Pretty inaccurate summary you put together there, innit?
No kidding! I remember the story that Vice President someone tried to visit the Blue Cube and was refused entry.
Now, I don’t believe it for a second… but I did know someone who said the most important thing he did in his career was hastily relocate some equipment out of a SCIF there that was being flooded due to a plumbing accident.
We certainly claimed that.
(Modified) Tables of Organization and Equipment ((M)TOE) also specify a primary weapon for each soldier in the unit. That’s what needs to be fired during mandatory individual weapons qualification (IWQ). There’s entirely separate training requirements for the crew served tank gunnery qualification.
The rifle provided to the crew on an Abrams was not anyone’s primary weapon. It was just an extra individual weapon available for crew use.
As pointed out it’s the latter. There are special flight pays that mean the don’t get paid at the same rate as someone else with the same time in service and rank would. Retention bonuses are frequently tied to specific specialties instead of just being Army wide, as well. That piece is not necessarily aviation specific. It’s specialty specific wherever the personnel managers see a developing issue.
I’d also guess that there’s some involvement of choice during the initial recruitment process. People that are really concerned about living in the relatively austere conditions that Army aviation offers are probably less likely to join the Army.
Hmmm, not sure when (and who) that was. I worked there in the early 1990s.
Well, good for them! Way to go, Coast Guard!