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Gary Roy
Gary Roy
12 years ago

I found this podcast via a Facebook link that was posted on my Facebook. I have met both San and Mark when they were in New Hampshire. They are grate people and my hat is off to them.
I served 17 years in the Navy. A lot has changed since my time in service. I agree with your comments about assisting our service veterans. One does not have to be in a battle to be a VETERAN, Our service members face dangers 24/7.
I would like to inform you of a peer group just coming of age, it is called the Vet To Vet program. It is a program were military vets no matter when or where one served can meet and share the problems and conflicts or readjusting from the military mind set back to the civilian mind set. A place where one may meet a fellow vet who has dealt with the same problem or conflict before and will share how they over came it.
Although not part of the Veterans Affairs Department the VAMC’s recognize and assist in the programs activities.
As a fellow veteran I salute and thank you for your service both then and now.

BarnGeek
12 years ago

Thank You Mark, Sean, Jack and all others who have served.

"Top" W. Kone
12 years ago

The Veteran faces many challenges when they leave the service. You find yourself with out that order you had: PT in the morning, your cloths picked out for the day, your tasks planned, etc right down to which side you were on when you walked with someone.

You also face the issue of finding out that what you learned/did in the military often does little to help you in civilian employment world. Many of the things you did, like driving M1’s or making hasty craters have very little civilian carry over. Other things that hurt you is after 20 years in, getting out at 38 years old and you find that police departments, fire departments, etc won’t even consider you because 1) you are too old, 2) you have no experience – even when it was your MOS for 20 years-, 3) you’re seen as damaged goods – too many military habits that won’t work with the place you’re applying.

All this is false, but the media and entertainment loves the story line of Vets are all PTSD ticking time bombs. They jumped all over the Sikh shooter, highlighting how he had served in the Army! (14 years earlier)

What is needed is more groups like this, and people telling their employers that they need more vets working for them. If you’re in HR or a manager, take the time to interview people with military on their employment history even if they don’t meet 100% your needs. You may find that their willingness to work hard and be a quick learner more than makes up for that lack.

Raymond "Shorty" Butler
Raymond "Shorty" Butler
12 years ago

S.T.R.A.C., STRAC, Standing Tough and Ready Around the Clock. Only place I ever heard this was in Division.

It’s been 30 years and I miss it. Not the hurry up and wait, the marching or the food, but the comradeship, travel and yes the jumping. Throughout all these years, I have struggled with coming home but I have found solace in the last few years gardening, volunteering, but I believe most importantly teaching. I isolate, extreme isolate and I believe that teaching gets me back in touch with training my troops. Feeling like I have a mission makes me feel like a million bucks and allows that young trooper inside this old man feel that pride in service again.

Great episode, thank you.

Shorty

Andrew M
Andrew M
12 years ago

If you have the time, I’d highly recommend to anyone reading this that they listen to the episode linked at the end of the show notes

Ryan
12 years ago
Reply to  Andrew M

I was a Marine Corps reservist and got out in 2005 right after a deployment in Iraq. We left the combat zone, spent about 10 days winding down at the Baghdad airport and then a few days in California before going back to the civilian world. It was kind of a difficult transition – I remember going out to Oceanside, CA two weeks or so after being on patrols in Iraq, walking in front of a car in traffic and giving it the Iraqi gesture for “stop”, not even realizing what I was doing.

You feel like you hit a wall. Suddenly your life seems like it has less of a purpose than it did when you were in and you realize that you just (probably) had the defining moments of your life and everything else will be mundane. One of the most depressing moments of my life was watching my old unit get on buses to leave for deployment and then I went home and mowed my yard. I didn’t REALLY want to go, but you still feel like you’re a part of it all and that you should be there. They did just fine without me, of course.

I drank a lot and tried to make up for the lack of purpose/excitement/danger with other things. Fortunately I ended up focusing most of that energy on positive things after a couple of years – a lot of us talk about always having to have different hobbies and stimulation to make up for it. The preparedness world has done a lot to introduce me to some new things to pursue.

Jack – Any chance of getting a veterans’ subforum in the forum?

Surfivor
Surfivor
12 years ago

Jack,

It seems hiking in the woods is like a spiritual quest, I agree with that completely.

I was never in the military, but yet I feel I was sort of in way. I was a good athlete and did very well on the football team in 8th grade. I liked football quite a bit, but when I got into high school with a different coach, the drills and such associated with the practices started to seem like not alot of fun. It was mostly alot of drudgery and being yelled at all the time. The coach expected you to be in shape at the beginning of the season and he would work you like a dog. I usually would be injured before the season began and the trainer seemed to think my body structure was different than most people. I found it difficult to jog every day and all that pre season on my own. I was actually the fastest runner on the team, but I hardly got to play very much. I don’t know if the coach didn’t like me or felt I wasn’t with the picture or what not. My impression of the military and boot camp is pretty much just more of the same what I had experienced from being on the football team and I never had the sense that vietnam or any of the recent conflicts where something that I was attached to. That whole football thing ended up being a very bad experience for me even though I used to like football alot before then, I don’t even really like football anymore .. I found some renewed interests in atheleticism with surfing and so on.

As far as giving up your rights to be in the military. I think ancient warrior societies could have been different. The Sioux Indians never court martial people for not wanting to fight or considered them to have signed away their rights, yet they where a renowned warrior society. In the bible, religion was part of the warfare and not excluded from it and people where not courtmartialled either I don’t think. I also think in gorilla warfare it’s less formalized and structured like that.