Training
Training
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I hope I don't piss people off with this one but well, okay, here goes. All Soldiers in all Services deserve - and earned - the title: Veteran. Combat Veteran, is a different animal. And Special Forces is another notch up. DELTA and those CIA Special Operatives, I have no idea what to call those who are both well trained, and Combat Veterans. I know they are all Heroes and Soldiers. But saying I was like them because I was in the Infantry during the Cold War? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel any sense of shame of having not gone to Combat. Had I been ordered too... I would have gone. Luckily, for me, Vietnam ended before I could go there.
I was a highly trained at my MOS. Probably in the Top Tier - as the Competitions proved. But that is not Combat ...no matter how tough, or good the training is. So why am I talking about this? Well one of my buddies, who did not Serve, wondered why it bothered me to see that Podcast where a guy shoved a suppressor in a bad guys mouth and found his Passion.
He thought since I was a Soldier, and Infantry, that I could fight like he saw in the Movies. He told me that he secretly told his wife: "Kev, looks like a good guy, but he probably knows a dozen ways to kill us, with just the stuff in our house."
WTF?
He is a huge Football Fan, so I kinda tried to make an analogy using Sports. Regular Trained Soldiers, without exposure to Combat, are like HS Athletes in Football. They did the time. They did the weight room. They did the Film Work. But they didn't get in the game.
The next step up is College. And that is the Superior Training Folks: Navy Seal, Army Green Beret and Ranger, Marien Recondo, Air Force Red Flag et all. Those guys are five star recruits.
Next up is Combat, and that is where, sometimes, undrafted and underrated HS College kids prove they were elite all along.
Then you take the Top College Players and put them in the Pro's...that is the Special Forces training combined with actual Combat Missions under their belt thrive. And for Football, those would be the All Pro and Hall of Fame guys.
I think he got it.
I was a good Soldier. And a well trained Soldier too. I was not in Combat And I was not part of an elite Unit that did missions that are so Classified that we will never hear about them.
So yeah, some Soldiers scare me. Some are Warriors born to thrive in war...not just survive. And then there are the crazy good ones...like LRRP's, Snipers, and other specialties that you can't spot...until it is too late.
So yeah, I respect my Service, but in no way do I think all Soldiers are equal in experience. I won't let any of those guys put down my Service (which has happened several times once the Vet I was speaking with found out I didn't go to Vietnam). I let that roll off my back. I get it. I have Jewish friends Parents, who wouldn't talk to anyone who didn't spend time in a Camp. I get that.
I am proud of my Service. And always will be. But I was just a High School, Jock, and not a Pro Bowl soldier!
I was a highly trained at my MOS. Probably in the Top Tier - as the Competitions proved. But that is not Combat ...no matter how tough, or good the training is. So why am I talking about this? Well one of my buddies, who did not Serve, wondered why it bothered me to see that Podcast where a guy shoved a suppressor in a bad guys mouth and found his Passion.
He thought since I was a Soldier, and Infantry, that I could fight like he saw in the Movies. He told me that he secretly told his wife: "Kev, looks like a good guy, but he probably knows a dozen ways to kill us, with just the stuff in our house."
WTF?
He is a huge Football Fan, so I kinda tried to make an analogy using Sports. Regular Trained Soldiers, without exposure to Combat, are like HS Athletes in Football. They did the time. They did the weight room. They did the Film Work. But they didn't get in the game.
The next step up is College. And that is the Superior Training Folks: Navy Seal, Army Green Beret and Ranger, Marien Recondo, Air Force Red Flag et all. Those guys are five star recruits.
Next up is Combat, and that is where, sometimes, undrafted and underrated HS College kids prove they were elite all along.
Then you take the Top College Players and put them in the Pro's...that is the Special Forces training combined with actual Combat Missions under their belt thrive. And for Football, those would be the All Pro and Hall of Fame guys.
I think he got it.
I was a good Soldier. And a well trained Soldier too. I was not in Combat And I was not part of an elite Unit that did missions that are so Classified that we will never hear about them.
So yeah, some Soldiers scare me. Some are Warriors born to thrive in war...not just survive. And then there are the crazy good ones...like LRRP's, Snipers, and other specialties that you can't spot...until it is too late.
So yeah, I respect my Service, but in no way do I think all Soldiers are equal in experience. I won't let any of those guys put down my Service (which has happened several times once the Vet I was speaking with found out I didn't go to Vietnam). I let that roll off my back. I get it. I have Jewish friends Parents, who wouldn't talk to anyone who didn't spend time in a Camp. I get that.
I am proud of my Service. And always will be. But I was just a High School, Jock, and not a Pro Bowl soldier!
Combat
Soldier
Duty
Mission
Training
Posted 2 mo ago
Responses: 8
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I understand your point and appreciate your humility.
And I get it. My last deployment to Afghanistan, I was with the Special Operations Joint Force - Afghanistan (SOJTF-A). I spent my deployment surrounded by Operators from the four major branches. Plus the UK, Poland, and Romania. And I did some pretty important and impressive things in support of them. I was highly respected in my shop, and earned the nickname "wizard" for my ability to just make shit appear.
But I was never at ANY point an operator, myself. And I make it VERY clear whenever I talk about that deployment that I *SUPPORTED* SpecOps, and I was not, myself, an operator.
But what I *also* learned from that deployment is that those guys are Soldiers, too. They train differently. They even think differently (for the most part). But at the end of the day, they are just another piece of the puzzle. Only one person treated me as "less than" on that deployment, and that was my roommate. I was not the fittest of people (met standards, but at that point in my career, I was barely hanging on to avoid a med board), and he never saw my work, just my body. Everyone else respected me and treated me like a valued member of the team. And despite the fact that I was not an operator, I was still able to plug the hole I was there to plug and win the respect and admiration of my team.
On top of that, I watched the Operators screw up. A lot. They are human. They generally fixed their screw ups quick, fast, and in a hurry, and most of the time their screw ups never caused any problems beyond mild embarrassment. But even on that SF outpost (and it was just our TF there, no other units) we still had negligent discharges. We still had bad meals because the cooks screwed up. We still had people late to meetings and briefings.
What I am saying is that WHILE STILL SERVING, those distinctions mean a lot. That expertise and training may mean life or death. But once we are out? We are all just veterans. We should be one big band of brothers who have each other's back, and any "more deserving" or "special" labels or any other similar bullshit should be left behind.
Does that mean we should steal valor? Absolutely not. But should we allow ourselves to feel "less than" another veteran? Absolutely not.
I am not sure if I am really saying what I am trying to say - the words are difficult to find to properly express what I mean. Hopefully I was at least halfway coherent.
And I get it. My last deployment to Afghanistan, I was with the Special Operations Joint Force - Afghanistan (SOJTF-A). I spent my deployment surrounded by Operators from the four major branches. Plus the UK, Poland, and Romania. And I did some pretty important and impressive things in support of them. I was highly respected in my shop, and earned the nickname "wizard" for my ability to just make shit appear.
But I was never at ANY point an operator, myself. And I make it VERY clear whenever I talk about that deployment that I *SUPPORTED* SpecOps, and I was not, myself, an operator.
But what I *also* learned from that deployment is that those guys are Soldiers, too. They train differently. They even think differently (for the most part). But at the end of the day, they are just another piece of the puzzle. Only one person treated me as "less than" on that deployment, and that was my roommate. I was not the fittest of people (met standards, but at that point in my career, I was barely hanging on to avoid a med board), and he never saw my work, just my body. Everyone else respected me and treated me like a valued member of the team. And despite the fact that I was not an operator, I was still able to plug the hole I was there to plug and win the respect and admiration of my team.
On top of that, I watched the Operators screw up. A lot. They are human. They generally fixed their screw ups quick, fast, and in a hurry, and most of the time their screw ups never caused any problems beyond mild embarrassment. But even on that SF outpost (and it was just our TF there, no other units) we still had negligent discharges. We still had bad meals because the cooks screwed up. We still had people late to meetings and briefings.
What I am saying is that WHILE STILL SERVING, those distinctions mean a lot. That expertise and training may mean life or death. But once we are out? We are all just veterans. We should be one big band of brothers who have each other's back, and any "more deserving" or "special" labels or any other similar bullshit should be left behind.
Does that mean we should steal valor? Absolutely not. But should we allow ourselves to feel "less than" another veteran? Absolutely not.
I am not sure if I am really saying what I am trying to say - the words are difficult to find to properly express what I mean. Hopefully I was at least halfway coherent.
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SGT Kevin Hughes
Yep. I understood, and you were cogent. We all did our jobs. And if our skill set met the needs of the mission, we got it done. So like you, I both make no apologies for my Service, and understand some guys did crazy stuff. And...like you said, once we are out of the Service, we are all just Veterans. I am sorry you had that roommate, but even among those guys, there sometimes appears that jealousy or envy. But that is on them...and not us.
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SGT Kevin Hughes
Oh, and I just had a thought, one time I overheard a Supply Sergeant arguing with a SF guy. And the SF Guy was saying how little Supply guys have to do in Combat. To which the Supply Sergeant said: And who the hell did you think brought you your armor, ammo and NVG's...a pixie? And that shut everyone up.
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I salute you all and consider each of you my brothers and sisters. I'm not a combat vet either, I'm a cold war trained and experienced soldier though, nothing more and definitely nothing less. "Just a wrench...maybe...BUT...It takes ALL of us to make it go around. I've seen some crazy shit go down, was way too close to some ugly things in peace time, not because I'm a super duper Air Borne Ranger (the ones I know are hardcore mofo's by the way) but because you maniacs need a damned generator mechanic...whooda thunk that (at 17)? And I can shoot well, doesn't seem to matter what it is either...so there's that. I've been shot at in civilian life several times so I wonder where the enemy be?
I believe each of us has our own flavor of tweak from the experience we had...My old man was Korean War combat vet so I was raised by an Army SSG...he was harsh but fair....I am super grateful to those of you that fought in the wars (and things that aren't talked about). And I'm proud of myself and my service. If the word had dropped, I'd have tore some stuff up....
I believe each of us has our own flavor of tweak from the experience we had...My old man was Korean War combat vet so I was raised by an Army SSG...he was harsh but fair....I am super grateful to those of you that fought in the wars (and things that aren't talked about). And I'm proud of myself and my service. If the word had dropped, I'd have tore some stuff up....
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Thanks Kevin, good to know your thoughts.
Me, I was a proud, "Ground Pounder" Grunt. Hee Haa! And respect all of you who served in the armed forces.
Me, I was a proud, "Ground Pounder" Grunt. Hee Haa! And respect all of you who served in the armed forces.
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SGT Kevin Hughes
That picture just scream Grunt. With such a tiny shovel, and a bit of engineering, we made miracles happen. I know this is going to sound weird, but one of the Best Sergeants I ever served with was named Edil Pelican (The darn spell checker keeps changing his last name...but it did sound like that) He was from Guam. And his then wife, cooked us all Panzit for supper one time...loved it. If you bump into him, say "Hi" for me!
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