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Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

chrisseaton.com

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Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#331

Post by mcguire »

"This is ‘mission command’ and violating it and micromanaging my Yeomen is a real taboo."

In 1912, a guy by the name of Frank Schofield gave a lecture to the US Naval War College that was later published as a booklet called The Estimate of the Situation. (This was later blown all out of proportion, but I think the original is the clearest.) (http://edocs.nps.edu/dodpubs/topic/general/est-sit_1912.pdf)

It's a very good way of setting up a mission command-style order:

1. Here's my understanding of the situation.

2. Here's what we need to do.

3. Here's the difficulties preventing us.

4. Here's the assets we have.

5. And therefore this is what I want done. (The person getting the order gets to go through a similar process to figure out how to do it.)

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#332

Post by hitekker »

giaour wrote: post #51
scandox wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At RubyConf 2014 someone in the lunch queue asked what I did before I was in tech and asked me if I enjoyed killing babies when I explained. To some extent your question is in the same category as the above. It decontextualizes the situation entirely. He lives in a democracy. He obviously believes that society is less worse than some visible alternatives. He therefore believes he can fight on its behalf based on wh…

I don't know if this was your intention, but your comment comes off as extremely dismissive. If you are joining a fighting force, you absolutely should consider where and how you might be deployed should your unit get mobilized. There is a tremendous difference between doing an active tour of duty in a foreign country and being called up domestically, and it is fine to use your own moral calculus when weighing the tw…

It's fine to dismiss boring flamebait. The top-level comment is dressed up to sound curious but basically falls in the same category of questions that the GP and OP called out as thoughtless.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#333

Post by pxmpxm »

saiya-jin wrote: post #305
pxmpxm wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "difficult to obtain without military service" This is factually incorrect - you literally can get $400k in education of your choosing at the tender age of 18, which is why we frequently discus articles revolving around student debt for degrees that don't pay anything. There isn't anything even remotely equivalent when it comes to money access of this sort (try getting a $400k mortgage with zero income and zero ass…

You can get mortgage of 400k USD, what a great thing to get when entering 18... Sorry guys but this is so fucked up from European point of view. And that poor people are pushed to enlist to kill innocent folks half around the globe just to be able to study is yet another level of fuckery. But at least you guys get some semi-decent medical insurance to live like a human being. For which we also don't need to pay (or v…

European here as well; I suspect you misunderstood: Getting college loans in the US is absolutely trivial and the amount of money you can have access to is objectively preposterous. Any notion that the only way to get access to education is by joining the military is patently wrong.

> "we also don't need to pay"

You certainly are paying, sir.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#334

Post by [deleted] »

jleyank wrote: post #2

A fair number of people in the US, probably in other countries with similar programs, use the military as a means of funding their education at the uni or post-uni level. The govt pays for them, and in return there is a multi-year commitment in some form of the military. It's a good deal for both sides, although the risks were pointed out big-time back when Desert Shield became Desert Storm and a whole lot of EMT...M…

[deleted]

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#335

Post by [deleted] »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #25
jmyeet wrote: post #14

So one of the things I like about Tiktok is you get exposed to something you normally wouldn't and it can be fascinating. One example of this I had an Air Force recruiter pop up on my fyp. This is obviously US-centric (as opposed to the article, which is the UK) but here are some things I've learned: 1. The difference between Reserve and Guard? Reserve is Federal, Guard is State (this was news to me); 2. Signing up f…

This isn't a positive. It is a tragedy that these services (education, healthcare) are difficult to obtain without military service in a supposedly developed country.

[deleted]

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#336

Post by micromacrofoot »

rhinoceraptor wrote: post #138
freedomben wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

college is definitely a top reason people join, but anecdotally I don't think it's number 1 (though any data on the subject would be interesting). It's also very complicated because there are almost always multiple reasons at play, and usually they change as you go. I joined because I was homeless and floating around from crappy and physically demanding jobs, and I wanted to GTFO of where I grew up. After a couple of…

The real number 1 reason is to get a 96 month loan on a Dodge Charger :)

This is so prevalent that the military actually spends a significant amount of money trying to educate young recruits about predatory car loans. Dealerships know they're easy marks and have been funneling them into the debt pipeline for decades.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#337

Post by chrisseaton »

throwaway0x7E6 wrote: post #313
notch656a wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if this is sarcasm, but quite a few on here from 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/oifnames-of-fa...

well alright, I stand corrected still tho, senators' and millionaires' sons aren't the E-rank grunts driving the trucks

No they’re the young platoon leaders putting themselves in harm’s way.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#338

Post by cafard »

coldtea wrote: post #273
YATA1 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve This is a often repeated myth. The upper class serves more per capita than the lower class.

Yeah, just not in any combat duty, except the rare ocassion. Combat is for the lower classes, preferably rural poor

There did seem to be a rule that the Ivy League turned out for Armageddon. Elliot Richardson, who as about as upper crust as you can get, landed in Normandy on D-Day, as did Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#339

Post by qgin »

sdoering wrote: post #288
scottlamb wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Americans' satisfaction with the way the healthcare system works for them varies by the type of insurance they have. Satisfaction is highest among those with veterans or military health insurance… Sounds about right to me. The VA health care system has problems [1] but on the whole doesn't seem worse than the rest of the US healthcare system, maybe better. Anecdote: when my dad retired, my parents lost their insura…

Wow. I am always stunned reading accounts like this. I can't imagine living in a country where you loose health care when loosing a job or going into retirement. I have to admit reading posts like yours makes me realize how lucky I feel with the German system. And yes. I am well aware of the monthly costs that brings in terms of around 14% of my salary for health insurance. And of the limitations. But to me this stil…

For what it’s worth, currently you can get a mid-tier Obamacare / ACA health insurance plan for no more than 8.5% of your income. It’s a big jump to have a new expense of 8.5% for sure, but we do have that option now.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#340

Post by sdoering »

aksss wrote: post #326
scottlamb wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a terrible system, and it was more terrible before Obamacare. In general when someone retires they're old enough to be eligible for Medicare (government-sponsored health care). My dad was. But my mom was just enough younger that she wasn't eligible for Medicare when he retired. There were (and still are) all kinds of weird gaps like this.

Obamacare created new gaps that absolutely sucked - made over 58k and self employed? No subsidies for you and paying a skyrocketing premium higher than any reasonable home mortgage with a 10k deductible. Completely unrealistic. And then the IRS hit you for thousands in penalties via the individual mandate. I lived through that, uninsured, for five years or so as a business owner - to “rich” to get subsidies, too poor…

I see how this sucks for you.

Just out of curiosity I calculated roughly the cost in Germany. If you were self employed and made 5.000 € a month your health insurance would be somewhat around 900 € per month. Partly tax deductible if I am not mistaken.

So quite a bit of money. But probably manageable for many/most people.

I am lucky. As I only do freelance work on the side I am insured via what I pay from my main income. So no additional costs for me as long as I don't make more on the side than in my main job.

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