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I'm the CTO of Palantir. Today I Join the Army

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Re: I'm the CTO of Palantir. Today I Join the Army

#31

Post by TMWNN »

gigaflop wrote: post #20

This feels disingenuous to the max. I have a younger brother who went through USAF Basic, and these tech bros just get bestowed a high rank? It smells of stolen valor. I mean nothing ill towards the 'mud hut', but seriously? All these listed names seem like people who've never had to roll in the mud with the rest of the grunts.

>stolen valor

... is a term with a specific definition, which a direct commission officer in no way matches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_commission_officer>

>roll in the mud with the rest of the grunts

Neither have you, yet you presume to speak on their behalf.

Re: I'm the CTO of Palantir. Today I Join the Army

#35

Post by jltsiren »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #14
LargeWu wrote: post #10

Just jumping right in as a Lt Col? Is there a lot of precedent for that? I know that the armed forces have worked with a lot of scientists before, like in the Manhattan Project, but my understanding is that most of them remained civilians.

Isn't this the sort of thing that warrant officers were created for? Why wouldn't they give him a high warrant officer rank rather than a commissioned rank?

If you bring in people from other organizations, you usually give them titles that reflect their actual roles.

Warrant officers are a leftover from an era when you had to be nobility to become a commissioned officer. Today a lieutenant is just a kid with a college degree, and a lieutenant colonel is someone who did an MBA and was promoted into middle management.

Re: I'm the CTO of Palantir. Today I Join the Army

#38

Post by gigaflop »

TMWNN wrote: post #31
gigaflop wrote: post #20

This feels disingenuous to the max. I have a younger brother who went through USAF Basic, and these tech bros just get bestowed a high rank? It smells of stolen valor. I mean nothing ill towards the 'mud hut', but seriously? All these listed names seem like people who've never had to roll in the mud with the rest of the grunts.

>stolen valor ... is a term with a specific definition, which a direct commission officer in no way matches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_commission_officer > >roll in the mud with the rest of the grunts Neither have you, yet you presume to speak on their behalf.

I believe that I am equally qualified for the role as they are ;)

Re: I'm the CTO of Palantir. Today I Join the Army

#39

Post by itsdrewmiller »

verst wrote: post #15
LargeWu wrote: post #10

Just jumping right in as a Lt Col? Is there a lot of precedent for that? I know that the armed forces have worked with a lot of scientists before, like in the Manhattan Project, but my understanding is that most of them remained civilians.

Yes, I believe some folks who joined the Defense Digital Service received similar rank.

Who?

Re: I'm the CTO of Palantir. Today I Join the Army

#40

Post by LargeWu »

TMWNN wrote: post #31
gigaflop wrote: post #20

This feels disingenuous to the max. I have a younger brother who went through USAF Basic, and these tech bros just get bestowed a high rank? It smells of stolen valor. I mean nothing ill towards the 'mud hut', but seriously? All these listed names seem like people who've never had to roll in the mud with the rest of the grunts.

>stolen valor ... is a term with a specific definition, which a direct commission officer in no way matches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_commission_officer > >roll in the mud with the rest of the grunts Neither have you, yet you presume to speak on their behalf.

It might not be stolen valor, but you just KNOW these guys are going to play up their veteran status, the Honor and Sacrifice of these Great Men, (the article is already an example of this) when really this is just a trojan horse to enrich themselves and their companies. They're not even full time positions.
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