Can you be involuntarily released from service?

[CAMike]

Ken- Those pictures above are the events that gives us "older than you guys" nightmares and insomnia for extended periods of time. THANK YOU!

Barney F__ grabs the butt of a much younger man and then faces an audience without fear? And Barney gets re-elected by... Americans?

Although Barney's deer in the headlights look when that Jerry "Human?" invades his personal space is truly classic. I'd be very cautious with that hand shake as well. (a right hook might be coming next) Then again I probably wouldn't have been invited anyway.

Clap Off!

 

[Ken_gone_flying]

Ken- Those pictures above are the events that gives us "older than you guys" nightmares and insomnia for extended periods of time. THANK YOU!

I'm sure those pictures are just as unsettling to the younger guys in here. I know they are for me. My apologies for replacing the visions of sugar plums.

 

[Flash]

And Barney gets re-elected by... Americans

Yeah, figure that. I guess it takes all kinds.

 

[Brett327]

Well, Frank isn't setting policy, so his rhetoric about a 25% cut in military spending is meaningless. I will give one year's pay to the charity of your collective choice if that comes to pass - write it down.

Brett

 

[Jim123]

I will give one year's pay to the charity of your collective choice if that comes to pass - write it down.

Brett

Hmmm, is AW registered as a Section 501(c) organization?

 

[xj220]

Remember, it's the locals that vote him in, not the majority of Americans across the US.

 

[Flash]

Remember, it's the locals that vote him in, not the majority of Americans across the US.

Really?!!

 

[A4sForever]

Well, Frank isn't setting policy, so his rhetoric about a 25% cut in military spending is meaningless. I will give one year's pay to the charity of your collective choice if that comes to pass - write it down.

Brett

True ... it's a 'trial balloon' ... it's 'smoke' .... but still, do you REALLY think this bunch is any more pro-military than the former Naval Officer -- Jimmy Carter -- and his buddies .... ???

Stand by for the cuts.

And .... I am my own best "charity" ... write THAT down.

 

[MasterBates]

I think the "Get Master out of the Puma" charity is better, but then again, I miss having a garage/workshop.

 

[SkywardET]

True ... it's a 'trial balloon' ... it's 'smoke' .... but still, do you REALLY think this bunch is any more pro-military than the former Naval Officer -- Jimmy Carter -- and his buddies .... ???

Stand by for the cuts.

And .... I am my own best "charity" ... write THAT down.

I think you're absolutely right, and there will be some cuts. However, President Obama is matching President Bush's policies almost exactly, so we will be involved in wafare for the next four or eight years which reduces the chance of a huge RIF. The current CIC is no peacenik like President Carter was.

 

[Ken_gone_flying]

I think the "Get Master out of the Puma" charity is better, but then again, I miss having a garage/workshop.

I think you like the Puma and would live in it regardless of your financial situation.

 

[scoolbubba]

I think the "Get Master out of the Puma" charity is better, but then again, I miss having a garage/workshop.

So this morning, after tripping all the way down to KSC to see a shuttle launch (left at 0330) that was scrubbed, the only picture that was aviation related that I could have conceivably gotten was a picture of a Puma, being towed up 95. It was a bad morning.

 

[Makk85]

I had an enlightening conversation with a retired career military aviator yesterday. He was in the service from 1958-1988 and flew for the Navy, Marines and finished in the Coast Guard. He still wears his wings; although instead of wings of gold he sports a pterodactyl pin (good humored old captain flew when dinosaurs were around).

A lot of his advice was similar to what I have seen on the threads or heard elsewhere before, but one thing really caught my attention. He is fully convinced that today's military is going down the crapper. He told me he would not recommend to anyone today to join the service; despite the fact that if he could he would do it all over again as it was the best chapter of his life.

While he admits things could have changed since when he retired in the late 80's, he was fairly certain that reaching 20 years of service for a retirement has been made nearly impossible as Uncle Sam has realized it is more cost effective to let the old guys go before they reach their retirement benefits and to train new guys to replace them. He told me to make sure my contract said USN and not USNR so I didn't get screwed right off the bat.

While I believe that there will always be challenging times for the service, I am a bit skeptical to believe, to the extent he was suggesting, that we are all screwed.

Has the good old fashioned military retirement gone extinct with the dinosaurs and the auto industry?

 

[Flash]

......He is fully convinced that today's military is going down the crapper. He told me he would not recommend to anyone today to join the service.......he was fairly certain that reaching 20 years of service for a retirement has been made nearly impossible......I am a bit skeptical to believe..that we are all screwed......Has the good old fashioned military retirement gone extinct with the dinosaurs and the auto industry?

I think you are right to be skeptical, it sounds like he has taken a few things he has heard about the military from the news or friends a little too seriously. To go as far as to not recommend people not joining the service shows me he has really fallen off his rocker.

As for the military retirement system, it has not changed much since he got out. And it certainly is not impossible to get to 20 years now, as long as you make rank you will be able to retire just like he did. There is talk that the retirement system might get changed it in the future, and I think it is worth looking at, but that is a ways off even if it does happen. There would be also be significant hurdles to changing it, I imagine veteran's service organizations and many members of Congress would not be receptive to it, they weren't the last time a significant change was supposed to take effect a few years ago. Even if it does change it would probably not be retroactive, such changes rarely are.

 

[Spekkio]

He told me to make sure my contract said USN and not USNR so I didn't get screwed right off the bat.

As far as I understand it, OCS and NROTC officers used to commission as "reserve" officers while USNA commissioned as "regular" officers. If you wanted to stay in past LT, you had to apply for a regular commission. Any of the more seasoned guys want to shed some light on this and how difficult it was to get the paperwork converted?

That has all been done away with, and everyone commissions in the same status.