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Comment by ecshafer | Hacker News Reader

This article is awful and degrading. The overall point seems to be that these people are above these jobs, as they point out "some even have college degrees". Just because they have college degrees they are too good for manual labor? I am sure if they are capable they could move over to one of the other more highly skilled fields within the navy like Intelligence, Nukes, etc. But otherwise this whole article reeks of classism. The entire military basically sells on people doing amazing things, but 99% of people end up scraping paint and fixing trucks, that's just life, and there's nothing wrong with doing those jobs.

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“Things were different before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In those days, sailors were required to train for a regular Navy profession, known as a rate, before they could attempt the SEAL course. Dropouts from the course could return to the rate they had trained for.”

Pre-2006 you’d basically do as you suggested, you’d make it into intelligence/nukes/etc. and then you’d try out for SEALs. Now you play a <1-in-10 lottery where you have to avoid an overzealous training instructor kicking you while lugging a 300lb log amongst other challenges. If you don’t make it you complete a filler job class under SEALs and you’re stuck.

You’re straw-manning this issue & the challenges detailed. SEALs is hands-on work, no one is making an “I’m-too-good” argument because they went to college. There’s people who almost made it through SEALs who would be immense assets elsewhere in armed forces — and prior to 2006 they would have been.

Sorry, but in this case you’re wrong. While those jobs are honorable, if you sign up for SEALs you don’t expect to wash out and become a bulk fuel specialist. Same goes for any of the massively competitive jobs (cyber ops/spec ops come to mind). It really sucks to be disqualified then have to serve your contract in something that you would have never signed up for in the first place. These contracts are four year minimums and likely six.

Source: I’m a Marine who went through some very difficult training.

> It really sucks to be disqualified then have to serve your contract in something that you would have never signed up for in the first place.

Welcome to the military. It's not about you, it's about serving and fulfilling the needs of your branch. They could definitely improve here but it's not exactly a surprise.

In my experience it’s really a balance. If you put someone in a job they really don’t want, they are likely to not do it well. So no, it’s really not in the military’s best interest to assign people to roles they really don’t want if people are available who do want the roles. If you give a low performing person 3 options, all bad, then at least they can choose the job or not enlist.

These people made it through the selection process to get to BUD/S in the first place. Yes, they are above swabbing decks.

No, they're not.

The selection process to get into BUD/S is swim fast, run fast, do lots of pushups and pass a dive physical.

Everybody in the Navy works. I've done plenty of manual labour myself -- even as a Chief, even as a Chief in NSW. Seaman Timmy doesn't get a pass because he rang the bell at BUD/S.

People wash out of training all the time.

You don't join to be a SEAL, you join to be a Sailor.

The AF is full of Security Police that though they were going to be Para-Rescue, and washed out of the training pipeline.

Don't buy the ticket, you won't have to take the ride.

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