Rant

Pete · Jul 15, 2005

itsbob said:
By 1995 the opposite was true.. NOBODY with less then a 50 AFQT could get in the Army PERIOD.. we sent all those guys to the Navy or the Marines.. We went two or three years with 100% IIIA, then they opened up limited IIIB.

And how many, in your years of recruiting, that scored over a 50 AFQT had line scores less then 100??

Every October we would get the USAREC "quota" for each test category, and were VERY limted on how many CAT-IV(if any), III-B and Non Grad III-A's that we could write nationally for the year, most years it was ZERO.. after that quota was gone (usually within two weeks) they shut us off, and were done until the next October.

Now what we did with all those others, to include those with less then gleaming criminal records, was send them to the Guard & Reserve (the Reserve recruiter DID work out of the Army office).. All of their standards were negotiable, and they could just about put anybody in that could inhale 3 times in a row without choking..

Good grief Bob in 1995 we were in the "great drawdown period" Every branch of service increased their entry requirements because we didn't need as many. When you have the same size pool of applicants for a significantly smaller set of jobs ANYONE can be more picky. The Army got whacked harder than the rest. Hell we were paying people to get out with TERA and the other program that slips my mind.

The Navy also used CAT-IV people for many years to fill really crappy hard to fill jobs. They even went back to 2 year, no guarentee jobs and it bit them in the ass.

As far as line scores go the forumla is on the Army website for each job. A 100 line score in CO does not mean that they will get the same in MM or ST because different chunks of ASVAB are used to compute it. One persons AFQT of 51 could be a ST of 115 and qual for a ST job yet another persons AFQT of 70 could be a ST of 90. It all depends on the score for a particular area.

The point remains that when you said an infantryman needed the same score as a linguist you were misleading. Not many people would say a person who scores a 90 in arithmetic, auto/shop and mechanical comprehension is as sharp as a person who scores a 95 in Word knowledge, reading comp, mathematic knowledge and mechanical comperhension.

In conclusion the ASVAB is by no means an all inclusive indicator anyway. I saw guys with a 61 who were aces and many with 90 who could not chew gum and walk who were only interested in when payday was.

ylexot · Jul 15, 2005

pixiegirl said:
I don't discriminate.... I LOVE all men in uniform.

I have a flight suit :whistle:

Pete · Jul 15, 2005

ylexot said:
I have a flight suit I ordered from the back of Soldier of Fortune magazine

:fixed:

cattitude · Jul 15, 2005

ylexot said:
I have a flight suit

and you look mighty fine :yay:

BadGirl · Jul 15, 2005

That dude looks like he's wearing pantaloons. Or is it pantiloons? Oh whatever.....

They look like they even have fur trim on the bottom hem. I hope it's faux fur.

cattitude · Jul 15, 2005

BadGirl said:
That dude looks like he's wearing pantaloons. Or is it pantiloons? Oh whatever.....

They look like they even have fur trim on the bottom hem. I hope it's faux fur.

I notice he has very long fingers. :jet:

Otter · Jul 15, 2005

BadGirl said:
That dude looks like he's wearing pantaloons. Or is it pantiloons? Oh whatever.....

They look like they even have fur trim on the bottom hem. I hope it's faux fur.

Its past 4, you decide against listening to Miss Christys :blahblah:

???

Nickel · Jul 15, 2005

pixiegirl said:
What makes you think this? What about police officers, firefighters and such? The only reason I ask is because you stressed the fact by italicizing "the most" and said "no exceptions."

I would say that the military is one of the most but wouldn't give them exclusive rights.

You're right, police officers and firefighters do put their lives on the line for their jobs. The difference between them and the military though, is that, in general, they serve their community, whereas the military often serves the globe. I'm not negating the fact that police officers and firefighters should be commended...by all means they should, and they sure don't get enough credit for what they do. But I did qualify my statement as my "opinion". I don't know any firefighters or police officers (besides people I went to school with). I was born into and raised on the military life. My dad retired from the Navy, my mom was in until I was 5, and it's snowballed from there. I've lived the sacrifices the military puts on their service members, and I'm not complaining about it...they know what they're getting themselves into when they join. And I'm not just limiting my statement to those that are "over there" or have fought in a war...they deal with shiat on a daily basis that most civilians don't have to worry about. I have two examples...the first being my father...

He (and my mother) were CT's (cryptologic technicians). Basically they had desk jobs. There was a point in their careers where they both had to be at work at the same time (usually they tried to stagger shifts so I didn't have to be in daycare). I got sick, and my dad agreed to take me to the doctor. When he tried to call out, he was told that if the Navy wanted him to have a family, they would've issued him one, and to get his ass into work. That's probably around the time my mom decided not to reenlist. Also, as being a member of the military, he was, on occasion, required to work on a ship. At one point during the first Gulf War, his battle group was ready to deploy to the Persian Golf. My desk-job daddy was, in effect, going to be sent to war. The war ended, and he never went, but the threat was there, as it is with any member of the military.

The second example is my cousin, who is an Airborne Ranger. So far, he has served 2 tours in Iraq. During the second tour, his first child was born. His wife couldn't contact him to notify him that she was in labor, and previous requests for leave were refused. He didn't see his son until he was a month old. He was told, and I quote "If the army wanted you to have a family, we would have issued you one".

Again, I don't know about police officers and firefighters because I don't live that life. My brother, my cousin, my friends, are in the military, and I may lose them at any given time to that. That is what affects me. The military isn't just a job, it's a lifestyle, for everyone involved.