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Comment by AcerbicZero | Hacker News Reader

I had a similar experience, except in the Army "Reserves", in Iraq, and asking my "stupid" question to our Major instead of a Lt. Col. My rank didn't survive the deployment, as I was attached to another unit at the time and asking questions put me high on his shit list. I guess I was lucky my home unit was kind enough to return the stripes before my inglorious departure a few after that deployment.

You are 100% right that folks who don't toe the line, don't make much past E4, although there are a few older NCO's who still maintain their integrity, and take care of their troops.

I don't know if there is such a thing as a "just" war, but I do know we were not fighting one, and the military we have today is an overpriced facade of what it claims to be.

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I think it's more of a situation where, no one at that level is going to change anything, so just talking about the absurdity is frowned upon just for the simple reason of negatively effecting moral, and negatively impacting your next promotion review.

Independent thought? Bah! I found the Army to be highly political, everything anyone with rank did was intended to bolster their reviews in the eyes of their superiors. And being a hard charger, always on mission was an easy way to do it. I started to type some stories, but suffices to say, there's a lot of stupid stuff in the military.

Spot on. I don't think the military is a place for people who think too hard. I don't want to make blanket judgements though because I met a few excellent people that earned my respect and I'm happy to know them.

You've got to be in the right job and the right unit. In my experience (~12 years across a handful of units and tours), infantry units are about ten thousand percent less political than POG units. Also Guard units are much more easy-going. I was not the only Mensa member in my last unit, and most of my best friends I met there. Being in the infantry in the Guard is a specific kind of environment, mostly college students and police officers. There is a tolerance for free-thinking and independent thought that is totally rare anywhere else in the Army.

I was in an infantry unit, Marines. In general politics weren't a thing, if you mean American politics. Internal politics on the other hand are a big deal and it's astounding what people will do to one another to get promoted.

That's what I meant, internal political cruft. All the units I was ever in had some of this to a small degree which is unavoidable in any organization, but I'd work with some other unit that was like some kind of dystopian hellhole of contant internal strife. I don't know if it was just POG behavior in general or units with women or what, but every time I got a peek into how other units work, it was astonishing. Nothing even close to that in any of the Guard infantry units I was a part of over the years. In fact I'm thinking about reenlisting just to deploy with my old unit one more time. I can't imagine doing that in any other universe with any other unit.

I'm glad you found a good unit. My company probably wasn't that bad, but bad enough. Part of the problem I think is that careerists naturally have a certain conflict of interest that affects how they treat their troops.

Yeah, I think probably the very nature of the Guard works against that pressure, since there is no "fast track" in the Guard. There is somewhat for officers, but enlisted folks have no such luxury. I mean, in the Guard, it's college kids, police officers, and guys coming off of active duty that need to serve the two or four remaining years of their enlistment. Almost everybody with military career ambition joins the active service instead of the Guard. So it's a lot more laid back in general. And these are literally people you'll spend a decade or more serving with. Guys that live near you and have families in your community. So it's a lot more tight-knit than active duty units. It's an older crowd, too. So while it can be cliquish to some degree, it definitely isn't like a lot of units I've seen which are heavily partisan and cliquish, and then made even worse by people with ambition that are willing to screw you to get ahead. The only other place in the military which I would consider equally laid back like the Guard is Special Forces. The best working relationships I ever had were with Special Forces units (and other Guard units). I suppose because they have nothing to prove, there's no friction like there is in regular Army units. Or Marines. I spent a lot of years deployed working with a lot of different folks. I like working with Marines, but they have the same issue as regular Army units, with cliquish behavior and people willing to step on others to get ahead. I totally know what you're talking about.

Well spoken. I made it to Sergeant - I was actually promoted my last week, which was a surprise to everyone. Apparently I was the only person in the company to complete all the prerequisites for promotion that quarter. A nice "fuck you" on my way out the door.

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