Taverner
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Tue Mar-02-10 06:39 PM
Original message |
Some folks just should not be in the military |
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This is my biggest argument against the draft.
I should never have to serve, trust me. I suck at following orders.
I talk back - and I would even if they punched me in the stomach a few times. Point that gun at my head, different story, but then again, that's a fucking gun.
But I think about stories of some contemporary visionaries and the military.
Jerry Garcia was drafted. He went through Basic Training, and passed. Then when going into his specialty, Pfc Jerry Garcia lost a tank. Yep, a TANK. Those big things. He lost one and they never found it.
He went on to redefine the guitar as an instrument. He went on to redefine a band as entertainment. He went on to redefine damn near everything about music known at the time. Phil Lesh, graduate of Classical conservatories, knew this guy was a much better anchor than any conservatory.
Did I mention he went on to redefine the standard business model in the music business?
Jimi Hendrix, same generation, went into the military where he was constantly harassed. He was such an 'odd man out' with his guitar that his Basic Training group stole his guitar to fuck with him, and it almost drove him to a mental breakdown. Stories differ on how he got out of the military - but once he got out, in his short years after - he went on to well,
Come on, he was JIMI fucking HENDRIX!!!!!!
What more do I need to say?
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Aristus
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Tue Mar-02-10 06:55 PM
Response to Original message |
1. How the hell did Jerry Garcia lose a tank? |
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I know tanks, man. And it's awfully hard to lose one. How did he do it? If the story got out, someone must have details...
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Taverner
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Tue Mar-02-10 09:39 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
2. I have no idea, having (1) never been in the military and (2) never having dealt with tanks |
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But the question does boggle the mind....
It was in one of the biographies I read about him
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HopeHoops
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Wed Mar-03-10 10:02 AM
Response to Reply #1 |
3. "Wow, man, it was like here a minute or go. Weird." |
SoxFan
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Wed Mar-03-10 01:04 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
5. I'm gonna call bullshit on this story |
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Tanks can't maneuver deep in the woods. In a training environment, they're either going to be either on a tank trail or a relatively open field. It's not possible to drop one off in a hidden grove.
Also, the military is anal retentive (and rightly so) about keeping track of equipment. I had a guy under my command who let a then-cutting edge GPS system fall out of his Humvee. After I damn near killed him on the spot, we sent a full section out to retrace his route (we found it after about 5 minutes). If a junior officer reacts that way about a Plugger system, imagine how a batallion or squadron commander would handle a missing tank.
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Taverner
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Wed Mar-03-10 01:53 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
7. It could have been Jerry exaggerating a little |
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He may have just left his tank out in the field and walked home...also a career limiting move
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Swede
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Wed Mar-03-10 02:02 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
8. He'd been ok in the Russian army,however. |
pokerfan
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Wed Mar-03-10 03:14 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
10. A T34 was found in a lake after fifty years |
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Edited on Wed Mar-03-10 03:14 PM by pokerfan
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kimi
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Wed Mar-03-10 06:56 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
16. My husband once was part of a DODIG group |
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who did an audit on such things. A tank has been known to go missing. So, it is possible.
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MiddleFingerMom
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Wed Mar-03-10 08:20 PM
Response to Reply #16 |
17. We had what were supposed to be annual... |
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. ... but because of budgeting/staffing restraints usually turned out to be bi-annual IG inspections (Inspector General). Just prior to the big one I endured overseas, a HUGE convoy of trucks took excess equipment -- including VEHICLES -- to a safe "hiding" place...stuff that was off-the-books, etc. that would have had to have been turned in had it been noticed. . That... or budgets might have been slashed. . AND... this was Vietnam-era. Look at how much equipment and material was simply abandoned in place without any kind of tallying whatsoever. . Methinks the auditing process, both peacetime and in areas of conflict, was... let's say a LEETLE lax -- lax enough for a tank to vanish without trace or comment. . Makes you feel safe, innit? . . Just remembered... when I and the three other 'cruits arrived at our final destination in Nurnberg, it was about 3 AM and about half our unit was leaving for the field in a confused and confusing "surprise" training exercise. . They assigned us to a first-floor room and promptly "lost" all four of US for a whole week. . We waited for them in our room all day for that whole week -- not leaving to go downtown 'til after close of business. And we woulda said something if we had known they had forgotten about us. . Honest. .
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kimi
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Wed Mar-03-10 10:58 PM
Response to Reply #17 |
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cuz there was a lot scarier stuff that went missing in the very same audit. It was all on the record - had to be. But not paid much attention to, which completely amazed me, considering that it involved stuff that would scare the s*&t out of any normal human bean.
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conscious evolution
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Wed Mar-03-10 12:50 PM
Response to Original message |
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got out of the Air Farce by refusing a security clearance.He said he was a security risk and not to be trusted.They threw him out. Then he went to Vegas and proved himself correct.
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mulsh
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Wed Mar-03-10 01:19 PM
Response to Original message |
6. One of my grandfathers kicked a Lt out of 2nd floor window because |
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the guy called him a "dumb Mick" on his first day in boot camp. He got 2 months in jail but ended up a Sergeant. My father crashed a Training plane in front of 2 admirals and his commander, got transfered to the sub corps where he did all sorts of pranks eventually as punishment he had duty on SF bay testing radar and sonar systems and "working on his tan." with genes like those it's a good thing they ended the draft when I was a junior in High School.
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MiddleFingerMom
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Wed Mar-03-10 02:38 PM
Response to Original message |
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. I have this friend who was in the Army during the early 70's or so -- during the time when they started random urinalyses for drugs without sufficient cause to do so "legally". Random pee tests were NOT done on any kind of large scale in the civilian population because it was still considered unconstitutional. . My friend and many others were furious and would gripe loud and long about it being a violation of the Constitution -- the very document in defense of which they were expected to give up their lives. . This is no shit. My friend says the standard response (back then) was (and pay close attention here), "Of COURSE it's against the Constitution, but you're in the military and have -- for security reasons -- given up some of your sacred Constitutional rights." . OK... maybe they didn't use the word "sacred". . Was it Reagan who volunteered to be tested to show the "universality" of the process? My friend's post commander did much the same thing much earlier in history -- volunteering to have his urine tested for drugs to show (at least symbolically) that EVERYMAN was subject to testing. This was almost certainly a man who had never touched "drugs" in his life. Even so, the test was SCHEDULED for a week away -- advance notice that the troops did not enjoy. . Back to my friend. . My friend was in charge of collecting all the urinalyses from the different units on post -- sorting, labeling, and packaging them for delivery to the test lab. People wondered, and sometimes even asked him how, given his feelings and, um... proclivities... how he could be a part of that circus. . His stock answer would be another question: Who would you RATHER have involved? . The commander's urine sample was hand-delivered to my friend by the commander's aide. . A friend of my friend came in about the same time and told him that he had been partying over the past weekend and was nabbed for a random drug test on that very day -- and that he was almost sure to fail. Could my friend, like... you know... help him out? . COULD MY FRIEND HELP HIM OUT?!?!?!? . My friend switched the "hot pee" with the "high & mighty pee" (at least, you know... that's what he TOLD me!) . A week or so later, am investigative tsunami swept over the base after the commander's urine turned up positive for methamphetamines. They questioned and checked on anybody and everybody with the SLIGHTEST involvement or proximity to urine testing. It came up a giant goose egg. No one was ever charged. The results of the commander's test were disappeared -- and nothing was ever said or offered again by him about the "universality" of the process. . My friend was terrified. And very, VERY proud. . I imagine my friend is STILL extremely proud of the chance and the stance that he took. And probably still very cautious about admitting any involvement. It MAY still be the most righteously revolutionary and "seditious" act he has ever committed. . MAYBE my friend shouldn't have been in the military. . But... . MAYBE he was in JUST the right place at JUST the right time. . . . I wonder how he's doing. .
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Taverner
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Wed Mar-03-10 04:33 PM
Response to Reply #9 |
11. MFM you may have a point there |
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Edited on Wed Mar-03-10 04:34 PM by Taverner
Kinda my point on having kids - who would you rather raise the next generation of Americans? Me, or Bristol Palin?
But then again, who would have played the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock?
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av8rdave
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Wed Mar-03-10 05:05 PM
Response to Reply #9 |
13. The drug testing took place during nearly all my years of active duty |
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When I was in your boss or a hospital rep had to watch you produce the sample. Talk about performance anxiety!
We are also subject to testing now in the airline business. No probable cause. You are expected to produce on demand. Positive test? NO due process. You are fired and your career is over. Period.
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Taverner
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Wed Mar-03-10 06:46 PM
Response to Reply #13 |
15. And yes, this is a fucked up policy |
Rambis
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Wed Mar-03-10 04:40 PM
Response to Original message |
12. "Son there ain't no draft no more" there was one? |
Orsino
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Wed Mar-03-10 06:46 PM
Response to Original message |
14. That's why we have a navy. |
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(Just kidding, past, present and future sailors--this old soldier secretly salutes you as he disses you.)
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Sun May 05th 2024, 03:51 PM
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