Oh, I agree, it started getting bad back when Clinton was President
and has been going downhill ever since then. I think Clinton did

a lo

of damage to our military back then, and I think Ohbama picked

right

up where he left of on destroying our military.

Funny, the list of democratic presidents who cut military
spending adds up to none.

However, GHW Bush did cut military spending. The end result was
Clinton inherited a military that had been cut. And a huge
national debt he had to work around to get it to a balanced
budget.

Which balanced budget I do not suggest was a good thing.

...

(orderly room)...you know that something like 55% of soldiers with

familie

are on food stamps? Why in God's name is that?

Maybe because the same mentality that thinks a middle class
worker is overpaid thinks the military aren't worth much either.

Oh, I know about the food stamps, my wife and I were dirt poor while I
was in
the Navy. I was lucky to be stationed in SC where the cost of living was
a lot
lower and my wife was able to get WIC when she was pregnant, and we
qualified
for food stamps. I was a E5 at the time and got sub pay and sea pay. Most
people thought that we got a ton of money for being on subs, but it was
less
than 200 dollars a month back then. I think I was getting 190 a month
for sub
pay, but that was after 6 years of service. For a E1 it was 75 dollars a
month, and I don't think that has changed since then.

There is an old saying in the Marine Corps that if the
Corps had wanted you to have a wife, it would've issued you
one.

They said that in every branch of the service. I know they say
it in the Air Force and the Army.

People forget that the military is not set up for wives.

People forget that the military today is all volunteer and
depends on more long term servers. That and people desperate for
a job often to support a family.

Used to be that you had to get permission from your
commanding officer to get married. Of course, a lot of
guys today get married before they enlist, or enlist
because they've knocked up the girlfriend and have no job,
so they join the military to get training in something.

Yep. Desperate.

Most wives during World War II and before, went to live
with relatives or in-laws while the man was off at war or
on overseas duty. Things might be a lot less problem for
military enlisted if they waited to get married until they
got out.

Yeah... one more strike against military service.



BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

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...

Well, that was, is, and will always be one of the most
stupid things I have ever heard. I was a lifer, that meant
I planned on doing 20 years, are you saying I should have
waited 20 years to get married. The COB told me that crap

Serving your country means putting your life on hold.

when he denied me leave to go home and get married. Said if
the Navy wanted me to get married they would have issued me
a wife with my seabag. I told him fine I would just get
married on the weekend. I was a E2 at the time. Then next
day he told me I couldn't get married if I was in the brig,

...

married, we had it hard money wise, but we were happy and
still are 22 years later. The COB had been married and
divorced 5 times so he was full of crap. Either way,
married or single, the pay is crap.

I got married while in the service. Got out two years later. It
took several years after that until I got a job where I was
better off financially than while I was in the service. Not that
military pay was good, but civilian pay wasn't all that great.
You were supposed to work overtime to make it, and I didn't like
overtime. I believed in family time.


BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

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...

Well, that was, is, and will always be one of the most stupid things I

have

ever heard. I was a lifer, that meant I planned on doing 20 years, are you
saying I should have waited 20 years to get married. The COB told me
that crap
when he denied me leave to go home and get married. Said if the Navy
wanted me
to get married they would have issued me a wife with my seabag. I told him

...

Most people aren't lifers, either. The fact remains that
most young enlisted personnel get married at too young an
age when they don't know how to handle a lot of the crap
life throws at them, plus the added burden of long term
deployments, and constantly changing duty stations. All of

Which applies maybe to some, but not all. Duty stations didn't
change that often back when I was in. I had two stations after I
got married. And one post training station before.

that stuff is one of the reasons why the divorce rate among
military marrieds is sky high. I was in the Navy, too, and
I saw everything I've said on a regular basis. I'm glad you

The divorce rate may be high more because of bad pay. That and
current multiple deployments to the war. Which is going to be
bad for anyone, and even shouldn't happen to the single guys.

were happy and that you were able to make a successful go
of it, but I watched a lot of shipmates go through
emotional hell because they were at sea and their wife was
having some kind of crisis back home.

Most military personell don't go to sea.

So, what I said isn't stupid at all. Obviously, someone
who is a career enlisted is cut from a different bolt of
cloth than a four year enlistee. They are better able to
deal with things or they wouldn't have decided on a 20 year
hitch to start with. But for the majority, they are far too
often too young, and get married for the wrong reasons, and
would be better off waiting for the 2-4 years most people
spend in military service.

I don't actually disagree with that, but I do recognize how it
also can be very wrong. However, military service also means the
serviceman is often stationed somewhere he isn't going to have
much of a social life. Bringing one with him gives him a much
better life.



BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

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