RadioBanter - View Single Post - For those that are against the morse removal

September 1st 03, 05:42 AM

In article ,
(Brian) writes:

And during my turn in the barrel, I thanked my lucky stars I was Air
Force. The USN was better to their people than the Army, but not
much.

Brian:

Don't get me wrong, I had a great time in the Air Force, and have no
regrets over my choice of a military career. However, you brushed up
against part of my "problem" with the Air Force. I think that they are
TOO good to their people, if that's possible. My last couple of years
(the ones at Dover AFB) were made miserable by a bunch of whining,
complaining, non-working Senior Airmen who didn't want to do anything
but take two-hour lunch breaks, get their weekends off, get their 30
days leave exactly when they wanted it, and get paid every two weeks.
Doing the job wasn't even on their Top 10 list of priorities. Of course,
my job as a 9-level MSgt in a Superintendent slot was to make sure
they were doing that job. So, whenever I dared to crack the whip a
bit, they went around me to our CMSgt Squadron Ops Superintendent,
who had the ever-popular "open door policy." Their complaints would
end up with me being called on his carpet, whereupon I'd usually tell
him that when they came in as a result of his open door policy, I'd
much prefer it if he'd slam the door in their faces! Well, this got me a
reputation of not being a "people person," since this Chief thought it was
every supervisor's job to know the right buttons to push to get people
to work. When I was an Airman, nobody had to push any buttons
on me. I was always at work on time, early, in fact, with a clean,
sharp-looking uniform, haircut, spit-polished shoes you could use as
a shaving mirror, and my head full of all the technical information about
my job I'd just learned from my CDC's. I was a great Airman, and
continued to be right up to the day I retired. However, in my entire
career as a supervisor (which, since I was always promoted way ahead
of my alleged "peers," started at a mere 3 years TIS) I've only a small
handful of Airmen who were anything like me. The rest were all the
whining, needy, lazy, unmotivated, indifferent No-Coder type. When
they weren't goofing off on the job, they were getting into trouble in the
dorms and off-base, making my life miserable sorting them out at
all hours of the night.

Now, the Navy always had a much different attitude toward discipline
than the Air Force. A Navy Chief wields true power over his people, and
usually isn't second-guessed or undermined by his senior Chiefs or
officers. I have to say that in the many times I've worked with the Navy,
I've always been impressed with their Enlisted personnel. I'd never
met one who wasn't able to address me correctly by rank -- but I'm
sure that if the typical A1C were to encounter a Navy Petty Officer
First Class in a professional situation, he'd probably call him or her
"Sarge."

Navy Enlisted people have always seemed to have their acts together
much better than Airmen, and I guess that's because they're all a lot
closer to actual combat conditions than most Airmen ever get on a
day-to-day basis. Things may have changed a bit since I've retired,
what with the constant involvement in real-world combat situations
these days. At least, I hope so.

73 de Larry, K3LT