The Military/War Thread

[Dak]

https://warontherocks.com/2019/12/w...higher-than-commonly-understood-as-is-chinas/

Perhaps most importantly, the more methodologically sound approach to comparing defense spending based on PPP illustrates that the gap between U.S. expenditure on the one hand and that of Russia and China on the other has closed dramatically over the past 15 years. Today, when taken together, spending by Russia and China is roughly equal to U.S. defense expenditure, with Russia representing a much larger share than previously recognized.

 

[Matt]

I am in the first stage of an interview for an SA position with the FBI. I'm still not sure that this is the right path, but I'm going to keep going down it anyway as the process takes forever.

 

[rms]

you do the polygraph yet? after almost a year I made it through the process with the NSA

 

[Matt]

Not yet. I am past the initial testing and whatnot but still have a few phases to go through prior to that. I'm trying to get promoted at my current job and I'd be making over 100k at that point; its a tough call.

 

[The Ozzman]

Not yet. I am past the initial testing and whatnot but still have a few phases to go through prior to that. I'm trying to get promoted at my current job and I'd be making over 100k at that point; its a tough call.

Are you still doing the stock trading shit?

 

[rms]

Fuck would you leave that job for then? Fbi SA is like 80k with expected 50+ hours work week and you're likely to get assigned to a shit hole

 

[Matt]

Are you still doing the stock trading shit?

No actually - I got burned out with that after a really bad experience and took a job job kinda whimsically in the energy efficiency field. Trying to become a Program Manager.

Fuck would you leave that job for then? Fbi SA is like 80k with expected 50+ hours work week and you're likely to get assigned to a shit hole

Pension + benefits. Plus I've always wanted to serve somehow. If I don't get the promotion soon I'll probably go for it (if I even make it through the process).

 

[Dak]

Go Active Duty military if you want to serve. If you're not over the age of 32 and have been working out regularly it shouldn't be hard, and the pay and job options are likely far better.

 

[Matt]

I've almost joined several times and still am considering it. When I lost my job around this time last year I almost just said fuck it and enlisted in the Navy (despite having a degree already) but then I got the job I have now which pays 3x more. I am not sure if it was the right choice. I wasn't sold on the recruiters telling me that it was 'super easy to go to OCS if you just enlist first' narrative and I honestly can't afford to make 30k or less.

 

[rms]

Nah don't buy that ocs later shit. And don't join the Navy

 

[Dak]

I've almost joined several times and still am considering it. When I lost my job around this time last year I almost just said fuck it and enlisted in the Navy (despite having a degree already) but then I got the job I have now which pays 3x more. I am not sure if it was the right choice. I wasn't sold on the recruiters telling me that it was 'super easy to go to OCS if you just enlist first' narrative and I honestly can't afford to make 30k or less.

Enlisted recruiters are liars as a group, don't listen to them about any benefits to being enlisted if you already have a bachelor's. OCS is going to likely be not that difficult for the Navy, at least in comparison to the Army and Marines.

 

[Matt]

I considered it then because I was essentially desperate to make something happen after being unemployed for 5+ months unexpectedly. I'm glad I didn't do it. Yeah, Navy OCS is similar to the AF version. Not a big deal. Army OCS sucks, you basically get sent to basic first along with everyone else. No thanks.

 

[Dak]

Yeah Marine OCS is also no joke. There's OCS and "The Basic School". Only basic training that makes the Marine enlisted basic training look tame by comparison.

 

[Dak]

http://www.theagonist.org/essays/20...-the-corruption-of-the-american-military.html

Basic School instructors, mine included, liked to say that in the Marine Corps “there is only one standard, the Marine Corps standard.” This is a lie. There are two standards: one for men and one for women. Thus, on the annual Physical Fitness Test, required of all marines, a perfect score for a 21-year-old male is 23 pull-ups, 110 crunches, and a 3-mile time of 18 minutes. For a female of the same age a perfect score is 9 pull-ups, 105 crunches, and a 3-mile time of 21 minutes.

Women also receive special benefits for family life. After giving birth, female marines receive 42 days of non-chargeable leave and can take an additional 12 weeks of maternity convalescent leave. “Secondary caregivers”—that is, fathers—only get 14 days. Female marines can take the 12 weeks of leave at any time in the year after giving birth. Although their duties are interrupted by taking leave, that cannot be used as a factor in determining whether women shall be promoted.

I am not unsympathetic to the needs of new mothers. The plain truth, however, is that women are utterly out of place in the military.

Due to many jobs being relatively nonphysical, and that some jobs are nondeployable, this isn't 100% true. But it's certainly broadly true when one sees the military as an organization built around the application of violent force rather than a jobs program. Also, when acknowledging the adage that the "greatest ability is availability", women are far more likely to be unavailable for one reason or another.

The attempt to shoehorn women into a naturally male profession is the result of ideological enthusiasm, not rational policymaking.