Swordsower Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 So I have some bad-ish news. I'm being moved back to day shift. The time difference is about 12 hours or so, so being moved to days means that I'll only be on during what is night to most of the Eclipse community. FUUUUUUU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummerpete Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 What time zone are you in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsh Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Thats a shame, hopefully you can catch some late nighters though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordsower Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 I'm in Bagram, same timezone as Kabul, +4:30 GMT. As I type this, it is 5:35 AM where I am, and 8:10 PM in New York. It's not as bad as it could be, but I still preferred nights. The worst part is that I have a harder time talking to my wife when I'm on days, because she lives in Augusta, GA, same timezone as NYC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsh Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 It is a wonder that you get so much computer time at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Stephan and I will usually be on, as well as the other Euros/Brits. We'll keep you company <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummerpete Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I'll probably be online as well. I always am, lmao. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordsower Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 Y'know, the funny thing is I'm deployed out of Germany. The cool thing about that is that I have all my passport information taken care of, and flying between any two EU nations is cheap as hell. I'm probably going to visit England around mid October. I'll probably be in Germany until January 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khachaturian Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 You'll get to see Pete at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azure Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 My step mom's family lives in Augusta, I was just there in December. It sucks to be stuck working the day shift. I suppose it'll give us more time to chat seeing as how I'm always online at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordsower Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 My wife lives right on Wrightsboro, 'tween the mall and the Dominos. Hell, I was just there in November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azure Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I passed by that mall everyday I was there. XD Your actually not to far from me when your state side. … uh give or take 3 hours considering how much fun Atlanta is to get through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordsower Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 I'm stationed in Germany though, and I'm gonna have my wife come live with me out there for about a year and a half before we both get moved elsewhere. I don't rightly know what my next duty station is going to be, but I'm looking at either Fort Gordon, or Arifjan, Kuwait. As an assignment, Kuwait is the tits. Hazard pay, combat pay, fire pay, COLA, and it's not really even a combat zone. The weather is bull though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azure Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 That doesn't sound so bad. I love cola. :azn: I'm thinking of putting some cash in a British bank in pounds and letting it set for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordsower Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 COLA means Cost Of Living and Allowances. Any time a US soldier is stationed anywhere where the economy is doing better than the US economy, we get paid extra to compensate. The Euro is doing better than the dollar, hence us getting paid about $100 extra per month depending on rank and dependants.Germany is awesome in some ways, and crappy in other…I'm tired of being ripped of on phone service and internet though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsh Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Is there any system where you can join the military for like a year or two then leave. I mean actually leave never be called again, if a war breaks out you wont be recruited against your will. Or are you stuck for life no matter how much time you serve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummerpete Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 @Marsh:> Is there any system where you can join the military for like a year or two then leave. I mean actually leave never be called again, if a war breaks out you wont be recruited against your will. Or are you stuck for life no matter how much time you serve.Can't you leave after training? Like, just not continue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsh Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 That would be sweet! free training. Not sure if that would work though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummerpete Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I think you can go through training and decide whether or not you want to join.And here you get about £300 a week for training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azure Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I don't know how they do it down under, but when you sign up here you have a certain number of tours you have to do, right Crypto? Also cola and COLA both sound pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordsower Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 @Marsh:> Is there any system where you can join the military for like a year or two then leave. I mean actually leave never be called again, if a war breaks out you wont be recruited against your will. Or are you stuck for life no matter how much time you serve.Oh it depends on a whole lot of things it does. First, MOS. MOS stands for military occupational specialty. My MOS is 25B, IT Specialist. There are MOS's for just about everything, but do research, because it's harder to get promoted in some MOS's than others.Each MOS has a different role in the military, and there are different units made up of different MOS's. For example, the 25 series are signal. 25U is Signal Operator Maintaner, 25Q is Multiband Radio something something, 25L is…I dunno, I just know we call them Cable Dogs, they lay fiber. Typically, depending on the type of signal unit, you'll have a blend of these MOS's making up the 'task engine' of the unit. Then there are Support MOS's like Military Lawyers, Military Supply clerks, Chaplain assistants...bread and butter jobs that every unit has.Now, on to your question, Marsh. To enlist for 2 years, you need to pick an MOS that allows it. All the 'good' MOS's require at least 6 years. Once you leave the military, you're out. You don't ever have to do anything ever again once you've left, AND you're immune to draft. Just finish Basic Training and you're immune to draft, but you _want_ an honorable discharge, and there's no way to do ONLY basic, and still get that discharge.I get paid uber a lot though, so it's all worth it. Deployments suck, but they're not as bad as they used to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azure Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Wouldn't it be different for the Australian Military though?(Marsh you are an Aussie, right?)Cyrpto what are the odds of getting into a group like yours with "poor" vision. I can do most it related things blind folded, but my vision is what kept me out of selective service. Ironically on average my senses(sight included) are much more alert than the non disabled people around me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsh Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Do you get arrested for a dishonourable discharge? nah im canadainAlso how much training are they willing to give you? like how crappy can you be before you go? will the average joe make it or do you have to be fairly fit off the bat.This part looks pretty sweet:> Military Training and Service Commitment …top> > NCMs attend college during the school year, and are required to attend basic and occupational training during the summer months.> > Basic Military Training usually takes place the summer before college begins. It teaches basic military skills and CF core values.> > Basic Occupational Qualification Training is the next step. It involves specialized training at a CF facility in Canada. The training facilities house sophisticated technological equipment, and courses are taught by highly skilled, experienced instructors.> > Graduates must serve a number of years calculated on the basis of two months' service for each month of subsidized education or training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swordsower Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 The training is really good, or at least mine was. It varies based on the cadre, but I went to one of the more difficult ones. Training doesn't stop once you get basic and occupational done though, we do training exercises every week. The training is a lot of fun most of the time. I've only been in two years, and 1 of those years is a deployment to Afghanistan.Weapons training is a lot of fun. They give you a rifle, some ammo, and some targets, and the rest is up to you. The first time I ever shot a combat rifle I hit 34 out of 40, which is phenominal for a first try. Expert is 36 out of 40, and I can do that consistantly.As for my MOS training, IT in the military has a lot of variety. It started with A+, N+ and TCP/IP. Then Routers, Switches, Advanced Troubleshooting, Security+, and a number of other network security classes. Then Unix, Solaris, Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Exchange. Unix was a LOT of fun, but not very useful in practice. Then comes CPN (Command Post Node) which is a series of useful classes on tactical communications technologies. A CPN is a network in a box. Then comes the FBCB2 training, which is a live military Google Earth terminal that goes in a vehicle and allows you to track the locations of all the troops in the area via GPS. That is a kick ass technology, but not easy to learn, and we get only a crash course. Then there's the final class, M3, Matrix Management Module, where they have a full blown battalion sized network in a room, and we have to set up the configurations fresh. That class is daunting, but still kinda fun.Back to weapons training, I've fired an M16A2, an M16A4, an M249, and M240B, a M203, an AT4, and an M9 pistol at training and qualification. I didn't get to shoot the .50 cal, or the Mark 19, and those two weapons are the reason NO ONE EVER WANTS TO ATTACK A CONVOY. The .50 cal is overkill encarnate, and the Mark 19 is a belt-fed, fully automatic grenade launcher. Could there be a more ridiculous weapon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khachaturian Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I'm considering joining the army after I graduate. A couple of my friends are as well actually, although they're graduating before me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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