It is easy to be brave…
When you are not the one doing it. But that does not stop people from telling people to do what they are afraid to do themselves.
Hey, #occupydc…lots of weapons dealers hawking their wares to govt at Wash. Convention Center this week. Just sayin. http://ow.ly/6SR3Y
Yea I did not see your picture in the “Occupy Austin” so what was your excuse?
Or trying to blame the military spending for the failure of the green jobs that were suppose to bring us back to economic recovery?
These stories will proliferate as the military contractor corporations push to protect their profits. When you see them, PUSH BACK. Military spending *costs jobs* compared to other ways of spending the money.
It is so easy to tell people what to do when you are not the one doing it.
Category: Antiwar crowd, I hate hippies
In nice timing, Fred Thompson just sent this out:
“During an “Occupy L.A.” protest, actor Danny Glover said “we need 24/7 warriors.”
Danny, we’ve got plenty – in Iraq & Afghanistan.”
As far as military contractors I saw in Iraq, some were very good workers…other’s really pissed me off. When I got hurt (uhhh….I slipped in the shower…yeah, that’s it) I got stuck in the Mang Office in charge of our “Mess Kit Repair” teams. I had a KBR generator that ran 24 hours a day. I asked the guys who fuled it if somebody was going to check the oil and stuff— I mean it was a top of the line machine…and ran all the time. They told me to not worry about it.
Then it ran out of oil and died. Took the 2 days to replace it…with one that had a smaller fuel tank. They had a retired Army 1st Sgt who fueled them. I asked if he could stop at the beginning of his day and a the end so it would make it through the entire 24 hours. He told me he only worked until 4pm.
I tried to be nice, but he started pulling “I’m a retired 1st Sgt” crap, so I told him I didn’t give a shit, I’d call and complain to his boss.
He came and filled it twice a day…
Danny Glover is still out there, trying to appear relevant, and failing. And, he’s clueless.
I retired from the Navy in 96. When I worked as a contractor in 05 I was just thankful to be around such heroes. Well, except for just 1 dufus CSM.
Contractors get paid so much money it’s insane. On my first deployment, once we got them, I had to hound them everyday that I could (you know, when I wasn’t on those pesky missions or fixing Tanks or recovering them) to fix the AC they put into our tents. They hooked up electrical systems that caught on fire and would not fix them. We had Soldiers who knew how to fix it from jobs before the Army and fixed it. We also had some contractors selling an illegal steroid called “Russian D-Ball”.
On the second one we had contractors that got T-Walls months before our Soldiers did. They couldn’t keep our generators running. We had a guy getting paid 100k, I asked, to set up fly traps. He was also given a Chevy 4×4 single cab pickup truck to drive around the FOB.
When I went to Taji to pick up MRAPS, contractors there where driving Z71 Tahoes.
I know people say “You don’t sign up for the money.” but what these contractors get paid vs. Soldiers is bullshit considering it all comes from the taxpayer.
By the way did you read my reply to you about your contractor video?
Yup. Let me reply…
I still pulled guard duty on both deployments even though that was contracted out a lot more the second time around. Which I didn’t mind. I didn’t love it, but you are there, and it’s what you have to do. I know many others, of all ranks, didn’t have the greatest faith in the contracted guards. We knew we could count on each other, but others? I understood there hesitation. Also, we tried to do our own laundry. It always came back to us fucked up, shit missing, still dirty, and people where getting these rashes from them. We where ordered to stop. That was deployment two. First one it was Army. Not the greatest, but better.
Some people don’t have SUVs, damn near everyone has one. Plus, these are not just work horses being bought. There are top-end full loaded SUVs. I guess contractors need a disc changer and leather seats to survive.
I agree with you on the shops, but there are a lot of young Soldiers who do in fact join at a young age. Self responsibility does have to factor into it. But on the same token don’t dangle that in front of some young Joe. Plus, most of that is not necessary in a war.
Food places where nice when I was flying in and out of country within the Green Zone, I’ll give you that. But at the FOB’s that where big enough to have them, they also had massive DFAC’s with good food. That in and of itself was a treat.
Thank you though for checking out my work though.
Sorry, but the contractors we had wouldn’t have been nessisary if we had had a pre-Clinton Army. The cooks could cook food just as well as Indains, the ** Mikes could have driven fuel just as well as the TCNs, and the support staff could have done a LOT just as well.
Why did we even have contractors when every job they did cost 2/3s more than if they’d had SMs doing it? Cuz we would have literally had to deploy the WHOLE army and left it there for the duration to get it done. And that oughta tell you the Army ain’t big enough for the job asked of it.
as for the “push back” from above what are you talking about? every time anyone actually makes a dollar you bitch and moan. If you found a way to make “green” jobs economical there’d be a ton! Moreover have you idiots ever stopped to actually define what the fuck a “green” job is?
“I know people say “You don’t sign up for the money.” but what these contractors get paid vs. Soldiers is bullshit considering it all comes from the taxpayer.”
It’s still often cheaper than a soldier when you look at the total life cycle cost. Especially if the person gets injured.
Generally speaking, having been on both sides of the fence:
Yes, a contractor does make more money. That is because the contractor adds value to the operation: freeing up the limited number of soldiers to fight, and permitting the fobbitry to drink coffee and collect their BSM.
The contractor, usually unarmed, could use their skills in the US of A, requiring a soldier to be taken off the line. Or, for a soldier to post duty, and then double-duty replacing the contractor.
The so-called Peace Dividend started by Bush-pere, and thoroughly maxed out by Clinton (giving us the Army we went to war with, not the Army we’d like to have), cut huge swaths in capabilities, which were readily exploited by AQI and the Taliban. There are several capabilties put into the fight that were staffed only by contractors (who formerly held those vital MOS) until the Army could put together brick&mortar and OJT programs.
Lastly, there are POS contractors as well as POS soldiers and fobbitry. They are subject to UCMJ, and have been for a number of years. Better than UCMJ: there are laws, rules and regulations for keeping them in line.
If these protestors REALLY wanted to have an impact on the system, they’d converge on K Street, not Wall Street. But, that would piss off the power brokers and money men who keep Barry in the chips.