Truegiant
08-06-2010, 12:31 AM
I have been off the net for a while and surely off of IA for some time. Its been a long arduos process getting out of the military. I have been working closely with some good friends I met on active duty to find a job either here on post or in the southeast. I have my options open and am not sure exactley what I want. Well.. I know what I WANT but thats not at all what the wife wants. Passing down offers to go back over and play in the sandbox is hard esp when the cash is good; however, I got the ultimatum from the wife that if I go she goes. As tempting as that sounds I suppose I gotta make the call.
As of late now that my official last day was a couple of days ago I am already having withdrawal syndrome. When your in (aside from my time in USASOC) everything looks dim and downright miserable on days, but when your out it all really looks shitty. I mean I have been getting stuff ready for school. Scheduling some training here and there. Going to interviews. I mean you dont realize what you had sometimes until your done with it. As bad as I hated leaving little army and getting stuck with big army I REALLY hate being a civilian. I have already had two job interviews where the guy interviewing me was a complete ass wipe and a waste of my precious oxygen.
In the USASOC/JSOC/SOCOM community you have roadies and rockstars. Its pretty easy to spot the difference in the two quickly. There is a major difference in tacticool and tactical. I mean dont get me wrong we all have our 12ga shotgun that is built full tilt and all tacticool made with cheap parts and goofy airsoft stuff just because its neat and something to gander at but in reality we know what works and what doesnt. I have come to realize that in my short stint in the military its nothing like what it seems. Most civilians think that all soldiers/sailors/airmen/marines (from here on out we will use the term SM or servicemen/woman) are some kind of elite fighting force comprised of ninjas. WELL FOLKS THAT SHIT AINT TRUE.
I dont even want to begin to tell you that any million manpower unit is going to have its fair share of shitbags. But holyshit I feel that they are all over the place in the service. I can honestly say for every 1 squared away SM I came across in my short stint in the service their was 4 who were completely wasting mine and yours tax payer dollars. To many people there just getting a check. WHY do we let this happen might I add. NUMBERS. Purely numbers. Most civilians dont understand why elite fighting units (Tier 1 and 2/ SMU) are effective. Its not solely that they are ninjas but the fact that they fight in smaller more mobile units. My short stint with little army taught me that they are effective because its a smaller fighting force. I found guys that were more high speed in big army but because of the constraints of large companys, large btns, bdes, etc. you just cannot perform the same level of small unit tactics as the big army counterpart. Now on a side note I am in no way stating that a big army unit could effectively perform the same job as a little army unit I am merely stating that little army can perform big army tasks with better effeciency due to its little army unit structure.
I have seen soldiers show up to work drunk, high, not at all, etc.. to not only see them get away with it but continue to get away with it due to poor mid and senior level leadership. That shit would never fly in little army. In little army you bust your ass to succedd and keep a spot amongst the ranks of little army SM. Anywho.. ranting aside.
Having the oppurtunity to serve my country was great. I learned alot of neat skillsets. I learned what hard work really was. I learned that we waste a shit load of tax money. Given the oppurtunity to go back and start fresh would I do it differently, YES! I feel that I can offer an insight into which direction I would go if joining the military all over. I got to work with some of the best of the best literally and while gaining there knowledge made me a better person it made me expect more out of myself. Know I am stuck with what to do with my time.
How does one transition from being a ninja to a civilian. I am using the term ninja lightly here folks. I havent worked out or shot a firearm in some time. (On a side note - I will be doing both in the near future if anyone wants to tag along). I find it hard to make new civilian friends as most will never understand what i have been through or want to bitch about stupid shit that they never fought for. Its hard to meet people in the firearms community that actually know what they are talking about. Picking up 100 books about 1911s doesnt make you a genius on the platform. Shit I cannot tell you how long its been sense I actually picked up a firearm and attempted to learn something about it. I am so far behind the new "firearm power curve" its not even funny. Some years ago I quit looking at them as something i can make pretty or make tacticool. They are all simply tools to me. Yes its neat to have one all decked out in the nicest show and go goodies but in reality if you cannot put lead downrange effectively your wasting my time.
I have promised certain individuals training time. I am getting to it I promise. I have an entire closet full of shooting shit/ range goodies that is literally wasting away. The wife and I bought a new 25' OAL center console boat and I have been going out on it in all my spare time. I have a hard time finding folks down here who actually want to go train outside of work. And the ones I did know have all gone on to bigger and better things in little army. I find going out recreational shooting is not as fun anymore. I dont feel wasting bullets on plinking is fun anymore. Shooting skeet gets gay fast. 1k M matchs dont do it for me. Practicing room clearing drills got old a long time ago. Unless your heart is racing and are practicing real world live fire scenarios it doesnt get my dick hard. I love teaching. I have thought about taking up a job offer to help run a shoot house in braselton but the wife cannot justify the move.
One day I will come to the realization that my time being a ninja is over with. But today isnt that day.
END RANT
John
As of late now that my official last day was a couple of days ago I am already having withdrawal syndrome. When your in (aside from my time in USASOC) everything looks dim and downright miserable on days, but when your out it all really looks shitty. I mean I have been getting stuff ready for school. Scheduling some training here and there. Going to interviews. I mean you dont realize what you had sometimes until your done with it. As bad as I hated leaving little army and getting stuck with big army I REALLY hate being a civilian. I have already had two job interviews where the guy interviewing me was a complete ass wipe and a waste of my precious oxygen.
In the USASOC/JSOC/SOCOM community you have roadies and rockstars. Its pretty easy to spot the difference in the two quickly. There is a major difference in tacticool and tactical. I mean dont get me wrong we all have our 12ga shotgun that is built full tilt and all tacticool made with cheap parts and goofy airsoft stuff just because its neat and something to gander at but in reality we know what works and what doesnt. I have come to realize that in my short stint in the military its nothing like what it seems. Most civilians think that all soldiers/sailors/airmen/marines (from here on out we will use the term SM or servicemen/woman) are some kind of elite fighting force comprised of ninjas. WELL FOLKS THAT SHIT AINT TRUE.
I dont even want to begin to tell you that any million manpower unit is going to have its fair share of shitbags. But holyshit I feel that they are all over the place in the service. I can honestly say for every 1 squared away SM I came across in my short stint in the service their was 4 who were completely wasting mine and yours tax payer dollars. To many people there just getting a check. WHY do we let this happen might I add. NUMBERS. Purely numbers. Most civilians dont understand why elite fighting units (Tier 1 and 2/ SMU) are effective. Its not solely that they are ninjas but the fact that they fight in smaller more mobile units. My short stint with little army taught me that they are effective because its a smaller fighting force. I found guys that were more high speed in big army but because of the constraints of large companys, large btns, bdes, etc. you just cannot perform the same level of small unit tactics as the big army counterpart. Now on a side note I am in no way stating that a big army unit could effectively perform the same job as a little army unit I am merely stating that little army can perform big army tasks with better effeciency due to its little army unit structure.
I have seen soldiers show up to work drunk, high, not at all, etc.. to not only see them get away with it but continue to get away with it due to poor mid and senior level leadership. That shit would never fly in little army. In little army you bust your ass to succedd and keep a spot amongst the ranks of little army SM. Anywho.. ranting aside.
Having the oppurtunity to serve my country was great. I learned alot of neat skillsets. I learned what hard work really was. I learned that we waste a shit load of tax money. Given the oppurtunity to go back and start fresh would I do it differently, YES! I feel that I can offer an insight into which direction I would go if joining the military all over. I got to work with some of the best of the best literally and while gaining there knowledge made me a better person it made me expect more out of myself. Know I am stuck with what to do with my time.
How does one transition from being a ninja to a civilian. I am using the term ninja lightly here folks. I havent worked out or shot a firearm in some time. (On a side note - I will be doing both in the near future if anyone wants to tag along). I find it hard to make new civilian friends as most will never understand what i have been through or want to bitch about stupid shit that they never fought for. Its hard to meet people in the firearms community that actually know what they are talking about. Picking up 100 books about 1911s doesnt make you a genius on the platform. Shit I cannot tell you how long its been sense I actually picked up a firearm and attempted to learn something about it. I am so far behind the new "firearm power curve" its not even funny. Some years ago I quit looking at them as something i can make pretty or make tacticool. They are all simply tools to me. Yes its neat to have one all decked out in the nicest show and go goodies but in reality if you cannot put lead downrange effectively your wasting my time.
I have promised certain individuals training time. I am getting to it I promise. I have an entire closet full of shooting shit/ range goodies that is literally wasting away. The wife and I bought a new 25' OAL center console boat and I have been going out on it in all my spare time. I have a hard time finding folks down here who actually want to go train outside of work. And the ones I did know have all gone on to bigger and better things in little army. I find going out recreational shooting is not as fun anymore. I dont feel wasting bullets on plinking is fun anymore. Shooting skeet gets gay fast. 1k M matchs dont do it for me. Practicing room clearing drills got old a long time ago. Unless your heart is racing and are practicing real world live fire scenarios it doesnt get my dick hard. I love teaching. I have thought about taking up a job offer to help run a shoot house in braselton but the wife cannot justify the move.
One day I will come to the realization that my time being a ninja is over with. But today isnt that day.
END RANT
John