Sandy vajay-jay
There’s an article in the UK’s Daily Mail that links to a Glamour Magazine article from an Air Force lieutenant’s whining-ass story of her trip to Afghanistan. I don’t why she thought it would be of interest to anyone or why Glamour would bother to publish it. It’s actually worse than wading through Kayla William’s book and I never thought I’d say that;
In the November issue of Glamour magazine, she details how ‘long hours’, ‘drab meals of dry meat and soggy vegetables’ and constant ‘paranoia’ that something could happen at any moment, gradually took a toll on her mental state during deployment.
[…]
Limited internet and phone service added to her feelings of vulnerability as did the fact she was a woman in predominantly a man’s world.
The the pretty brunette said that sexual assault a constant worry for her on the front line, because she ‘knew the stories’ and ‘overheard vulgar talk.’
[…]
And back at her desk job as a public affairs officer, she found it difficult to maintain focus because ‘everything seemed trivial’ in light of what she’d been through.
I’ll tel you what, she’s not doing any favors for those women who want to be in combat jobs, or the Air Force folks, for that matter. It sounds like every pogue I’ve ever heard talk about how tough their deployments were, or their time in Graf or Hohenfels for a few weeks. I think she’d better brace herself, because if she thought that being a Public Affairs officer in Afghanistan was tough, I think she’s going to have it tougher when more people read this article.
vShe was eventually diagnosed with chronic adjustment disorder – a milder form of post-traumatic stress disorder.
I’m pretty sure that everything she has is milder than anyone else.
Category: Air Force, Dumbass Bullshit
@50. I remember the PT sock police and their partners, the dreaded E-9 3-minute shower police from my Air Guard days. Now that I am in the Army Guard, my joes deal with the dreaded PT belt police. After all, a PT belt can keep you safe whatever the hazard! ! Oh, and this broad needs to get over herself. I’m sending this link to my wife to give her a little laugh.
Typical Fobbit embellishing stories to make her deployment seem harder than it really is. I don’t know what is worse, that she is complaining about her cake-walk deployment or that the idiot editors of Glamour put her bullshit story into print. As an Infantryman I generally ignore the POGs who bitch about stuff on deployment or embellish their “combat” stories, but this is really too much.Yet another soft minded person who was told that they were special and they can do anything they want as they were handed a participation trophy.
Hondo: Yeah, thinking about it, you could be right. It did have a stench of privilege wafting from it.
But I sure as hell ain’t goin’ back to look again.
Ex-PH2,
Mail should be getting delivered. The Post Office website states that it is open for business, and they run mail service out here via their APOs. Also, I’ve been sending letters out left and right, so unless they’re being piled up somewhere…
On a plus side, I knew I had seen this story before on the DuffleBlog.
http://www.duffelblog.com/2013/04/trauma-of-war-brought-back-by-opening-of-local-green-beans/
PFDRbrendan; The Duffel Blog has been charging Glamour with plagiarizing that article on Facebook.
@fn1276, Thanks! I’ll drop mine in the mail tomorrow.
I’m still getting mail delivery here at home, so I see no shut down in the USPS.
Since they are not technically part of the government, USPS certainly should not be shut down. But with this crowd, simple fact and reality have not stopped them from shutting irrelevant things or places over which they have no authority.
Looks like she married the boy. Curious how he puts up with whining. Maybe he was a SAW gunner and lost his hearing? Naw, probably also a pogue.
Hello everyone. I’m Lauren, the subject of this “article” you’re discussing. I stumbled on this post like I stumbled on the Daily Mail article–it was linked to my blog. I hope you all have the opportunity to read the actual essay that I actually wrote (versus these snippets from the essay and my blog that were smushed together by the Daily Mail, without my consent or knowledge). If you read it, I think you’ll find that these remarks were taken out of context. I in no way want to perpetuate stereotypes about female vets or PTSD. The feeling of not deserving to struggle because I had it relatively “easy” forms the basis of the Glamour essay. The military mental health care system is highly stigmatized, largely because people don’t talk about their difficulties, and when discussions are held, they’re sensationalized and judged–the Daily Mail comment thread is a great example of that. My hope is that in sharing, someone will be able to relate to my experiences and not feel so alone.
Again, I hope you all take the time to read the actual essay and that it clarifies some of these issues. After reading, I welcome your feedback, and your judgement.
Lauren
Hi, Lauren, I wrote the original post here, and I like to think that I’m a fair guy so I tried to read your original post, unfortunately, the links in the Daily Mail article don’t take me there, the Glamour links don’t take me there, your blog doesn’t seem to have the original post – you haven’t posted since Aaron Alexis, so if you’d get a link to us, we’d appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time to come here.
@60: Howdy, ma’am. Figured it would only be a matter of time until you showed up.
This place is like Rome or Bastogne (depending on the subject and the moods of the commenters). All roads (and cross links) lead here.
Best of luck justifying your essay and blog posts here. You might be ok if your PA-fu is strong.
24 Smitty,I was Army and had the “H” additional skill identifier was for instructor. I believe you can only hold 2 – that show on your rank like mine was 92Y40H. That does not mean that soldiers do no have several – they do – but only the primary and secondary skill identifier will show.
@60
At least you had the balls to show up
I’m guessing the missing quotes are from the Glamour article, which I can’t find on their website.
Hey Lauren,
Been there and done that. What did say your name was again and what significant contributions to the war effort did you make.
Rog that. Carry on. Don’t respond.
Yeah, well, when you put yourself out there, don’t whine when others notice.
@ 61 Monkey Spanner. Nice.
BTW … I would say more like Sodom and Gamorra!
Miss Johnson, what put me off about the Glamour article was that you ‘heard vulgar talk’. This is the way the military is, always has been and always will be, and it is not something new. It goes so far back into history that it makes Alexander’s army look like last year’s plebe class.
If that quote was accurate, and you were upset by soldiers around using profanity, I can assure that they say now is quite mild compared to what women had to put up with when I was in the Navy as a member of the WAVES, in the 1960s and 1970s. I’m also sure that it was quite bad during WWII and the Korean War.
You need to understand that soldiers, sailors, Marines and Airmen don’t give a flying fart in space whether you approve or disapprove of rough language. It is one of the privileges of being in the military that you can cuss like a sailor and no one thinks you’re strange or ill-mannered.
As I learned so very long ago, if you can take it, then you have the right to dish it out. All that the men and other women care about is whether or not you carry your share of the load. If you don’t, if you whine, if you’re a slacker and a brow-noser, then you only make it worse for yourself because they will pound on you until you snap out of it or leave.
That should be ‘brown-noser’.
Fat fingers typing again.
It’s because I fixed sausage gravy and biscuits for supper, isn’t it?
@ 69 … Yeah you drew the covetted 69er … Nice!
EX-PH2 you are hired … No need for any of us to chime in. I could just sit back now and watch you go for the throat.
Good work on keeping this cross between attention whore and imfamous ugly Paris Hliton (who ain’t gettin any) and activist Rosie O’Donnell (who does)
… In check!
Reset.
I shudder to think what she would have done on a Westpac on a submarine.
NO e-mail, NO mail, NO phone calls, NO shit.
Shitty food (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise after you’ve had the cooks pass off corned beef hash as spaghetti sauce), shitty living conditions, smelling everyone else’s funk for 60-70 days, and the mail spends six months catching up to you.
Then you get to go to GUAM as a “good deal.” Or Macho Grande.
I don’t think I’ll ever get over Macho Grande.
Just weak.
That picture of the “tough girl” speaks volumes.
@74, Those wounds run pretty deep.
Yeah, I read her story and then I’m reminded why guys were so reluctant to allow females on the boats.
Personally, I’d love to see her handle it when the evaporator was down, showers are secured, and the cooks are serving powdered eggs, death milk, and green bug juice, and the expected commentary from the crew.
Sparky, you had showers on a pigboat?
Geez, and I thought you guys all just licked yourselves clean.
@78.
That’s Infantry.
Never on a smokeboat, except for museums.
Made me grateful for what I did have, even if it was only a 30-second shower every third day and having to stay up oncoming to do my two poopy suits.
OK, between the Thumb and the Sparkster, I finally got a good laugh in today.
@71m hust doin’ my job.
It appears our guest needs a timeout and a repost of her original article, to be fair.
What #11 OT said.
Don’t like it? Then resign your comission, all pay, bennies, perks, and VA.
“She was eventually diagnosed with chronic adjustment disorder – a milder form of post-traumatic stress disorder.”
In The Marine Corps we called that being “lost in the sauce” and it’s basically a symptom of being a shitbag.
Stay classy, Chairforce.
Dry meat and soggy vegetables.
War’s are sucky.
She needs to make a sammich.
I had the…ahem… pleasure of taking a female AF captain who was probably exactly like her outside the wire once. Of course, we had to get past her 5-minute tirade when my assistant squad leader told her she couldn’t wear her dime-sized diamond earrings on a combat patrol. The very best part was when she kept asking me why VIPs (meaning her) were seated in the lead vehicle, because everyone knows VIPs should be in the middle of the convoy because of IEDs. I told her normally that was the case, but VIPs who interrupt the OPORD 10 times running their mouth get to ride in the lead vehicle. Needless to say she didnt like THAT at all, but i had an O-5 who backed me up. When we got back, I put all of her little escapades in the mission AAR/ brief. Two weeks later she was transferred to Jalalabad. People like her and the girl in this story make me realize that 2018 can’t come soon enough.
@ 78 and 79. Great start to a furloughed day.
Funny sh!t!
What a douchebag… dry meat and soggy veggies. Oh the fucking horror! There was this one time, at band camp… I can so relate though. I still have flashbacks from the cold back and watery green eggs out of those mermites. Keeps me awake at night, I will wake in a cold sweat having had a nightmare of being chased by dry bacon with green egg hair…
I don’t think we should paint the entire Country Club….I mean Air Force (j/k) with the broad brush involving this chick, because for the most part, they don’t whine like she is. Yeah, we didn’t have internet/social media/cell phones/etc. when I was in and we did just fine without it, but I have to remember that most kids in the military today grew up with all that stuff, so their norm is much different than mine was. Just like all the battle rattle they wear today wasn’t being worn in my time. Just like those before me didn’t have what we had in my time. It’s a natural progression, but still, NO WHINING.
@87 – Master Chief, here to serve.
What Pam (#7) said…fucking embarassing Lt. Really. Fucking. Embarassing. I truly hope it was taken out of context as the Lt has claimed above.
Lt, I will give you kudos for coming here to defend your position, but you kinda need to return fire on some of these guys or they will continue to disrespect you.
And at #86, well done son!
No internet, no phone service, no e-mail – oh, pity, pity pooh!
Geez! This chick and her entire generation need to have a sharp, unpleasant dose of reality called no means of using telecommunications for just one day, which is what happened in 1968 when Martin Luther King was assasinated.
The phone lines were completely jammed, so badly that NO ONE could get an open line and call their families.
That was back in the olden times, when the only cell phone was Dick Tracy’s 2-way wrist watch radio and Captain Kirk had that plastic communicator that he had to flip open so that he could talk to himself on TV.
Oh, yes – if all the cell towers are shot down, guess what? NO CELL PHONE SERVICE, twinkletoes! And no wifi, either.
Shortwave radio is the best option for a replacement for this.
@60: we’re still waiting for you to ID the original essay from which you were misquoted. A link so we all could read it wold be preferred.
Nowhere on her Blog am I finding anything like what was written in the Daily Mail. Either I am missing it completely or it just is not there.
Having read most of her other blog post, I am beginning to wonder how accurate the Mail was in relaying what she had said.
I sure would love to read the original post that they were reffering to. Going to withhold further bashing of her until then. I mean, it is not like the media has never just gone and made shit up, taken things out of context to create a story before.
Ms. Johnson, if you want people to get off your back, send your original post to Admin at the Contact above, or by e-mail.
Call to all service members who have beened stationed with this slacker.
Please post your experiences here.
Mucho grassy ass!
PS: I suspect she was an underwhelming performer who worried Sen Enl Leaders, embarrassed the wardroom daily and contributed to reduced mission effectiveness becuase she was more focussed on her wants, wishes and desires. Which by the way had nothing to do with the war effort!
Oh one other thing … Ms. Johnson, I know you are fixated on how people percieve you.
Here is one view: An immature, underperformer, who has serious character flaws and is as ugly as a bucket full of mortal sins.
But what the fu@k do I know!
Stop it. Y’all are just a bunch of meanies.
That being said, LT, best you reach down and find out if you have a pair or just a handful of fur. Oh, shit. Never mind.
@13, Right before our deployment in 2005 we had a guy get high on coke and choppend off his trigger finger. While he was waiting for his Court Marshal everyone just called him Frodo. I think he is still in jail.
Out here in Afghanistan, she is already legendary amongst the female soldiers. Now they completly know what will happen when people hear them whine.
Our new game is to find someone who hasn’t read the article, and then take video of them reacting to it… Evidently it causes the face to react as if ingesting a mouthful of fresh lemon.
“And back at her desk job as a public affairs officer, she found it difficult to maintain focus because ‘everything seemed trivial’ in light of what she’d been through.”
Been through? WTF?
Let me go ahead and tell you the number of shits I give for this poor little flower…..NONE!!!
What a whining, self serving POS. Get over yourself, put on your big girl panties and get in the goddamn kitchen and do what God intended you for, make me a sammich!!!
“Vulgar language”? It’s the military, not finishing school. I’m exposed to vulgar language on a daily basis, in my own home, from my husband, who I met in the military, while exposed to vulgar language on a daily basis. I kind of like it personally. Of course, I don’t have my head shoved half way up my butt in the mistaken belief that it’s my cover.