Political & Elections

JAM,

Okay, explain it to me.

From what has been explained to me this is my perception:

AF must go AD, they serve side by side next to the AFA grads. They are forced to move around the world like regular AD members. Our DS who is AFROTC will not be able to pick and choose guard or Reserve come 12, he will be AD be it Korea or TX 8-4 just like the AFA grads.  EVERY AF ROTC grad serves AD for at least 4 yrs.

ANG is not an option. AD reserves at a Guard unit of your choice is not an option. AFROTC serves in OPERATIONAL unirts.

AF ROTC grads can not pick and chose when it comes to paying back their scholarship. THEY GO AD in the AF AD world, not a Reserve Unit and not a Guard Unit.  They get UPT they pay back just like AFA grads.

The AF is going through a RIF, the Army is not.  However as a member of www.serviceacademyforums.com many member stated the saw the writing on the wall from past experience, mainly the 92-93 RIF. 

This is no surprise to military members that the Army is being hit as hard as it is.  The Army will now be like the AF like it or not, they need to cut their budget and Gates has stated it will come from man power.

The only question left is the yr group they will hit directly.  

Honestly, go to serviceacademyforums.com and look at the AFROTC world, because that is what the Army is facing.

Iraq and Afghanistan is winding down, DoD is reducing their budget.  The quickest way to reduce it is to reduce commissioning ROTC, and in the Army world they are not like the AF where you can serve in the guard or reserves.  They are what the corporate world considers a "loss" when it comes to investment.  Yes, it stinks to not get anything out of them, but to pay that salary for 8 yrs makes no sense when we have enough already!

Dollars and sense...the military in this issue is no different than corporate.  They need to live by a budget.







-- Edited by pima on Sunday 9th of January 2011 04:55:39 PM

-- Edited by pima on Sunday 9th of January 2011 04:56:46 PM

They are willing to pay their college tuition + a monthly non taxable stipend, and when they graduate they do not have to go active duty like the Navy or the AF. The AF requires ROTC recipients to go AD for at least 4 yrs.


Pima - this is rather poorly worded.
You just can't walk away from an Army commitment. The Army take x number of newly commissioned officers each year Active Duty and y number to commission in the Reserves. The Reserve have a commitment of 8 years. This is not the sit on your ass IRR but the Army Reserves or Army National Guard. If you have been paying attention for the past 10 years you would know and understand that the GWOT has largely been fought by National Guard and Reserve Soldiers.
Plenty of ROTC cadets who commissioned into the Guard or Reserves have deployed.

This is not a new development - it has always been this way. The ratio changes depending on the needs of the Army.

Please do not imply or insinuate that kids are getting free college paid for by the Army and then voluntarily walking away from their commitment.
It is the Air Force that is cutting cadets loose during or at the end of college releasing them from all obligations since their numbers are too high.

The thing people forget when they demand the DoD budget to be cut is the impact the military has on our economy.

For example:

~~ It would be wise for another BRAC to occur, but show me an MOC who would not fight that tooth and nail if it impacted their constituents.

Closing a base means housing prices fall, and jobs are lost in the town.

~~ The F22 was an issue because jobs would be lost by the cancellation.
* Remember there is a lot of crap that goes into the 22 supplied by sub-contractors, i.e. somebody has to supply those computer chips, somebody has to supply the paint, somebody has to supply the lightbulbs, and the leather for the ejection seats...It is not only Lockheed who has a hand in it, GE does too.

That would be jobs lost for the MOC.

~~ Cutting civilian jobs

Okay, but again, that will bump up unemployment...what MOC in TX or CA or VA would want to see that occur?

I do believe the military is bloated, but I believe that is because with every new regulation that they are forced to adhere to by the govt causes a new segment to be created to address it.

~~ Cutting retirement bennies

Bullet is retired, and you know what, I am okay with the fact that there was no pay raise for us, or that they will increase the cost for health insurance.

Many retirees have a 2nd career and retirement pay is gravy. In this economic time not many 45 yo people can say if I lost my job today, they would at least have a retirement check of a couple grand every month before discussing severance packages and unemployment bennies.

Now if I was Gates, I would have directed to each and every branch that Pilot/WSO bonus pay ends today. The amount of money they could save for that would be staggering.

This bonus pay was created to keep fliers in the service and not jump ship to the airlines. Airlines aren't hiring, thus currently we do not need this recruitment tool.

If you don't know how much it is...here you go $125K to stay for 7 yrs between the 7 and 14 yr marker. They can take 50% up front and have the remaining 50% spread over the next several yrs.

Than when you hit the 15/16 yr marker (if I recall properly) You get another multi-tens of thousands to stay until at least 20.

Want to talk waste...every single flyer I know took that bonus, including us, because we already knew that logically it made no sense to leave when we were that close to 50% retirement pay for the rest of Bullet's life.

Bullet had to stay until 21 when they gave him a 55K bonus at 16 yrs.

Start tallying that up folks, and you can start seeing in this economic atmosphere this is a waste of money.

Also, look at AROTC scholarships compared to the Navy and the AF. They are willing to pay their college tuition + a monthly non taxable stipend, and when they graduate they do not have to go active duty like the Navy or the AF. The AF requires ROTC recipients to go AD for at least 4 yrs.

There is a lot of crap that can be cut from the DOD.

I have always admired Gates and with each and every action I admire him more.

Gates was the only cabinet member who followed Obama's orders that they trim their budget by 100 million in the 1st 100 days of his administration.

He is the one who has put his arse on the line when it came to DADT, woman on subs or in combat, no new Marine 1, no more 22s.

I would now like to see SOS Clinton do the same when it comes to cost cutting.. or HUD or EPA or....yadda yadda yadda.

We need a two prong system...if the administration cuts their dept budgets for every Secretary than it will put pressure on the MOCs to follow suit.

Our govt is too bloated and it is time to purge.

Seems like the Dream Act would have been the perfect opportunity to get more of the unimportant brown people to serve. Not only would they have found something useful for the underclass to do, they wouldn't feel nearly as guilty denying them what they need to do a good job.

I don't think anyone associated with the military was shocked this morning to read/hear that they were going to cut the DoD budget.