Apolyton Military Rollcall....

[Pekka]

Kramerman, Yes. Unfortunaltey this is true.

[Az]

Azazel, what's rong with killing?

I didn't say that there is anything wrong with killing. It's Siro, he's the pansey.

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Well Che, you didn't respond. Maybe you're busy. But I started thinking about this and came up with some interesting examples to show that the military does not turn people into one type of personality.

The interesting thing about looking at this question is that it explores why people think differently and it can help us understand how people behave. The caveat being that this is not an expert analysis.

But I'll propose the hypothesis that the way people express themselves on Poly is linked to the jobs they do and their academic training.

For this analysis I'll use three people: mtg, gp and myself. Now I'll include myself because I come from a very different part of the military than mtg and gp. By no means am I suggesting that I'm even close to their expertise. They are professionals with proven backgrounds. I was an amatuer.

Mtg was a combat soldier. That means he was trained to achieve objectives in an unknown environment. If he was told to take and control a town, he would have limited information about the environment. He doesn't know if a group of enemy soldiers is in the woods or a building. The situation is always changing because both sides are moving about. Add to this the fact that he has seconds to analyze the situation and to make the correct decision.

GP was, if I remember correctly, an officer on a sub in charge of nuclear reactors. He was dealing with a known, but highly complex environment. He needs a different type of intelligence, an intelligence that can understand complex systems. By contrast, mtg is dealing with fairly basic technology. He doesn't need to know the technology that will deliver a bomb from an aircraft exactly where he wants it. He just wants the bomb on target.


GP also deals with different problems than mtg. GP starts with a given situation and must ensure that the system remains at an optimal point.

As for myself, I was a part-time military instructor. My job involved teaching people information. I need to understand how people think and how they learn. And I deal only with thought process which is completely different from gp and mtg. They deal with the physical world, although they also have to understand leadership and that involves understanding how people think, behave and react. Again, they know how to do things that I cannot imagine.

Now take these different backgrounds and look at how each of us behave.

MTG left the military and eventually became an entrepreneur. That perfectly suited to his military experience and the way he approaches problems. As a businessman, he is dealing with unknown environments where he applies techniques that should achieve a desired outcome.

Gp earned a Phd in chemistry. Again, this is a natural. His military training involved understanding complex equations and concepts.

I'm a journalist which ties in with being a military instructor because both jobs involve communication and knowing what needs to be said so that people will understand what I want to communicate.

The three of us have different personalities and these personalities can be seen on Poly.

Mtg tends to only post messages where he will be correct. In a broad sense, his goal is to win the battle and he won't fight a battle that he knows he might lose.

Gp tends to post messages on academic level, except when he is drunk, and he tends to prefer talking with people who understand the complex concepts that he know (at least on poly, on CG he's more easy going). He's looking for an intellectual challange on what he knows and few of us can challenge him because we don't have the necessary background information.

I'm argumentative and I'll go on for ages trying to get people to understand my point. Just like a teacher, and just like a teacher I'll keep arguing even if I'm wrong.

So, three people all with military training, all with different personalities and all with different approaches to life.

Now the thing that could be interesting, to anyone who has read this incredibly long post, is to look at the ex-military Poly posters, look at what they did in the military and then see if that matches or explains how they post on Poly.

So, what am I? Besides saying "Roger That" and "As I was" often, I don't think I've changed that much...

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Mao
Oh, and why're they called "dress blues"? The Air Force one which I have I can understand (it's obviously blue) but the navy, army, and corps?

The Army has a bunch of dress uniform types, depending on if they're going to any of that formal REMF polo-playing horse****.

In addition to BDU's, you've got class B's (the cheap-looking "office dress" shirt and slacks that recruiters and the deskborne corps wear, class A's (the "normal" dress uniform), then dress blues, dress blue mess and dress white mess.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Lonestar


So, what am I? Besides saying "Roger That" and "As I was" often, I don't think I've changed that much...

You're still an FNG. Go guard some tents.

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat


You're still an FNG. Go guard some tents.

Hey! I got three medals for doing that!

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Azazel
But in combat, there are, AFAIK, very little or no highranking sergeants. They usually are in combat-supporting forces.

In the US Army infantry, you have E5 or E6 squad leaders, E6 or E7 platoon sergeants, E8 tops, and you have an E9 as your battalion CSM. The tops and CSM are paper pushers in their repective HQs, so they're not fighters unless the HQ gets into action. With airborne and airmobile troops, that can happen, but it's far less likely with regular infantry. I'm not sure how armor splits out their company HQ, since they have two tanks, and a CO, XO and top. There's other stuff besides the tank crews themselves.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by GP
The ideal situation is to have a top-notch platoon sergeant and be able to learn from him. The new officer picks up what he needs to know and the platoon sergeant helps train him. But in the end, if you are that officer, you are still responsible for the platoon. If you have a poor platoon sergeant or one who doesn't want to do things or what have you, you are going to have to deal with the situation.

I don't know how the Navy deals with officers through their careers, but with the Army, officers are never in one place for long - after platoon level, you'll do company XO and lower level staff in some order or another, then company CO, higher level battalion staff, some REMF duty at Corps or higher level staff, battalion XO (maybe), more REMF duty, battalion CO. A teaching/training slot in there somewhere. Moving to different staff slots takes you out of the unit you were in, so whenever you get back to a line assignment, it's a new situation.

That makes company and battalion officers a lot more dependent on having good Staff NCO's who know the unit and it's operational situation inside and out, so they can educate the newly assigned officers and get them focused where they need to be.

[Dis]

As for Navy officers, they really aren't **** until they get to Lt. Commander. I have little respect for them until that. In nuclear power school they had officers as LDO's (limited duty officers), even they could get up to O-3- Luitenant. Basically all you have to do is show up to get to luitenant.

As for their tours, I'm not 100% sure of that. They do seem short. Usually 3 or 4 years. In the nuke world they often will do different divisions. I doubt they are in charge of the same division twice. And in my division (RL- reactor laboratories) we had several positions that officers had to fill. So we had like 2 officers in our division I think. It's hard to remember. But anyways, they are pretty much paper pushers for the division. Their real job is to qualify Engineering officer on watch.

As for the regular navy, I think they all have to qualify on the pilot house. Air navy of course is far different. They are all pilots there. Eventually they can work their way up to air boss.

[DarkCloud]

TROLL-

My mind was, at the time, consumed with Ouzo

Ouzo? This isn't the game of Ouzo, is it?

It's some real military term, isn't it?

becuase if it's the game (and holy book) of ouzo

[Dis]

ahh this thread.

quick quiz question

Who was Rickover?

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Dissident
ahh this thread.

quick quiz question

Who was Rickover?

Wasn't Hyman Rickover the nuclear sub guru?

[Dis]

yep

I thought that question would be harder.

the father of the nuclear navy

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Dissident
yep

I thought that question would be harder.

the father of the nuclear navy

I didn't even google it!

[Panag]

Originally posted by DarkCloud
TROLL- Ouzo? This isn't the game of Ouzo, is it?

It's some real military term, isn't it?

becuase if it's the game (and holy book) of ouzo

hi ,

oh we have someone who does not know what ouzo is , .....


, we have to do something about that , .......


ask Markos what it is , ......

he ought to know , now that he is in the military

have a nice day