I feel like I am reading a book club blog from Yale sometimes. .
"The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."
Thucydides
I feel like I am reading a book club blog from Yale sometimes. .
This generation is arriving, raised watching a big gay Purple Dinosaur named Barney, who loved you and me... and the generation for which noone was "out" after getting tagged in the face at dodge ball on the playground...
I'm guessing you wouldn't tell your female pilot about the hot broad with the incredible ass you saw the night before...kinda the same thing. You might call it PC, I just call it good headwork.
"The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."
Thucydides
Aw God, I can't take it... I wouldn't sleep tonight if I didn't say this....
We are being enlightened by a C-20 "Master of Loads" (consisting of 1 VIP, rope and minions) on the vector of warrior culture... I hope you were a goddamned SEAL before you took on the warrior like task of filling out THAT weight and balance sheet... the human body and mind??? What kind of existential Freudian, Pavlovian, Kensian, Ensteinian BULL SHIT IS THAT?????
Cripes.
This generation is arriving, raised watching a big gay Purple Dinosaur named Barney, who loved you and me... and the generation for which noone was "out" after getting tagged in the face at dodge ball on the playground...
Generals Mattis, Petraeus, and McChrystal would certainly agree with Thucydides (McChrystal is now teaching at....wait for it.....Yale), so if some old sim fogey wants to cling to their anti-intellectualism, fuck'em. I'm here to win a goddamn war, not thump my chest about being a warrior.
It's not going to affect fighting forces. People are just mad because they have to change their ways
Yeah, you're going to fit right in.. You should run that by some of the sim instructors in Meridian if you make it that far.
The dilution of the military culture began decades ago and it was already well underway by the time I joined in 99. If I had to guess, I'd say a major turning point at least in Naval Aviation was Tailhook 91. It's been a slow erosion ever sense, but has gained substantial momentum in recent years. Here are just a few of the things I think you can expect in the coming years:
1. Zero alchohol port calls - this might begin with a simple restriction of say 3 drinks/night, but if they can't find an adequate way to enforce I expect none to be the new standard.
2. Mando counseling after every real world weapons release.
3. FNG collateral duty - Gay Awareness Officer (GAO) - responsible for mando sensitivity training twice a quarter
4. Gay Roll'em Night - Led by the GAO. Maybe Brokeback Mountain or Top Gun II (complete with drones and homosexual love affair)
5. All proposed callsigns submitted to CAG for approval to ensure political correctness
6. Instead of being the norm, the skirt chasing LT will become shunned in future "enlightened" RRs- with accompanying adverse fitrep (from Skipper who has been married since he was an Ensign in flight school)
7. No more cursing allowed in workspaces
8. .... I could go on, but you get the idea
Some of those are half joking, but others not so much. The culture of the military and that of Naval Aviation has and continues to change to be more touchy-feely, non-offensive, politically correct and safe.
9. Lets not forget glow belts for everyone.. the AF is way ahead of us on this one.
Ok, my mistake. There may be an effect, but I doubt it will be as large as people are predicting. I seriously doubt that flamboyantly gay individuals are going to be rushing to the recruiter nor will some gay person start making moves on other men in the squadron locker room. Some people may have a hard time adopting but I think it'll will be a fairly smooth transition especially with the newer generation coming up.You're contradicting yourself there. There will definitely be an effect; the questions are how much, for how long, and will the military, when measured as a fighting force, be better or worse as a result.
If we use what previous cultures allowed or didn't allow in re homosexuals as a guideline for what is done with our military, should we do the same with what those previous cultures allowed or didn't allow in re women serving in the military, or what they did in re incorporation of religious festivals?