed correct. But there was a perception that before 9/11 that many people joined the military for various reasons, least of those was to deploy and the possibility of going to war. As in needing a job in a very bad economy, educational benefits, etc. Remember it was almost 20 years since Desert Storm, minus a few brush ups like Somalia, so most young recriuts weren't even born before the last time we were in a major fight. But like I stated, if you joined after 9/11 or you reenlisted after then, your expectations should have changed accordingly. There is no voluntold, you are following the orders you swore to obey.

CSM William Payne, as a Desert Shield/Storm Veteran and a career service member, I don't want to sound rude or disrespectful to you but there was only a roughly 10 year difference between the first Gulf War and 9/11. We also had ongoing deployments in between the two wars besides Somali. Operations Northern and Southern Watch. I was sent on two of these deployments. Including one where I was recalled off Emergency Leave. I was never deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan because of my job. And, then when my last unit did start sending personal over; I was never on the list because I guess my leadership felt that I had already done my part and it was someone elses turn. I did try and prepare them though with as much knowledge as I could as an E-6 & E-7.

First of all thank you for your service. You are correct. I'll take the heat round on that. I was thinking about the recruits that were going through BCT when I was the CSM of the 108th Training Command, 2007 - 2011. Most of the trainees either had not been born yet and if they were had little or no recollection of Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm. We always have some kind of Operations Other than War going on; Panama, Grenada, Kosovo, Bosnia, Somalia, etc, but the target audience of those that participated in those operations was very selective. Between the conclusion of the Vietnam War till Desert Storm the great majority of service members had never faced a combat deployment or hostilies of any sort. In the immediate aftermath of Desert Storm there was a mass exodus of many military members from the AC, Reserve and Guard force. There was a large number of people serving in the military at that time that never had any desire to be deployed nor face combat. Was never part of their career plan. We had a large number of senior NCOs with 20 - 30 years of service with no combat patch. This was the norm as opposed to the exception. Since 9/11 that has changed considerably. Again my post was in reply to a specialist saying that his unit was voluntold that they were deploying. Given that he is a specialist within the normal window for promotion, he would have had to have enlisted since 9/11. As such he should have had both eyes open when he signed his contract and deployment should have been an expectation of his service and not an exception.

CSM William Payne, thank you for being so gracious about my correction to your statement. And, you are 100% on target about the limited amount of opportunities for combat deployments prior to 9/11. And, you are also 100% correct about the max exodus of personnel from the Military during the Clinton Administration with the draw downs, early separation bonuses/retirement. Not to mention all the base closer and withdraw of troops from overseas locations. So if anyone enlisted after 9/11 or reenlisted; they had to know that they where going to pull several combat deployments unless they were injured and then MEB'd and medically Retired out. You definitely hit the nail on the head with all of your comments and I agree with you on everything had to say regarding this matter. It's the same thing with the EIB/CIB. For the longest time all you ever saw anyone wear was the EIB. It was a rare exception to see someone wearing a CIB. Have a great weekend and year CSM.

SPC Rory J. Mattheisen - Perfect description of you. Took the words out of my mouth.

You said it generations, majority of the Civil Affairs teams are made up of older seasoned soldiers, so for us it came with the uniform. The younger guys complained the most because their generation was all video games.

I know, I hear it all the time. It's the "me" and "why" generations.

I knew something had to of changed, no more incoming mortar rounds all day long then?

Not everyday while I was at adder it happened mayn't once a week and post was real chill