What confuses you most about "sister services?"
During my career, I have served with all Branches of the US
military and numerous foreign military forces.
There many differences I have
noticed but I will discuss two from my current assignment. In my current position, I work with the USAF
and the AAF directly. My first
difficulty was being called Sir by all the USAF, officer and enlisted. My rank in the Army is Sergeant Major
(SGM/E-9). The USAF call E-9s “Chief”
but they called me Sir. I corrected several
members for the first few days but nothing changed. So I started asking them why everyone called
me Sir. The replies were the same from
officers and enlisted. They told me that
when they do not know how to address someone or simply out of respect to others
services they default to Sir. Since then
I have noticed this within their own ranks.
This is a
little off the topic but I thought it would add a different view on the NCO
corps. The AAF, I am convinced, have no
idea how the NCO should be used. I met
an AAF SGM (E-9) who was in-charge of filters.
He issued new filters and disposed of old filters. He was very proud of his job. The second I met was in-charge of
lubricants. When I asked him to discuss
this in more detail (through my IT), he said he removes old lubricant from
parts and installed new lubricant in its place.
He was also very proud of his job.
I could write awhile on this topic but I need to direct my attentions
elsewhere. Have a great day.
Served in all four branches:
USAF 6924th SECURITY SQ
USNR 3-12th NAVAL SECUITY GROUP
USAR 11th SPECIAL FORCES GROUP ABN
USMCR Co "D" 2nd
BN 25th 4thMarDiv
NJNG 3/113th M INF
I come from a family of Marines, most of which are Vietnam veterans. Although I joined the Army I never heard any disrespect towards the Army or other services from those family members. Most of them, by the way, saw direct combat action in Vietnam.
My father went to Vietnam shortly after his initial training was completed. I remember him describing how gung ho and indestructible he felt at the time. I even have a picture of him at his graduation. While he was in Vietnam he came face to face with his own mortality. It changed his perceptions. He told me once he eventually became numb to the death he saw. It became fascinating to him, you can almost tell the exact moment the soul leaves the body. His experiences there gave him nightmares his whole life. I was very close to him and it was hard to see him in pain like that.
My fathers advice was to get a job that you can use on the outside. So I chose Aviation and haven't looked back. I Have never came face to face with my own mortality the same way that he, or my uncles, did but I would like to think I learned that lesson through him and pray I never have to experience it first hand. However, in the event that it does occur, I know my military training has prepared me to face that moment with strength and dignity.
Growing up around a mixed bunch of veterans treating each other as equals and not devaluing each others services or achievement is what I came to expect from the service. When I got there I found the immaturity I described in the first paragraph. Although this, by far, does not represent the other services as a whole, and certainly not the majority, the attitude is still there.
I imagine other services veterans, that saw direct combat, have similar
experiences. The enemy doesn't care what color uniform your wearing, or
what comes after "U.S." above the left pocket of your uniform. They only
care that it says "U.S.".
They were met at the "tie-down" point by enlisted airmen in a heated USAF vehicle, told to not worry about the tie-down, USAF troops would do that for them, and taken to an unreal-to-them pilots waiting room filled with all sorts of amenities they never, ever saw in the Army. http://www.robertcmason.com./