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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:31 am
by GORDON
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:58 pm
by Paul
So what's up with the Officer Candidate School thing? When I was younger, people'd mention that since I had a degree I could join the military and be an officer. It sounded like a trick. Like, they'd give me a little more money and a shiney officer sticker before handing me my toothbrush to clean the latrines for the *real* officers.
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 5:08 am
by Cakedaddy
I joined the military too!! But I did it for the college money. War didn't start till I was in for 3 or 4 years. I don't remember. My chunk of our unit wasn't picked to go. We had too many open slots. The other 3/4ths went though. I always felt EXTREMELY guilty not going. But, I had no say in it. Was a trip. But, at least I helped build roads in Honduras.
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 1:04 pm
by GORDON
So what's up with the Officer Candidate School thing? When I was younger, people'd mention that since I had a degree I could join the military and be an officer. It sounded like a trick. Like, they'd give me a little more money and a shiney officer sticker before handing me my toothbrush to clean the latrines for the *real* officers.
Watch Officer and a Gentleman. I THINK that the same school Marine officers attend (I could be wrong). That was Quantico, wasn't it?
But yeah, have a college degree and that's your ticket to OCS.
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 5:01 pm
by thibodeaux
The O&G school was in Seattle or something. Remember the "Puget Debs?"
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 7:27 pm
by GORDON
Oh yeah.
OK, so Marine zeroes (officers) go to school at Quantico. But they still have their weekends free, so they are, therefore, fancy boy pussies. (But still tougher, relatively, than any other branch's zeroes)
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 8:42 pm
by thibodeaux
For some reason I thought ALL Marines had to go through boot camp. Not true for officers?
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:11 pm
by GORDON
Not true for officers... unless said officers are Warrant Officers (which requires an enlisted man acquire the rank of E-4 [E-5?] first), or said officer is a "Mustang" and got himself into OCS after four years as an enlisted man. Doesn't happen often... I'd say one officer in 30 is enlisted first, therefore 29 of them didn't do the Marine bootcamp you see in Full Metal Jacket.
Most of them start out as the fresh-out-of-college butterbars that, in the vietnam movies, get fragged before they get their men killed.
Edited By GORDON on 1123688818
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 11:35 am
by thibodeaux
A.k.a "90-day wonders?"
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 11:48 am
by GORDON
Precisely.
The military is full of stories about the fresh 2nd Lieutenant who thought he'd boss around the Sergeant Major.
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:13 pm
by Leisher
You'd think it'd be obvious to the military. People right out of college are know-it-alls with no sense of responsibility and no experience. Not to mention that they've just been overwhelmed with liberal thinking for 4 years.
They're the last people on Earth you'd want to give a taste of power.
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:26 pm
by DoctorChaos
Sorry Leisher, gotta disagree with you. A lot of college kids come out ok. What they need to concentrate on in OCS is to 'TRUST YOUR MEN'. They know what's up, or at least have a bigger clue than you.
I wasn't in the military but the same priciple applied on the floor of a plant. You screw with the guys building your shit, they will make your life hell. One of the best experience was having to work side by side with the guys before I started telling them what to build. It worked both ways. I tried to help them by making the designs easier and they helped by giving me a clue.
As for the service, my dad taught me to trust my men. That's how he got his butter bars out of Vietnam safely.
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:39 pm
by Leisher
Uh, Dr. Chaos, you just proved my point.
As for the service, my dad taught me to trust my men. That's how he got his butter bars out of Vietnam safely.
You drew on his experience, thus you knew better.
Most kids right out of college are working without that knowledge.
Do you know what I normally tell a kid fresh out of college?
"Hi, I need a number one with an iced tea."
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:43 pm
by GORDON
Remember how many college degrees were taped to the cubicle walls belonging to the phone operators at OAPI? That always blew me away.
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:50 pm
by DoctorChaos
Remember how many college degrees were taped to the cubicle walls belonging to the phone operators at OAPI? That always blew me away.
I plan on framing mine with my high school diploma and hanging it over the toliet.
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:50 pm
by thibodeaux
Are the service academy guys measurably better or worse than the ROTC or OCS guys?
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:51 pm
by GORDON
Are the service academy guys measurably better or worse than the ROTC or OCS guys?
I don't recall meeting any academy guys, at least that I knew of.
The ones I remember fondly had all been prior-enlisted, though.
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:57 pm
by Leisher
I believe colleges are a lot like unions, they started off as a great and noble thing, but have lost their way.
Too many people attend college, and sadly all HR people went to college. Thus, HR people look for other college graduates to hire.
I'm about to hire some peeps here in my department and was talking to the HR lady about the positions. She says to me, "Now are you looking for someone with an associate's or bachelor's degree?"
I said, "Neither. I want someone who knows what they're doing."
For further proof, she was grabing some examples of job listing off of an HR site for me. Here are the job duties of a Manager of Information Systems according to this national HR site:
-Writes programs for AS/400 computer systems.
-Updates AS/400 operating system.
-Documents new software and changes to existing AS/400 software.
-Advises and traings other departments on AS/400 related issues.
-Analyzes computer problems and designs solutions.
I looked at her and said "What warped world do you HR people live in?"
So lesson learned. Apply to ALL IT positions if the job title matches your level of experience. Ignore the details as it's likely an HR person wrote it and they have no clue what they're talking about.
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 3:59 pm
by GORDON
Ignore the details as it's likely an HR person wrote it and they have no clue what they're talking about.
I've been saying that for a decade. I've never seen an HR person that was worth anything.
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 4:03 pm
by Leisher
Are the service academy guys measurably better or worse than the ROTC or OCS guys?
It depends on the man. OCS guys can be just as good or REALLY shitty.
ROTC guys and gals just frighten me. They're odd. Don't ask me to be more specific.