What does the word "veteran" mean?
- Thread starter Marauder06
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Does that have the cobra style buckle or a locking carabiner?
Would I be wrong in making the assumption that if you are wearing a jet pack you don't need to be tethered? Kinda like in an aircraft with the doors open, you either need to be tethered or have a chute on.
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I'm not breaking any more OPSEC on the SSDG Program.... we've said enough.
IMO anyone who volunteered to serve and didn't quit. I have a buddy that shattered his forearm in Marine Corps boot camp, and he's struggled in life ever since. Kept trying but they wouldn't bring him back. He was made for it. So at less than 13 weeks active I refuse to think of him as anything other than a veteran.
So your argument is that if somebody joins the service and is thrown out during basic, doesn't quit, but failure to adapt, inability to follow orders, creating multiple dangerous situations for other trainees... as long as that person doesn't quit, they are a veteran.
I'm not sure I agree with you. The injury to your buddy sucks, but he did not finish basic, does he get disability from the military? did he earn his EGA? A training injury in Basic does not make you a veteran unless it is in the last week, and that individual is already set to go from 'recruit' to Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, or Coastie.
I didn't mean it as literal as that by a long shot. All those you listed are quitting if you ask me. A person fails to adapt by choice. Doesn't follow orders by choice. If you're part of the .5 % of this country that volunteers to serve and it doesn't happen because of something out of your control, basically, you get injured and they won't let you wait to heal, you've earned a little more respect than the average joe.
You would be surprised by the number of recruit injuries that are self inflicted, or self initiated in order to get out of a contract. Everybody that went through Basic knows people who got injured and or recycled and or recruit medical dropped. Like I said, if it is in the last week of training, and that person is good to go, they will probably graduate with their class if there is any chance of recovery. And I know a guy who had an ammo box fall out of a truck during range week... maybe 4 weeks in to Basic - it broke his femur - and he got recycled (the class he recycled to was nearly a year later) after 6 weeks in the hospital and time in a rehab unit. Your buddy isn't telling you something.
76 turned into 52 over the course of 13 meager weeks. All of them chaptered out for various shitbaggery. Honestly, if someone didn't even pass their associated AIT then calling them a veteran is like calling a police academy washout "officer" when he's back working at winchells handing hot ones to the real badges.
If ya broke in mere initial entry training of any service...... generally speaking you're either physically incapable of doing the necessary duty, or mentally incapable of doing it right/safely.... in either case, it's best for the team as a whole to be a man down rather than a derp up.
If ya broke in mere initial entry training of any service...... generally speaking you're either physically incapable of doing the necessary duty, or mentally incapable of doing it right/safely.... in either case, it's best for the team as a whole to be a man down rather than a derp up.
I see your point and you're right, mistake on my part. I guess my optimism for people to be honest about what truly happened got the better of me. Very hard for me to relate to dishonest stories and embellishment, because as I see it, what's the point? Sorry for the ignorance.
Cynicism and a jaded outlook, with a healthy dose of reality... that's my secret.
Brill
SOF Support
Your buddy is a veteran of boot camp? Insert golf clap. Here's what Federal law says (24 months of AD or service connected disability):
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.12a
https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42324.pdf
So you come at me about a post I just admitted to being wrong about 9 hours earlier? thanks for opening my eyes.
Brill
SOF Support
Alright, knock it the fuck off, both of you.
I have a confession. While I agree with the majority that serving a complete enlistment honorably is the definition of "veteran", I have a hard time thinking of fuzzy sleeved senior NCO's as "veterans" after we have been at war for over a decade.
Reed
Reed
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I feel this is a good fit for the thread.. what criteria does a national conflict need to have in order for one to consider themselves a veteran of that specific period. I'm asking because yesterday I heard somebody who was referred to as a "Cold War Veteran". I am not discrediting it, yet I was puzzled because I never heard someone referred as a "Cold War Veteran".
- Joined
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HOLLiS
Verified Military
There is even a "Cold War Medal"....... kind of a iffy thing, Reading about it, is also confusing. Probably no different than the various ERA veterans.
RetPara
SOF Support
Depending on what and where you were... the Cold War got awfully damn hot at times. There were the recon bird shootdowns, kidnappings, and a LOT of other nasty stuff that went on. This is the third time a Cold War Service Medal has been introduced into the House.
