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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

#511

Post by antattack »

routeerror40 wrote: post #219
sputknick wrote: post #8

I spent five years in the Air Force. Posts like this are really helpful, a lot of Americans are disconnected from members of the military, especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve, or in fields (like tech) where people can often find less intrusive ways to pay for college. My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders, and don't ask for…

I signed up for 4 years for the US Army in order to finish college. Ended up doing 5 years for being stop lossed due to a deployment that got extended. When I joined I had 72 hours college under my belt, went in as a PFC. The reality of service is it is both the good as portrayed here and the shit experiences I know we have all had in the service. Would I change anything, no. Was it all cake, hell no. But I wouldn't…

> forced mega dose of reality

Sounds dreadful.

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

#512

Post by notadev »

oaxacaoaxaca wrote: post #83
sputknick wrote: post #8

I spent five years in the Air Force. Posts like this are really helpful, a lot of Americans are disconnected from members of the military, especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve, or in fields (like tech) where people can often find less intrusive ways to pay for college. My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders, and don't ask for…

>None of that is true. All of that is true about my Army experience lol. If I could go back and do it again, I'd definitely choose Air Force. I agree that the military can be a positive experience and it's a good idea for some people, but the caveat with my endorsement is that you gotta carefully choose the branch and the job. I almost chose linguistics, but for some silly reason chose mechanic and paratrooper, and w…

In the Navy, MOSes are called Rates, so “choose your rate, choose your fate” was a common refrain.

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

#513

Post by matwood »

belfalas wrote: post #315
matwood wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The term is communicating the "Commanders Intent". It's exactly I how work with my teams. Giving the people doing the work as much information as possible, lets them make better decisions as all the little decisions pop up. I wasn't in the military, and have always led this way because it seemed more effective and tbh, less work for me. Ideally I don't need to micro-manage anyone when they have all the same informati…

> The term is communicating the "Commanders Intent". There is a classic presentation from Mary Poppendieck on this, highly recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypEMdjslEOI

Great talk! Thank you.

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

#514

Post by analognoise »

monocasa wrote: post #462
YATA1 wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that is reality. $65k is where the richest quantile for neighborhood median household income starts, by census tract [0]. The linked report was compiled by Dr. Shanea Watkins, a policy analyst specializing in empirical studies. Unless you have sources that claim otherwise, my original claim stands. [0] http://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/2008/pdf/cda08-05.pdf

Or that just means that upper class doesn't start at the boundary of the top quantile. I'm sorry but no stretch of the imagination has upper class as a couple making 33k/yr each. That's absolutely absurd. That's $16.50 an hour with no overtime. Looking at it, upper class typically is the top one or two percent of the population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_upper_class

That's not absurd - if you define "upper quartile" to be so broad, you get the conclusion you want - that they're "overrepresented".

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

#515

Post by analognoise »

wolverine876 wrote: post #478
chiph wrote: post #448

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're even more rare in the military than in the general population. Firstly for the obvious reason - they don't need any of the benefits so they don't join. Secondly - someone that becomes that wealthy while serving (via a trust-fund, large inheritance, or winning the lottery) would no longer be a good fit for the military. They usually get offered an Honorable Discharge. However, if they still desire to serve the…

> someone that becomes that wealthy while serving (via a trust-fund, large inheritance, or winning the lottery) would no longer be a good fit for the military. They usually get offered an Honorable Discharge. That's shocking. Where is this rule? Have you seen it happen? I didn't know wealth defined fitness for service.

Of course wealth defines fitness for service (in America, anyway).

Isn't "money for college and healthcare" kinda obvious about it? Like there's almost a wink and a nudge at the end of it.

It's super blatant that having very few economic options and no healthcare chooses fitness for service for you.

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

#516

Post by ethbr0 »

watwut wrote: post #497
ethbr0 wrote: post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> WWII changed that Bullshit. Who was prosecuted for the firebombing of Dresden or Tokyo? How many of the German rocketry experts scooped up during Paperclip were convicted? How many US military members have been delivered to the ICJ?

> Bullshit. Who was prosecuted for the firebombing of Dresden or Tokyo? Neither of these is comparable for what Germans did and you know it. > How many US military members have been delivered to the ICJ? US did not signed membership.

> Neither of these is comparable for what Germans did and you know it.

A couple tens of thousands of dead civilians seems pretty serious to me.

By your metric, how many dead civilians are sufficient to warrant prosecution?

> US did not signed membership.

The US did sign membership, and then withdrew in 1986 because it didn't want to be bound by rulings.

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

#517

Post by ethbr0 »

watwut wrote: post #496
ethbr0 wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When push comes to shove, it's about power. F.ex. the desegregation of Arkansas schools [0]. If don't have force to command, you don't have authority. My point that the very existence of laws (any laws!) is predicated on access to force. Without force, you can only have those rules to which everyone voluntarily agrees, and continues doing so. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Nine#National_Gu...

> When push comes to shove, it's about power. F.ex. the desegregation of Arkansas schools [0]. If don't have force to command, you don't have authority. I would point out that segregation itself was hold by forces. The particular unit went there, because local ones were onthe other side.

Please read the entire entry. What happened after that?

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

#518

Post by analognoise »

wolverine876 wrote: post #484
remarkEon wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t have the links handy, but yes many are fully aware that the AVF (All Volunteer Force) is in some ways sectioning themselves off from the rest of the population. In other ways I could argue it’s almost becoming a “warrior caste” situation, where fathers serve, (at least one of) their sons serve, and so on. I’m not ready to say this is unhealthy, necessarily, but it’s a very real trend. The only way to fix it i…

> The only way to fix it is to bring back the draft, in either full or some modified form. One idea is a draft for the reserves, not for active duty. That gives us the benefits of an AVF - the professionalism, etc. - and also gives Americans 'skin in the game' when at war, when reserves are called up. It's hard to imagine Afghanistan dragging on for 20 years if, for the whole time, civilians were being sent there to…

Hold on.

We got lied to about Vietnam. Iraq had WMDs. Afghanistan was a budding democracy, fully equipped to stand on its own. Russia was an unstoppable modern military and we need hundreds of billions to hold them off!

Now. All those people lied - buy we're blaming the civilian population for not having skin in a game which is clearly run by liars, and not "doing more" to stop these liars?

We've watched it mangle generation after generation of our young people, and none of the liars are held responsible.

Of course we don't want skin in the game.

In a healthy democracy, these military liars wouldn't last. It's not a healthy democracy.

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

#519

Post by analognoise »

YATA1 wrote: post #322
coldtea wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

>Yeah, just not in any combat duty That is false. Middle and upper class are more likely to serve in combat roles than lower class. >Combat is for the lower classes, preferably rural poor Complete opposite actually.

Just define "upper" class at 65k/yr household income, and boom! Lots of upper class households serve!

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

#520

Post by EdwardDiego »

sputknick wrote: post #8

I spent five years in the Air Force. Posts like this are really helpful, a lot of Americans are disconnected from members of the military, especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve, or in fields (like tech) where people can often find less intrusive ways to pay for college. My favorite part of the article is dispelling the myth that in the military senior people bark orders, and don't ask for…

> a lot of Americans are disconnected from members of the military, especially in the upper classes where people do not need to serve

Why do Americans need to be connected with the military though? What do you think the benefits of being more connected would be?

Many of us are disconnected from members of the constabulary, from members of the ambulance services, from members of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing, Pipefitting and Sprinkler Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada.

It's just how disparate careers go.

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