Question For All

[CoolBlue71]

Has anyone posting here, at "Current Events and Politics," ever served in any capacity in any of the United States military forces?

[rareboy]

Does blowing a marine count?

[Lefty]

yes

[Benvolio]

Yes. But the computer says that answer is too short.

[archive]

Yes, why do you ask?

[bw92116]

Not me... during my draft years the military wasn't accepting gays.
But, my Dad served in the United States Marine Corps in World War II and the Korean conflict.
And my Mom served in the United States Marine Corps in World War II.
And my Mom's Dad served in the United States Marine Corps in World War I.

[racer2438]

Yes, my honey did, US ARMY.......

[Kulindahr]

I couldn't make it into the Coast Guard; standards were obnoxiously strict back then.

So I became a lifeguard, trained lifeguards, taught small boat handling and safety....

[Seasoned]

My husband was in the navy. I was in the Peace Corps.

[Benvolio]

I couldn't make it into the Coast Guard; standards were obnoxiously strict back then.

So I became a lifeguard, trained lifeguards, taught small boat handling and safety....

So the correct answer is Kulindahr did not choose to serve in the military.

[bankside]

Not at all. Not my country to do so.

[JayHawk]

Why yes Sir I had, have and will continue doing so......

[bendted]

No. They didn't want my kind back then. Though...I did sign up (army) and lied on 'the question', went through the process and was accepted, but never carried through with it because I knew I couldn't 'straight act' to any degree of believability.

[archive]

So the correct answer is Kulindahr did not choose to serve in the military.

Did you come in as enlisted or officer and what service ?

[T-Rexx]

I was recruited because I have special training that the military wanted. Two army recruiters came to the facility where I worked and gave their pitch. I was offered an officer's commission at entry - a captain. I went through the physical exam, some paperwork, and the whole nine yards.

But, when I went to actually sign, I checked the box that said I was gay.

Thus ended my military service.

[MassRuss]

Back in 1966, I joined the Air Force, lied on the question, "are you now or have you ever been--QUEER". We were "shipping out" to Texas, we had a last stop @ the Federal Building in Newark for a hearing test. I failed. For a moment, the guys thought I'd faked it, til they saw that I hadn't been drafted. I was sent back home, with an appointment for an Ear Dr of their choice. Turned out I had 50% hearing loss in 1 ear, 30% in the other, scar tissue from measles, chicken pox on both ear drums. As the Dr explained why I couldn't serve, had a gun gone off near me, I'd have lost all hearing. At the time, I was heartbroken. After what we all saw happen in Nam, not so much, plus I was never exactly good at hiding my feelings. All I would have needed was a SSgt who looked like Chris Meloni, & I would have been as sunk as the Titanic.....

Just to show how sneaky the military can be, the recruiter (who could have been LBJ's brother, looked & sounded just like him) promised me Berlin, then England. Later a friend from childhood got back in touch, had been promised Turkey, then Italy, ended up in Da Nang......I think they finally stopped with that

[JayHawk]

Yeah recruiters are not allowed to promise anything anymore. In fact one of the questions we ask a person before they select their job is "Have you been promised anything that isn't in this paperwork or will you only serve for one type of job?" If the answer is yes we send them home. That at least is the Navy.

Still shitty things happen. We standardize test for placement into different communities. So last spring the CNO (The Navy HMIC) said he wanted an additional several hundred seaman in Deck division or basic jobs on each ship because manning sucked on our surface ships. So we sent almost everyone for about four months to boot camp as seaman to end up on a deck gang. Now there is nothing wrong with deck. Some of my best friends and the most dedicated Sailors serve in Deck Div BUT the IQ for that job is not high. So what do you think is going to happen when all these junior smart folks are working for a not so quick leadership. Conflict is what. So many of those really high IQ folks are not being done a service in my opinion.

However we are always based on need. Whether they hire ya, keep you or shit can you is all based primarily on need.

[rareboy]

BTW. I volunteer to swab the poop deck.

[Lefty]

Kuli,

They still have the highest standards of any service (until 2002 that I know of)

After general seaman, LORAN, small boat SAR and then boating safety team, my time as a Recruiter (2 tours, 1 as
OinC) I enlisted over 400 young men and some women. Every last one of them successfully completed 'boot camp'
and at the time my 2nd tour expired, only one had not made it as a Coastie...(She got preggers
by a CPO and they were both discharged general discharge, good of the service) unmarried pregnant was a nono back then as
was senior personnel fucking junior...he probably would have been okay but she filed paternity suit so it could not
just go away. I think I may have enlisted one of our mods back in the mid/late 70's. The unwritten rule back then
was No Flamers and probably where the Joint (sic) Chiefs of Staff got the idea for 'don't ask/don't tell.'

Sorry, probably this is TMI for a simple question.

[Kulindahr]

Originally Posted by Benvolio
So the correct answer is Kulindahr did not choose to serve in the military.

You can't read, I see.

I CHOSE to serve. I couldn't get in. The physical problems I had -- poor arches, breaking my legs running on them, and lung damage -- constituted "three strikes". The doctor told me that, having failed that one, there was no way to serve.

[JayHawk]

Kuli dont you know unless it pertains to xenophobia or hate based thought processes Ben doesnt really have anything else but personal attacks? Kind of a model for posting by the righties around here.

if you cant develop a salient point then attack the other guy. To be fair it was made extremely popular by the Admiral Alfie in things like demanding right wing folks serve the military or shut the fuck up.

[bankside]

You can't read, I see.

I CHOSE to serve. I couldn't get in. The physical problems I had -- poor arches, breaking my legs running on them, and lung damage -- constituted "three strikes". The doctor told me that, having failed that one, there was no way to serve.

You are replying to a post the content of which was not intended to clarify but to insinuate. The insinuation of nothing relevant, or indeed even intelligible, btw, but there nonetheless.

[Benvolio]

You can't read, I see.

I CHOSE to serve. I couldn't get in. The physical problems I had -- poor arches, breaking my legs running on them, and lung damage -- constituted "three strikes". The doctor told me that, having failed that one, there was no way to serve.

You tried the Coast Guard with, as you say, "Obnoxiously high standards" and failed. No attempt at the Army? Their standards are not so obnoxiously high. Any lifeguard should be able to qualify.

[opinterph]

Let's stop the personal comments, please.

[Lefty]

@Kuli, Banky Jawk-y and others of that ilk,

nasty diatribe re a troll deleted as per good

taste and management preference.

[JayHawk]

Lefty i just have one comment and that is to describe how long I have been in the navy....

"All me bloomin' life, Most Honorable Senior Chief! Me Mother was a mermaid, me father was King Neptune. I was born on the crest of a wave and rocked in the cradle of the deep. Seaweed and barnacles are me clothes. Every tooth in me head is a marlinspike; the hair on me head is hemp. Every bone in me body is a spar, and when I spits, I spits tar! I'se hard, I is, I am, I are!"

[Lefty]

Obviously did your stint bent over the capstan too there mate.
Bet that hemp was good for
swabbing the scuppers and wiping down the stains on the bulkheads.
My git and spawn swore an oath
he never played tridents with you.

If you be lying its the brig butt the cat first for ye...

[MassRuss]

LOL. ^^^^ Back in 66, I had originally tried to join the Navy, but their quota was full. I couldn't swim a stroke (still can't) but they had just recomissioned the New Jersey, & I so wanted to serve on her. I was battleship crazy, had the plastic Revell models of them all over my room as a teen. The NJ, PA, MA, WA, MO, IA, SC, AL, OR, & of course, Arizona. Even had the Prince of Wales, Duke of York, King George V, & Bismark & Tirpitz

[cocksucker4use]

Was a naval officer and have a purple heart.

[bendted]

Wow...I'm amazed at you guys being able to serve in spite of your 'homosexual lifestyle choice' without, apparently, any repercussions. I suppose y'all had to have a cover 'girlfriend' in order to deflect any suspicions, or you had got the 'straight act' down to a science (back then)...or something else.

[Kulindahr]

Wow...I'm amazed at you guys being able to serve in spite of your 'homosexual lifestyle choice' without, apparently, any repercussions. I suppose y'all had to have a cover 'girlfriend' in order to deflect any suspicions, or you had got the 'straight act' down to a science (back then)...or something else.

Some of us had to get the "straight act" down just to remain alive. In fact for my part, I didn't know there was any "acting" involved; that was just the way guys were supposed to be.