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A question for the fellow Vets


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Ok guys, being a vet myself, I need a little bit of advice from ya'll. Given the chance to go back to the service, would you? Do you miss it? I have been out of the navy for almost 3 years, I did 6 years there. As crazy as this sounds I WANT BACK IN But I am thinking more on the side of the Air Force Reserves, I would get to keep my E-5 rank.......then eventually transfer back over to full time active duty....I don't know, there is nothing holding me back here, and I can be stationed here in Northern Ca...If you could would you do it?

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Dude, if you want to go back out to sea, joun NOAA. With your prior goverment service, you would earn leave at a much faster rate. Also vets have preference in the hiring process too. I am the Chief Boatswain on on of the NOAA ships, hire on and we can talk about Datsuns all day, everyday!!:D

 

 

Just a thought.......

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dude if i wasn't past the age limit, heck ya..i miss working on the jets, i was e-6 and a crew chief on 5 jets, miss it a lot, if the chance came up, YYYEEESSS...just my 2 pennies:D

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Dude, if you want to go back out to sea, joun NOAA. With your prior goverment service, you would earn leave at a much faster rate. Also vets have preference in the hiring process too. I am the Chief Boatswain on on of the NOAA ships, hire on and we can talk about Datsuns all day, everyday!!:D

 

 

Just a thought.......

 

na, don't want to go back to sea, I hated being out there sometimes, plus to many bad memories attached to the sea, Im heading into town to talk with the "salesman" but Im gonna act stupid and see what they try to "sell" me, the Air Force is looking for Hvac techs, offering 20k sign on, That was my main NEC for the navy was AC&R so we shall see, I will keep you guys updated

Donnie

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Hvac tech??????????What is that?

 

My 2 buddies are in still in from 20years ago.

1 just retired(F16 crew chief/engine shop). Tired of the Politics

The other in the Guard(A10s) and has to travel far to get to the dutystation as the one nearby closed.

 

Both have been more places as a Guard or Reservist than in the regular Airforce, Mostly going to Iraq and Afganistan which is hard on the wife and kids. If single then it could be fun but I was tired of drills and inspections and always the threat of buget cuts that might close the base.

 

Plus I got tired of working on airplanes in the cold. We started playing games of who could not ck out a tool box the longest.

 

I thought maybe I could also reup as a reservist and maybe become a Aerial Gunner on Airfoce helicopters or AC130s But no reservist slots in the Pacific NW. Only Cargo airplanes near McCord airforce base and I dont want to load pallets on a C17. So as this war progressed I soon lost interest after talking to my friends who cant wait to normalize their lives.

 

 

If nothing holding you back,still YOUNG,you dont own alot go for it!!!!!

I never regret going in myself. I saw alot of places. The ticket was never get stationed stateside. One of my buddies got staioned at Langely Virginia and all he did was work 12hr days 7 days a week for years.(FUCK THAT)

 

My Father said DONT GO IN THE NAVY SUBMARINE SERVICE

100 men go DOWN then 50 Couples come up

 

Zaragoza,Spain

My F15 ride 1986

Capt Geddes,Heinz Zaragoza,Spain_thumb.jpg

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Hainz said,

 

"My Father said DONT GO IN THE NAVY SUBMARINE SERVICE

100 men go DOWN then 50 Couples come up"

 

 

Well, It aint queer once youve left the pier.

 

It aint gay when your underway.

 

Just kidding......terrible joke.

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well, they were freaking closed???? So I called and talked to an advisor, They will let me in and I get to keep E5, but they said its damn near impossible to come back full time active duty....but they said there is a way and will talk more when the recuriter gets ahold of me

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Bugeye,

 

I would have to say that if it were not for the back injury, I would be back in a heartbeat, probably writing this from some far flung place in the world. I also got out as an E-5; I even tried for recruiter or service school instructor, but I had "no promotion potential" after the back injury, no PT, 35# lifting limit, etc. I said no thanks to being E-5 and the extreme maybe an E-6 for the rest of my career, and I wanted to go OCS, but once again, no promotion potential because of no PT. Chairborne for the rest of my career?? No thanks. If you're healthy, and able, I say go for it. But remember this: Its not the questions you ask the recruiter, its the questions you don't ask.

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I had a great career. The first 3-4 years and the last 2 kinda sucked, but, other than that, no real complaints.

 

Personally, I loved going to sea. Never see a prettier night sky, sunrise or sunset. Almost 3 weeks of eat, stand watch, and sleep got old when we got caught off Midway in a typhoon. I mean, how many times can one watch Red Dawn and Terminator? :D

 

As for the BS, I got out with just under nine years. If you think the military is bad, go work for civil service (I was in Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard). The military don't hold a candle to civilian gov't politicrap. I had joined the reserves, and came back in after 3 years. After that, the BS was just water off a duck's back...nada.

 

It's nice having that retirement check, though don't screw around. Bust yer balls and make E-7. You'll be glad you did.

 

If I had a scanner, I could post some pics from back in the day.

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And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I

wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and

guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill,

KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and

he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down

yelling, "KILL, KILL." And the sargent came over, pinned a medal on me,

sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."

 

" You Can get anything you want at Alices restaraunt.....":D

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Bah, I did 21 in the Coast Guard. First 19yrs were good, last 3 blew donkey genitals. All depends on your command. Last one I had was absolutely terrible. I was history after that. The desire to get u/w has been completely driven from my psyche.

 

Dude, if you want to go back out to sea, joun NOAA. With your prior goverment service, you would earn leave at a much faster rate. Also vets have preference in the hiring process too. I am the Chief Boatswain on on of the NOAA ships, hire on and we can talk about Datsuns all day, everyday!!:D

 

 

Just a thought.......

 

Yeah, I was the same as you when I retired. I was stationed on 3 buoy tenders on the west coast. I hated working your buoys!!

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I was a US Navy Engineman (EN2) too. But my NEC was 4303 (Small Diesel Overhaul Tech). Spent my entire service as a Boat Engineer, even when I was stationed on the Sacramento. Fresh Air Snipe.

 

I did about 7 years on-off over an 11 year period. 4 years active, 3 years IRR (basically mail in a reply to say you're still alive), then when my IRR was 4 months from being up I joined the SELRES, extended for 2 years, got put on Active Duty following 9/11 for a year (which included another year extension), and got out in 2003 just before my unit was headed for Iraq. By then I was not only a qualified boat engineer but qualified for Expeditionary Warfare service (we wore green, slept in tents, carried automatic weapons, but still were Navy).

 

I never would have even gone SELRES except I was given the opportunity to join a Patrol boat unit, and one thing I loved when I was in was I was a Diesel mechanic/Boat Engineer and small boats have small crews.

 

I miss some parts of it, but I DON'T miss the politics and the "rush" to get stuff done that you could have done properly if given enough warning. Problem is, it's the same everywhere, only difference is most jobs don't have *OFFICERS*. Office politics suck just as bad. Though instead of having someone yelling orders at you, you have people trying to guilt-trip you into unpaid overtime. Yeah, that doesn't really work with former military.

 

In reality, I got out for 2 reasons: 1 was I had no inclination to return to the Middle East- twice was enough, and I had just gotten demobilized less than 3 months before getting word we were headed out again. The second, which was probably the more important, was I couldn't pass a PRT to save my life. When you can't pass a PRT, you can't advance in rank, and I am competative when it comes to Evals and advancement. If I could have solved the PRT problem I probably would have re-upped in the Reserves (that PRT plagued me even in Boot Camp- I simply can't run worth a damn. Short stumpy legs built for sprints, not endurance). But even that woudl have been fleeting- by Oct 2004 my unit was decommisisoned and the equipment shipped to San Deigo to become part of the new full-Active Maritime Protection Force. I wasn't about to become a SeaBee tractor mechanic, but there's little out there in the Reserves for a small-diesel mechanic.

 

I'd actually considered NOAA when it was looking like my current job was in trouble, but now it's been a long time, and my job seems secure (and it pays better).

 

I sure wouldn't have wanted to be an engineer on the John Cobb a couple months ago, though.

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well, they were freaking closed???? So I called and talked to an advisor, They will let me in and I get to keep E5, but they said its damn near impossible to come back full time active duty....but they said there is a way and will talk more when the recuriter gets ahold of me

 

Do the air guard route, you can get a full time job guaranteed in something like the machine shop or even sheetmetal. Also, AGE and like mentioned above engine shop are usually looking for people to fill positions. You wont be guaranteed a position until you join and come back from tech school but at least before you join you will know what the best options would be. peace.

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I myself am active Air Force 22 years and have yet to see someone lately (within the last 10 years) get back into active after getting out. With all of the cut backs and people getting kicked out for things that even five years ago would be just laughed at, I would find it almost impossible to come into the active duty world for Air Force. If that is the road you do take, then good luck.

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Do the air guard route, you can get a full time job guaranteed in something like the machine shop or even sheetmetal. Also, AGE and like mentioned above engine shop are usually looking for people to fill positions. You wont be guaranteed a position until you join and come back from tech school but at least before you join you will know what the best options would be. peace.

 

I am also waiting on the air guard recruiter to call me

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I chose to go play ball in college. But alot of my friends went and I respect them for doing it. If given a second chance I think I would go in at least for the 4 yr stint. I got into to much trouble and partied way to much in college. But alot of my friends where in Desert Storm, One good friend was a tank driver and protraled the oil fields....said it was quite a life changing experience....

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Yeah, I was the same as you when I retired. I was stationed on 3 buoy tenders on the west coast. I hated working your buoys!!

 

 

They aren't technially my bouys, I have done some bouy work but mostly fishing up north, Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska. Yeah, NOAA does that too, just left Dutch Harbor and headed back to Seattle!! WOO-HOO!!

 

We get a lot of retired Navy guys, its a lot more relaxed and some of the guys dig it. Othrs don't, they NEED the structure.

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My Father said DONT GO IN THE NAVY SUBMARINE SERVICE

100 men go DOWN then 50 Couples come up

 

:fu::lol::fu::lol::fu::lol::fu::lol::fu::lol:LOL

 

QM2/SS, 4 yrs on the USS PENNSYLVANIA, SSBN 735 Gold Crew. sorry no fudge packin for me,thanks,LOL:D

 

I would go back without a blink of an eye, if i wasn't a fat bastid now

 

theres the old girl

USS_Pennsylvania_28SSBN-73529.jpg

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