Greenguy's Board - View Single Post - Katrina aftermath

juggernaut · 2005-09-02, 10:02 AM

From my vast experience in the military and federal employment and working with the National Guard I have to say those guys have it harder then any other military. Not only from the stand point of having a day job but also from the command sense. They take their orders from the state level. Meaning, even if GW sent them to war your State's governor has the power to stop that. Even more so in the mid-east (NYC NJ ETC) if the governor feels it’s too important to take "His/her" troops then he can say no they are not going. But on the other hand you are dealing with a political nightmare. Any Governor to say such a thing would just be looked at as not wanting to fight this war.
So 70% of there air craft are in other places through out the world, we know this. The problem is stemming from most NG who would help with this are the ones who live there. Now on other issues that come from this100% of all soldiers are ruled by UCMJ military law, which is enforced at the DOD level. Now what that means is if a soldier gets orders, those orders are coming from the President. If they disobey those orders, they go to jail (that’s active military). The National Guard is ruled by UCMJ but it's not enforced on a federal level. In other words someone in the NG can get orders, but they would come from his governor. And if they disobey those orders the UCMJ CAN be enforced but it does not have to. The ending decision comes from that’s NG TAG (like their 5 start general, governors military advisor). You will find that most NG does not enforce these rules for a couple of reasons. Most of the soldiers in the NG are long time soldiers, lifers. The average experience level of these soldiers is 18 years in the military. Most of that time is over 10 in the NG. So the TAG's understand what it means to have a day job and deal with the military. They will not stop a man from trying to help his family. If someone from the NG got orders and never showed up, they would get in trouble but most likely just a slap on the wrist. These are not your normal military families; they don't live on bases or live the military life 100%. So for them family comes 1st and no governor or tag is going to put someone in jail for helping his family, even more so if the soldier is a good solider, never having any infractions. Worst part about this is, that most NG soldiers are better then the active military. Nothing against them, it's just the numbered facts. They have a long military experience and training (most train active military), and when sent to schools it’s a hardship on the family for a few months, it's also hard for a NG to get the schooling as all military schools require some kind of physical training test in order to pass the school. The NG will not send a solider to school for promotion or anything if they feel they will fail the PT test. So when they do go they are ready. Plus the state flips that bill and if the soldier fails the school its money wasted. So now you have guys with all these years of experience (most experts in their field, you would be surprised the amount of doctors and lawyers in the Guard) who can't or won't show up to help because they are trying to help their families. I'm sure GW is getting a reminder of what it means to not show up for training or anything else in the NG. I mean he surly remembers he did not have to. I personally would have gone. I know the NG would have helped its family first so their soldiers can work with the comfort of knowing the family is safe. But when no one shows up to drive that boat or fly the chopper where do you get the skilled labor from? Sorry for the long one. Jugg.

2005-09-02, 10:02 AM	#2
juggernaut Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Central Jersey! If I was rich and powerful I would dress as my avatar does. Posts: 1,448	From my vast experience in the military and federal employment and working with the National Guard I have to say those guys have it harder then any other military. Not only from the stand point of having a day job but also from the command sense. They take their orders from the state level. Meaning, even if GW sent them to war your State's governor has the power to stop that. Even more so in the mid-east (NYC NJ ETC) if the governor feels it’s too important to take "His/her" troops then he can say no they are not going. But on the other hand you are dealing with a political nightmare. Any Governor to say such a thing would just be looked at as not wanting to fight this war. So 70% of there air craft are in other places through out the world, we know this. The problem is stemming from most NG who would help with this are the ones who live there. Now on other issues that come from this100% of all soldiers are ruled by UCMJ military law, which is enforced at the DOD level. Now what that means is if a soldier gets orders, those orders are coming from the President. If they disobey those orders, they go to jail (that’s active military). The National Guard is ruled by UCMJ but it's not enforced on a federal level. In other words someone in the NG can get orders, but they would come from his governor. And if they disobey those orders the UCMJ CAN be enforced but it does not have to. The ending decision comes from that’s NG TAG (like their 5 start general, governors military advisor). You will find that most NG does not enforce these rules for a couple of reasons. Most of the soldiers in the NG are long time soldiers, lifers. The average experience level of these soldiers is 18 years in the military. Most of that time is over 10 in the NG. So the TAG's understand what it means to have a day job and deal with the military. They will not stop a man from trying to help his family. If someone from the NG got orders and never showed up, they would get in trouble but most likely just a slap on the wrist. These are not your normal military families; they don't live on bases or live the military life 100%. So for them family comes 1st and no governor or tag is going to put someone in jail for helping his family, even more so if the soldier is a good solider, never having any infractions. Worst part about this is, that most NG soldiers are better then the active military. Nothing against them, it's just the numbered facts. They have a long military experience and training (most train active military), and when sent to schools it’s a hardship on the family for a few months, it's also hard for a NG to get the schooling as all military schools require some kind of physical training test in order to pass the school. The NG will not send a solider to school for promotion or anything if they feel they will fail the PT test. So when they do go they are ready. Plus the state flips that bill and if the soldier fails the school its money wasted. So now you have guys with all these years of experience (most experts in their field, you would be surprised the amount of doctors and lawyers in the Guard) who can't or won't show up to help because they are trying to help their families. I'm sure GW is getting a reminder of what it means to not show up for training or anything else in the NG. I mean he surly remembers he did not have to. I personally would have gone. I know the NG would have helped its family first so their soldiers can work with the comfort of knowing the family is safe. But when no one shows up to drive that boat or fly the chopper where do you get the skilled labor from? Sorry for the long one. Jugg.