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U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

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Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#141

Post by jcranmer »

save_ferris wrote: post #96
ggamecrazy wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe inside the special operations community, Navy Seals, especially Team 6, gets a lot of flak for the amount of insider content that comes out [1]. Perhaps some of the lessons may apply to the tech community as well. I found this quote resonating well even for myself and tech, specifically for the adoration of tech leaders: "It’s easy to fall in love with oneself, but this is not about us...It cannot be about…

> I believe inside the special operations community, Navy Seals, especially Team 6, gets a lot of flak for the amount of insider content that comes out This may be true, but it also reminds me of the long and lucrative relationship between the US military and Hollywood[0]. It's pretty well established at this point that the military is willing to pay for opportunities to look good in movies, like they did in the Tran…

Amazingly, that Wikipedia article doesn't mention America's Army... a video game produced by the military for recruitment purposes.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#142

Post by stonogo »

kthxbye123 wrote: post #85
cosmodisk wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they are fed up with making pennies. It's the case in pretty much every country,only in the US they tend to have a little bit more so called opportunities because of mass obsession about anything military related. In my own country the guys from special forces take unpaid holidays and go abroad for some lucrative private contracts because the government pays peanuts.

Between their salaries, hazard pay, pensions, government hiring and contracting preferences, free lifetime healthcare, free tuition, free graduate tuition, free job retraining and zero-interest mortgages, U.S. soldiers are amply compensated, and there are plenty of legitimate opportunities available for guys from elite units like the Green Berets. None of the guys writing tell-alls or turning to a life of internation…

"Hazard pay" is $150 per month at most. The "free lifetime healthcare" gets eroded every congressional session (for a while there they took away dental coverage), and the VA health care system has a well-deserved reputation for being a nightmare factory. There is no such thing as a "zero-interest mortgage." The only benefit to a VA loan is the zero-down-payment. The only way to retire on a full-salary pension is to serve for forty years.

There are benefits to serving, but troops are not well compensated compared to the work performed. I'd also be interested in what you think the job market looks like for someone who has spent twenty years in a combat arms MOS. Most of the officers wind up well-prepared for management roles, but I don't know any enlisted retirees who didn't have a hard time transitioning.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#143

Post by _57jb »

blantonl wrote: post #63

It's been extremely disturbing to see how much the culture of special operations military has changed in the past 20 years. Previously, Navy Seal and Green Berets operated in silent, keeping the sausage making of military special operations quiet and secret, just doing their duty. Now, it seems like every Navy SEAL now publically writes a book, sponsors a coffee line, or slaps their name, likeness and story all over…

How is this any different than FAANG type workers spinning out, creating their startup, writing a book....

Really myopic view. You may not consider it cool but this is their livelihood which they've put a lot more into than many I know.

I have personally had an opportunity to serve alongside some of the most incredible leaders. I wish they had money set for the rest of their lives and not have a need to cash in on their hard work and end up taking shots like yours.

If there was some disingenuous military folks cashing in and exploiting the system, sure I agree, those people suck.

Doesn't seem very decent for you to paint an entire community with a single brush.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#144

Post by thefounder »

blantonl wrote: post #63

It's been extremely disturbing to see how much the culture of special operations military has changed in the past 20 years. Previously, Navy Seal and Green Berets operated in silent, keeping the sausage making of military special operations quiet and secret, just doing their duty. Now, it seems like every Navy SEAL now publically writes a book, sponsors a coffee line, or slaps their name, likeness and story all over…

Now it's really more about the money than anything else. You can't talk about Iraq and millitary without talking about oil and private contractors. Like it or not it became a kind of mercenary business. I can't blame the service people (Navy SEAL) though. I'm pretty sure they get the short straws from the deal anyway.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#145

Post by entee »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #90
blantonl wrote: post #63

It's been extremely disturbing to see how much the culture of special operations military has changed in the past 20 years. Previously, Navy Seal and Green Berets operated in silent, keeping the sausage making of military special operations quiet and secret, just doing their duty. Now, it seems like every Navy SEAL now publically writes a book, sponsors a coffee line, or slaps their name, likeness and story all over…

The mission of the Navy SEAL squad is to locate, close with, and destroy book deals. Edit: I'm also tired of being lectured on integrity, honor, sacrifice, and duty only to see them cower in the face of questions about Eddie Gallagher.

Should be noted that a number of people in Gallagher’s unit came forward and raised issues. It’s one of the reasons he was prosecuted in the first place.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#146

Post by pnw_hazor »

hpoe wrote: post #86
blantonl wrote: post #63

It's been extremely disturbing to see how much the culture of special operations military has changed in the past 20 years. Previously, Navy Seal and Green Berets operated in silent, keeping the sausage making of military special operations quiet and secret, just doing their duty. Now, it seems like every Navy SEAL now publically writes a book, sponsors a coffee line, or slaps their name, likeness and story all over…

So I know some folks in the business I think part of it is because we've glamorized special forces but there isn't always a pressing need for them. From what my friends in the business say is that it is 98% of your life is spent in miserable training, only the top elite of the spec ops forces ever see anything real. Probably in part because these forces were forged during the midst of the Cold War to combat the Red M…

During the fighting seasons in Afghanistan. US Army Rangers were doing raids every night. (Not counting in-country downtime associated with changing operation areas.)

Most raids were uneventful but contact with enemy happened often enough.

But they rarely had access to 160th SOAR helicopters because the 160th was usually busy supporting SEALs and Delta.

To your point about training, deployment was considered an easier time than being state-side because state-side time mostly consisted of high tempo training to prepare for other missions as well as get ready for the next rotation.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#147

Post by raverbashing »

blantonl wrote: post #63

It's been extremely disturbing to see how much the culture of special operations military has changed in the past 20 years. Previously, Navy Seal and Green Berets operated in silent, keeping the sausage making of military special operations quiet and secret, just doing their duty. Now, it seems like every Navy SEAL now publically writes a book, sponsors a coffee line, or slaps their name, likeness and story all over…

Well, the 'motivational/marketing' side makes more money than the actual job.

In the same way that Harley Davidson makes more money with merch than with motorbikes and George Foreman made more money sponsoring a kitchen grill than with his boxing career.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#148

Post by zerkten »

psychometry wrote: post #73
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> all you need are high-level State Department contacts That's a terrible strategy for getting out of the clutch's of a foreign country's law enforcement. Let alone an ally's.

Why? Who do you think negotiates things like prisoner exchanges?

It's not as simple as you suggest. Hearing someone is imprisoned, or kidnapped, is probably one of the last things that a local consulate or embassy wants to deal with. Unless there is broader geopolitical concern, there is little reason to think that these folks will do much beyond the minimum to keep you alive. There is a good chance that the local diplomatics aren't too sympathetic either because know what you should have known about the country before you got yourself into trouble.

If they think there is some injustice, then it depends on how much it'll play out in the media. The government posture at home will also play a part. You could see the Trump administration playing hardball in a lot of scenarios to demonstrate how tough they are, but then they undermine the general ability of the State Department to operate, so lower visibility problems struggle for attention and resources. The Obama administration provided more resources, but probably wasn't as hawkish.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#149

Post by CapricornNoble »

djdjrjfbfjd wrote: post #72
blantonl wrote: post #63

It's been extremely disturbing to see how much the culture of special operations military has changed in the past 20 years. Previously, Navy Seal and Green Berets operated in silent, keeping the sausage making of military special operations quiet and secret, just doing their duty. Now, it seems like every Navy SEAL now publically writes a book, sponsors a coffee line, or slaps their name, likeness and story all over…

I worked with seals on a few projects, back when Blackwater was a thing and also more recently, and I wonder what kind of job offers these guys are getting after they leave the military. Or, frighteningly, while they’re still in it. The number and variety of corporate and private mercenary forces is much higher than most people would suspect. The size of Special Operations Command in the active duty US military is al…

>>I wonder what kind of job offers these guys are getting after they leave the military. Or, frighteningly, while they’re still in it.

They're getting gigs as paid assassins, moonlighting as military officers in other nations' Direct Action missions so they can pull in $25k/month.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/aramroston/mercenaries-...

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#150

Post by meheleventyone »

kthxbye123 wrote: post #122
0xCMP wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIUC it's the same as anyone else being in the military for 20 years. That's not really enough IMHO for the level of training they have.

Part of the allure of the job is that it's supposed to be about abstract values like honor, duty, loyalty, patriotism etc. and not about compensation. It can't be otherwise, because then you have to accept that the job is basically just about killing people in exchange for money.

It can be about all that stuff and you can pay people well. Nothing about the latter implies you have to suddenly change your values.
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