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I have been a Reservist my entire career, and just as a product of circumstance, I have never deployed. I have volunteered, but I have not persistently pursued the opportunity, thinking that (at the time) volunteering would be enough given my MOS. I have trained many soldiers to do my job so they could deploy with their units, but those in my unit with the same MOS have never been called up to deploy.
So, the question is: how has this affected your career? Are you seen differently as a leader? Has it been more difficult to promote?
So, the question is: how has this affected your career? Are you seen differently as a leader? Has it been more difficult to promote?
Promotion Points
Leadership
Deployment
Military Career
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 15
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A soldier's time in service has an effect on my opinion of the combat patch or lack there of. However if you were in for the last ten or fifteen years and don't have a combat patch there is a pretty high bar to get over.
An E8 or higher without a patch has an extremely high bar. Most don't come anywhere near passing it.
Personally I would retire E8s and 9s without a deployment and O4s and higher. During 2006-2009 in my state you could walk into the unit ask to deploy and there would be a 00F MOS slot somewhere. We just retired a guy who kept transferring and extending for a little short of five years.
So when I see that bare sleeve on a senior leader the question in my head is, "Why didn't you go?"
The excuses sound like "I would have joined the army but..." lines from civilians.
The remainder of this comment would really have to run down the road of wartime army vs peacetime army and the differences in standards.
Note: I also support tanker boots, green t-shirts for combat vehicle MOSs, officers wearing branch insignia and the recreation of tech rank for skill sets that do not require leadership but should be paid better. Also the shredding of berets for anyone who does not jump out of an airplane, has to be the dumbest piece of head gear ever.
An E8 or higher without a patch has an extremely high bar. Most don't come anywhere near passing it.
Personally I would retire E8s and 9s without a deployment and O4s and higher. During 2006-2009 in my state you could walk into the unit ask to deploy and there would be a 00F MOS slot somewhere. We just retired a guy who kept transferring and extending for a little short of five years.
So when I see that bare sleeve on a senior leader the question in my head is, "Why didn't you go?"
The excuses sound like "I would have joined the army but..." lines from civilians.
The remainder of this comment would really have to run down the road of wartime army vs peacetime army and the differences in standards.
Note: I also support tanker boots, green t-shirts for combat vehicle MOSs, officers wearing branch insignia and the recreation of tech rank for skill sets that do not require leadership but should be paid better. Also the shredding of berets for anyone who does not jump out of an airplane, has to be the dumbest piece of head gear ever.
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SSG (Join to see)
I'm currently 8 years in with no deployments. Our unit has been scheduled for deployments multiple times, but all have been canceled due to lack of budget. Sometimes for whatever reason, some just don't get the opportunity. Not an excuse
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I used to think that not being deployed was negative, especially the time following the surge in 2007. It got to the point where soldiers looked at your sleeve before they looked at your rank, and that kind of pissed me off. I even volunteered for a mission and was not selected.
But now, with half those I see wearing slick sleeves, I don't worry about it any more . I do wish I could wear a patch for my 27 days in Desert Storm
But now, with half those I see wearing slick sleeves, I don't worry about it any more . I do wish I could wear a patch for my 27 days in Desert Storm
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1SG (Join to see)
I grew up with non deployed.... Pretty much everyone during the cold War had never deployed... Some of the older NCOs went to Nam, but most of my fellow soldiers were not deploys. That did not stop the Army from preparing to defend against the "pinko commies"
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SSG Mike Merritt
Check the new regs, there is not a time limit for right shoulder patch now. One day in theater counts. I hate it, but I fought it over a Soldier we sent home prior to 30 day mark.
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I take it as a case by case basis SGT. I've met and worked with outstanding soldiers, NCO's and Officers with no deployment, that would deploy in a heart beat if they had to. But just like you, they just hadn't gotten the chance to do it. I've also had the bad luck of working with the so called "deployment dodgers". Those I do not respect, I will respect their rank but will never respect them as a person. I was in your same situation for a while, volunteered twice to deploy and got told no. The third deployment I volunteered for, I finally got it, and I went to Afghanistan. I had a SSG tell me something that I will never forget for the rest of my life, and after that day, I lost the little respect I had for him at that moment. His words were, and I quote:
"I can't respect a soldier that volunteers to deploy to go to war. You can die out there and is stupid of your part."
This same NCO, tried to get MEB (Med Boarded) just so he didn't have to deploy to a Non Combat deployment. Needless to say, the CO changed his P3 profile to a P2 and made him deploy.
"I can't respect a soldier that volunteers to deploy to go to war. You can die out there and is stupid of your part."
This same NCO, tried to get MEB (Med Boarded) just so he didn't have to deploy to a Non Combat deployment. Needless to say, the CO changed his P3 profile to a P2 and made him deploy.
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SGT (Join to see)
I currently have a P3 profile for a condition I don't even have due to a misdiagnosis. Rather, the Army took a couple words from the diagnosis and ran with it. I was forced a PEB in 2011 and I tried to fight it to get the profile removed. The next thing I knew, this COL was calling me and saying that if I did not agree to the terms of my Fit-for-Duty, then I would be discharged. My FFD says I am deployable, but every unit I have tried to join for deployment has turned me away because of it. I didn't join this SERVICE to sit back at home. I tried to switch to AD when my last contract was in the one year window and no such luck because there were no prior enlisted slots open for me, and combat MOS's were not open to women. So, I looked into the Navy (the only branch that would take me) and I am much better off as a Reservist in the Army as far as education benefits, advancements, and career growth.
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SGT (Join to see)
SGT, I know how you feel. Trying to deploy and being told no, really sucks. Best advice I can think of is, keep fighting this misdiagnosis and get it fixed. After that's done, you can always check on what it's called Worldwide Individual Augmentation System (WIAS) tasking. That's how I deployed. An OPORD came down to my division for a WIAS slot needed for an E-4 with my MOS. Division tasked my BDE and lucky for me, only me and another soldier were the only ones in the BDE with our MOS that were qualified for the mission. I volunteered for it, BDE S3 SGM interviewed both of us and chose me. That's how I finally got to deploy to combat. So I suggest that after the whole P3 profile issue gets resolved, you look into the WIAS tasking (you can start searching in google). Maybe you can find a tasking for deployment with that system.
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