His tale certainly sounds fishy, but maybe it’s still possible he worked in some form as a civ engineer, maybe as a contractor at some point, but exaggerates his association with the AF?
When I was an undergrad at a school with an NROTC, I knew a guy who DEFINITELY was a case of stolen valor. He had his hair cropped short, seemed pretty athletic and wore some kind of tan colored jumpsuit, and claimed to be in the Marines ROTC. We didn’t have any reason to doubt him. He hung around our campus ministry and was pretty much a fixture there. When the first Gulf War started up (1990 / 1991 or so) he was saying things like he was soon going to be deployed and sort of pushed the sympathy angle, making a show of goodbyes to everyone. Turns out, he wasn’t in the ROTC, possibly wasn’t even a student at our university, and was just making stuff up. I think he got “busted” by someone who actually was in NROTC. (I had a couple of these Marines in my Japanese classes.) Wasn’t going to be deployed. I don’t think he was even in the military. Just trying to make everyone think he was.
After the revelations came out, he disappeared; I never saw or heard from him again.
Another civilian, non-engineer American who has heard of the Seabees, but isn’t quite sure where. Much like sappers, I have a feeling it was actually first reading fiction and probably older science fiction like Heinlein. I believe Starship Troopers has the two “mottos” of the sapper unit as the official “Can do!” and the unofficial as “First we dig 'em, then we die in 'em” mentioned during Rico’s mission as a third lieutenant out of OCS. Though I know I’ve also heard the one Nava mentioned.
I’ve never known my mother (who was an Army nurse) to ever have such a thing. Of course, the only other benefit besides Uncle Sam paying for college that I’ve ever known her to use was to join USAA way back when. I’ve never really asked, but I get the feeling she saw her time as purely transactional in any case.
Oregon, and I’m sure other states, have an option to have your veteran status noted on your driver’s license. You have to show your DD-214 for that to happen.
Six. There were six of them between 2003 and 2006 where I didn’t bring it up.
The concept (and the acronym) were a product of the mid-60s. This was the same era that brought us bell bottoms, paisley prints, and hippies. We can authoritatively say that not all of the things that came out of the sixties were a good idea.
And let’s not forget Prime BEEF (Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force). Or Prime RIBS (Prime Readiness In Base Services), though they work in a different field…
My Dad was an Ensign. He did a couple of jobs, but his orders don’t even mention a “unit”, or a “ship” or anything like that. Just posted to a command. I don’t even think he ever mentioned the names of ships where he was lodged.
If he was commissioned as an Ensign and got out as an Ensign there must have been something wrong. Promotion to Lieutenant (jg) is pretty automatic after eighteen months. I was in only six years but I can recall every location the Navy wanted me at. None were ships but I’m sure had I been on any, I could name them at the drop of a hat.[ul]
[li]NTC Great Lakes, Illinois[/li][li]“A” and “B” schools Great Lakes, Illinois[/li][li]“C” school Corry Field, Florida[/li][li]NSG Kamiseya, Okinawa[/li][li]“C” school (on another piece of equipment) Corry Field again[/li][li]NSG Keflavik, Iceland[/li][li]NSG Winter Harbor, Maine[/li][/ul]
Yep. Howard Cunningham, Archie Bunker, Ward Cleaver, Dobie Gillis’ dad, all would have been in the war.
P.S. My dad was almost 40 when I was born, so he was older than the dads of most of my friends, which must have been a little weird for him. He was in WWII, and most of the dads of my friends were too young for that (but maybe old enough for Korea or Vietnam).
While I don’t doubt that this was true at some point in the past, we’ve had to wait 24 months to promote to LTJG for at least the last 20 years (though I believe, for at least a portion of that time, the Army was promoting to O-2 after 18 months).
But, yeah, definitely automatic during that time, baring an explicit reason (like criminal conduct) not to. But if we’re going all the way back to, say, the WWII/Korean era, who knows… Especially since, back then, there was a draft and initial service commitments were much shorter for most.
Same way for me. My dad was 40 when I was born. He became a Marine but just missed the fighting. I had friends who’s fathers were either Vietnam vets or hippies. Or both.
Yes, in the Navy “Location” is what is important. Partly, of course, because of the division between operational and administrative structure, and partly because you’re assigned to a fleet (or something similar) and then just tasked as required.
I’m sure that most people in the Navy now train for and do something important. That wasn’t true for my Dad: he was just a warm body. He was activated directly on commission into the naval reserve, and (by choice) went back to reserve status (promoted to lieutenant) after about 18 months. He was never re-activated because of his work in a defense contractor.
Some rates/designators are more likely than others to be assigned to staffs or shore-based units which then send detachments underway with deploying ships, but others are assigned to a specific ship as “ship’s company” (as distinguished from “riders” or “embarks” or what have you). Having been ship’s company for most of career, I assure you, I can remember the name of every ship I was on, in addition to where the ship happened to be located (and three out of four shifted home ports to or from overseas during my time aboard, which was painful).
(Shakes cane) Back in my day there were command ball caps but they were only souvenirs handed out to Important Visitors. Us ratings wore ball caps with our work uniforms but they simply had a rank badge pinned on the front. Chiefs and officers wouldn’t be caught dead in a ball cap. Onboard a ship might have been different but that’s the way it worked ashore.
