Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF NBA: Spurs NFL: Niners MLB: Giants NHL: Penguins
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Nov 4, 2012 9:20:07 GMT 9
De and I went to San Antonio Sea World to-day.
Being it is a Saturday, there were lots of young airmen in the park.
They were all with family, who came for their graduation from Basic.
I talked to several, and thanked a bunch of others.
They ranged from Slick Sleeves to 2 stripes.
One I talked to, slick sleeve, is staying at Lackland to attend Security Forces school.
I said: "So, you are going to be a Sky Cop."
He said he had never heard that term.
So, gave him something to tell his classmates.
Another, 2 stripes, is going to Shepherd to the Power Management Tech School.
I noticed that there were quite a few young ladies in blues.
Guess their numbers are up.
One young airman was escorted by his father, am Army Lt.Col., wearing BDUs and that stupid beret.
Didn't realize you could wear BDUs to Sea World.
I must not have seen that memo.
I talked to one young airman's father, who is retired Navy, and his uncle, retired Air Force.
The uncle spent most of his career at Shaw.
The thing that struck me about all the young men and women; how very young they look.
Jim wondered if we looked that young when we were "newbies".
I suspect we did.
But, it is hard to realize that those young men and women are the new defenders of our liberties.
I hope they are being taught Patriotism, not Political Correctness.
The future of our Air Force is in their hands.
Our military has never been under the pressure they are at present, and it probably won't get better any time soon.
Pray for them.
Jim Too
:god_bless_usa
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Post by Jim on Nov 4, 2012 14:59:19 GMT 9
. Another, 2 stripes, is going to Shepherd to the Power Management Tech School. The thing that struck me about all the young men and women; how very young they look. Jim wondered if we looked that young when we were "newbies". I suspect we did. But, it is hard to realize that those young men and women are the new defenders of our liberties. I hope they are being taught Patriotism, not Political Correctness. The future of our Air Force is in their hands. Our military has never been under the pressure they are at present, and it probably won't get better any time soon. Pray for them. Jim Too What in Blue Blazes, or expletives deleted, is Power Management??? No Jim2, I don't think that those of us that came in during the first half of the fiftys were that young.... We were taught differently and life moved at a slower pace- not all jets could go supersonic!!!! I think that we were 3-4 years older than what the birth certificate indicated..... Perhaps their youth is their greatest asset.... What I do know is that there are several of us here on the forum that if we were to loose 50-60 years of our age, that we couldn't and wouldn't survive 6 months before we were standing a general courts martial because of PC..... I have met several young airmen the past 2 years, and recently had dinner with the base Honor Guard from Davis-Monthan AFB. 2 were 2 stripers and 2 were 3 stripers and were just finishing up their 3rd year and had been asked to reenlist, but didn't like the extreme degree of PC that they were being forced to swallow- homos in the AF for one....... One was a/c maint, another was a weapons tech on the A10 the third was a Skycop and the last worked in flight operations... When they told me what their speciality was by name, I couldn't identify it- til they told me what they did... Believe I would be proud to serve with them ..... Damn, they were sharp when presenting the Colors.
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Post by lindel on Nov 4, 2012 20:36:10 GMT 9
I suspect my parents raised me the same way a lot of the elder member of the site were raised. My Dad, were he still alive would be 99 now, and Mom will be 88 on inauguration day (and hoping that's a good day for her!). They would be included in what we call the "greatest" generation.
I was young, yes, but had the advantage of older parents and older siblings to learn from (my youngest sibling is 12 years older than I am). When I joined the AF at the tender age of 17, I did so with the full knowledge that it could mean my life. I'm more concerned about the training they're getting, and not of the technical kind. PC has lessened the effectiveness of our military badly, and it'll probably get worse.
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Post by pat perry on Nov 5, 2012 2:16:31 GMT 9
Old Sarge wrote:
Wasn't pole climbers school at Shepherd, AFB? It may also include mobile electric generation equipment?
Pat P.
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Post by pat perry on Nov 5, 2012 2:48:26 GMT 9
Old Sarge wrote: I don't know Jim... I think we all looked younger than we think back then... Pat P. Attachments:
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Post by Jim on Nov 5, 2012 8:52:48 GMT 9
hell, Pat, I :rofl was 39 in that photo :rofl
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Post by pat perry on Nov 5, 2012 10:43:53 GMT 9
hell, Pat, I was 39 in that photo Must be all that Irish Whiskey... it'll preserve almost anything :rofl
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Post by Jim on Oct 19, 2014 0:54:23 GMT 9
Looking back at Pastor Jim's thread starting post and my # 1 reply, and reading and re-reading Gen Petreaus' letter which he wrote 3 years prior to my retirement, I am scared..........
I remember the day I found out I got into West Point. My Mom actually showed up in the hallway of my high school and waited for me to get out of class.
She was bawling her eyes out and apologizing that she had opened up my admission letter. She wasn't crying because it had been her dream for me to go there. She was crying because she knew how hard I'd worked to get in, how much I wanted to attend, and how much I wanted to be an infantry officer.
I was going to get that opportunity. That same day two of my teachers took me aside and essentially told me the following:
"David, you're a smart guy. You don't have to join the military. You should go to college, instead."
I could easily write a theme defending West Point and the military as I did that day, explaining that United States Military Academy is an elite institution, that separate from that, it is actually statistically much harder to enlist in the military than it is to get admitted to college, that serving the nation is a challenge that all able-bodied men should at least consider for a host of reasons, but I won't.
What I will say is that when a 16 year-old kid is being told that attending West Point is going to be bad for his future then there is a dangerous disconnect in America, and entirely too many Americans have no idea what kind of burdens our military is bearing.
In World War II, 11.2% of the nation's population served for four (4) years.
During the Vietnam era, 4.3% of the nation's population served in twelve (12) years.
Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on Terror.
These are unbelievable statistics. Over time, fewer and fewer people have shouldered more and more of the burden and it is only getting worse.
Our troops were sent to war in Iraq by a Congress consisting of 10% veterans with only one person having a child in the military. Taxes did not increase to pay for the war. War bonds were not sold. Gas was not regulated. In fact, the average citizen was asked to sacrifice nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to out of the goodness of their hearts.
The only people who have sacrificed are the veterans and their families. The volunteers. The people who swore an oath to defend this nation. You stand there, deployment after deployment and fight on. You've lost relationships, spent years of your lives in extreme conditions, years apart from kids you'll never get back, and beaten your body in a way that even professional athletes don't understand.
Then you come home to a nation that doesn't understand. They don't understand suffering. They don't understand sacrifice. They don't understand why we fight for them. They don't understand that bad people exist. They look at you like you're a machine - like something is Wrong with you. You are the misguided one - not them.
When you get out, you sit in the college classrooms with political science teachers that discount your opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan because YOU WERE THERE and can't understand the macro issues they gathered from books, because of your bias.
You watch TV shows where every vet has PTSD and the violent strain at that. Your Congress is debating your benefits, your retirement, and your pay, while they ask you to do more. But, the amazing thing about you is that you all know this. You know your country will never pay back what you've given up. You know that the populace at large will never truly understand or appreciate what you have done for them.
Hell, you know that in some circles, you will be thought as less than normal for having worn the uniform. But you do it anyway.
You do what the greatest men and women of this country have done since 1775. YOU SERVED. Just that decision alone makes you part of an elite group.
"Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few." -Winston Churchill- Thank you to the 11.2% and 4.3% who have served and thanks to the 0.45% who continue to serve our Nation.
General David Petraeus West Point Class 1974
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Post by Jim on Dec 18, 2014 2:06:53 GMT 9
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Post by LBer1568 on Jan 21, 2021 0:11:55 GMT 9
www.daytondailynews.com/news/the-air-force-is-overstaffed-heres-what-it-intends-to-do-about-that/GXMW4Z2C75BSTHLJTJX6ZWULEQ/Biden is in Office so USAF releases program to downsize. Seems the Pandemic caused more people to stay in. I remember reading about how the Military was too quick to downsize after WWII and Korea and we found ourselves unable to ramp up fast enough. Those who fail to remember History are prone to repeat it. I also read the list of things Biden will sign into office today. Most of them are reverting to the failed policies of Obama/Biden which Trump corrected. Many are reverting to More Regulations and Global Warming programs. Bet Stock market will fall 3,000 points within a month. Maybe more. God help us, cause Biden/Harris won't. Lorin
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