Life in the Military

[Shifty]

I'm serving in the Navy. Not as you think though, I'm an American serving in the Israeli Defense Force. Why? I ask myself the same question.

[MarchingDuck]

I'm a military brat...but my dad retired when I was young (my older sister grew up on a base). I've visited many bases in my life, pre and post 9/11.

Many of my counsins are military personal. One just returned from Iraq (thank God). My uncles, grandfathers, father and etc... have all been in the military.

I am also the great great grand neice of Eisenhower.

Basically military runs in my blood if your male.

I am female and suffer from many medical problems that prevent me from any kind of service...but I am proud of my family. My dad's side has served in everywar since they came to this country just before WWI.

[Shadow_Twisted]

Wait, loose ligaments in a knee disqualed from the Navy? If you're not going into a special program, there's not much strenuous activity in boot camp, unless you're really out of shape. As for pack runs, ummm, not in Navy boot camp, unless you talk about moving out with a loaded seabag, that sucked.

As for the "cowards", I have yet to be scared of what I do, but when you know no one sees you until you're about to make 'em go kaboom, it's hard to get scared. Submarines!

That all said, I guess I could give you guys a small taste of training I've been through so far:
Boot Camp:
*Fold and stow
*Rack-making
*Basic Seamanship
*Fire Fighting
*Small Arms Familiarization/Safety
*Battle Stations
Sub School
*Submarine history
*Basic Sub Systems
*Fire Fighting
*Sub Escape
*Ship Control (driving the sub)

For my job, I have some technical schools that deal with computers after basic sub school, then I get to go to "A" school and learn my job's specifics, then I get to be deployed on my first sub. So, in about 6 months to a year I'll be gone, don't really know for sure how long I have after my tech schools.

[MarchingDuck]

Wait, loose ligaments in a knee disqualed from the Navy? If you're not going into a special program, there's not much strenuous activity in boot camp, unless you're really out of shape. As for pack runs, ummm, not in Navy boot camp, unless you talk about moving out with a loaded seabag, that sucked.

As for the "cowards", I have yet to be scared of what I do, but when you know no one sees you until you're about to make 'em go kaboom, it's hard to get scared. Submarines!

My nephew is going into the Navy come fall. I am worried about him...but like I said before all my family are military alums. And I'm sure he will be in good hands.

[theonlysaneone]

My dad was a Paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne for a while. I don't think he was in any major wars (he left before the Persian Gulf war) but he was in Grenada and served for a while in Korea. I do have a ton of respect for what you guys do. I don't think I could do it. I'm willing to put up with the risk and danger involved, but the complete inability to question your superiors would not sit well with me.

[Fiddelysquat]

One of my best friends is married to a man who serves in the Navy (Intelligence). She's been living in Japan for almost a year now because that's where he's stationed. I was surprised at how much of it is petty politics and such. Jim and Pam are very good people, and because of Jim's quick succession through the ranks a lot of his peers are feeling very jealous and stooping quite low to discredit him. Pam had one margerita while they all went out to eat and this one jerk reported back that she was a "raging alcoholic", got sloppily drunk, and other ridiculousness like that.

He's met a lot of very honorable people, but it's really sickening to see how jealousy motivates some people to do really atrocious things.

[theonlysaneone]

One of my best friends is married to a man who serves in the Navy (Intelligence). She's been living in Japan for almost a year now because that's where he's stationed. I was surprised at how much of it is petty politics and such. Jim and Pam are very good people, and because of Jim's quick succession through the ranks a lot of his peers are feeling very jealous and stooping quite low to discredit him. Pam had one margerita while they all went out to eat and this one jerk reported back that she was a "raging alcoholic", got sloppily drunk, and other ridiculousness like that.

He's met a lot of very honorable people, but it's really sickening to see how jealousy motivates some people to do really atrocious things.

Jim and Pam? xD

[Fiddelysquat]

Hehehe, yeah. I always tease them and ask them if they're going to name their first kid something completely ridiculous just to compensate. I suggested Chauncey or Guenevyre.

[Shadow_Twisted]

I think it's funnier that Jim and Pam live in Japan, it's kind of funny how similar they sound.

[theonlysaneone]

I was referring to the "couple" in The Office.

[Green Lady of the knoll]

My husband is in News with the Air Force and he really loves his job. We spent 2 years in Turkey and are in Germany now, thankfully he hasn't been down range yet, I try not to think about it happening, especially now that the deployments have gotten longer. We have watched friends go down and come back, been with their families and children, and heard their stories when they came back.

There have been negatives, in Turkey we border Iraq and Syria, there is alot of unrest between the PKK and Turkish government and quite a few bombings, even in the city we lived in (ATMs mostly). There were a few deaths from bird flu about 100 miles east of us (we were forbidden from going that far east anyway, all the restaurants stopped serving any kind of bird) and the health care was, um, lacking, when I hit 34 weeks pregnant I had to fly out to Germany, but luckily my husband was able to join me at 38 weeks and be there for the birth of our little girl, we flew back into Turkey when she was 2 weeks old. Our newest development from Turkey was failing our Tuberculosis skin test when we entered Germany, luckily our daughter wasn't exposed and we don't have active cases, just 9 months of medicine ahead of us.

As for the positives, we have had some amazing experiences, we went to Kiskalesi, Two ancient castle right on the Mediterranean sea, one on the shore the other in the water, we toured underground cave cities in Cappadocia, went to Istanbul, made amazing friendship both with services members and Turkish families and we were even invited to a circumcision party for our friends 6 year old son. During the evacuation of Lebanon, my husband sponsored a bus from Mersin full of evacuees (the base housed over a thousand for two weeks), one of his coworkers caught an awesome shot of an elderly man walking up to a service member and handing him a huge red rose. When we left we decided to drive 14 hours across Turkey, take a 3 day Ferry to Italy and drive up to Germany. My favorite memory has been holding my daughter up so that at 6 months old she could "tack on" for her daddy at his promotion ceremony.

We have missed our families, and been in some nerve wracking situations, and given up "comforts" from home, but we wouldn't trade it. We have had so many opportunities we would never have had otherwise, walking in a church were St. Peter taught and was actually mentioned in the book of Acts, seeing the world and ourselves through someone else's perception.

Fiddelysquat , there are alot of politics, I hate to hear they gave your friend Pam such a hard time over drinking A drink, I hope it didn't give Jim any problems. How do they like Japan?

Shadow_Twisted I hope you really enjoy your time in the service, it sounds like a hard job but also an awesome one, and I am sure you are going to see some amazing things! Is ship control something everyone goes through or is that more along the lines of what you will be doing?

[Fiddelysquat]

Fiddelysquat , there are alot of politics, I hate to hear they gave your friend Pam such a hard time over drinking A drink, I hope it didn't give Jim any problems. How do they like Japan?

Pam likes some things about Japan, but for the most part she is very homesick, doesn't feel she fits in with the other wives, and is really bothered by how hostile many of the Japanese act towards foreigners that live in their country. A lot of the wives pretty much just drink and flirt/do a whole lot more than flirt with strange men while their husbands are at sea. She's found one or two that are nice to hang out with, though. She and Jim are very close and while she's certainly strong enough to endure his months at sea, she misses him very much while he's away. When he is at home with her they go out and do things and see the sights, but they prefer to do those things together. She's coming home in October for a few months and can hardly wait.

As for Jim, he's very smart and is doing well at his job, and as he's ranking up so fast it's the "in thing" to be his friend, he's only made very few actual friends who aren't just sucking up. He'll be at sea for a couple more months. They e-mail eachother all the time, but I know it's real hard on both of them. I don't know if he'll make a lifelong career out of the Navy, but he's thinking about it. As for him getting in trouble over the drink, he was told that if his wife made any more "unseemly displays" she'd get sent home to America. That slimy jerk had said a whole bunch of crap to his superior. I've heard about some other disgustingly underhanded tricks he's pulled, and I wouldn't be surprised if it were the dear ambition of many on that boat to "accidentally" push him overboard.

[Shadow_Twisted]

Sounds really awful, I'm just glad I don't have to worry about that. Submarines have high advancement rates and you learn to trust your shipmates like family.

To answer Green Lady's question, it's actually a combination of both. Every submariner has to go through the simulation, but not every rating has much time at the wheel. Dealing with navigation, I've heard that my rating gets a good deal of drive time.

I still find it difficult to deal with being thanked for my service, mostly because I'm only a student still. Once I've been out for a tour and have earned my dolphins, then I'm sure I'll be better suited for being thanked.

[3lla]

Im still too young to join the army, but I know I will if I ahve the chance too.
My dad was a part of the old school type of army and he was involved with alot of jungle war fare (this was quite some time ago since my dad isnt the youngest of fathers around). He basically did alot and I mean alot when he was in the army. Most of the things he wont tell me about, because I think it was definitely traumatic for him, yet still a learning experience. But I still think my dad has some of the best and most unusual stories from his lifetime so far.

When I was 4, he took me camping for the first time where he taught me about survival and other such things.
When I was 7, he got me a BB Gun and taught me how to shoot at old pepsi cans in our back yard.
Then when I was 9 he took me paintballing and taght me all about tactics and warfare. It also taught me how to pick myself up even if I wanted to plop down and cry.
When I turned 13, he took me to a firing range for my birthday where I saw him become the first person on the course to get a perfect score on the clay pigeons. He got this HUGE trophy and medals aswell as free dinner at a super restaurant, which is where we went and celebrated. I couldnt shoot at the clay pigeons because of rules and regulations etc.

Yeh...my dad has done alot in his lifetime, and he may not be proud about somethings, but I can tell you, I love him and he inspires me about the army. I always where the Support Our Troops band and so does my dad.