That's a great article and hits it straight on. In this position his sexual preference makes not a bit of difference. And it appears he has the background needed to do this job well.
One thing, he or Ashton Carter could serve in any administration. Who ever the president is, they will have to do as they are told. That's the way it is. Such was the case with Robert Gates. He was a Bush appointee. He had to tow tow to Obummer for a couple years until he helped get USB. That's why Obummer kept Gates on the job.
So it makes no difference whether Fanning is gay or straight, conservative or liberal. Just like others in such a position he will have to follow the lead of the Prez.
Daddy, what's an enabler?
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
I seem to remember a guy named Zumwalt who was responsible for a bunch of that crappola. The USAF made us go through a bunch of "sensitivity training" that was a horrendous waste of time. One of the factors that influenced me not to re-up was the fact that most of the oldtimers were drunks, and a huge number of the newbies were dopers. Try getting caught in the middle of a situation like that, when I had to figure out which one of the guys at roll call every shift were drunk, hung over, or stoned, and who I thought I could trust to hit the flight line and work on a bunch of multi-million dollar airplanes with the crew members' lives depending on their work!
Jerry
The drug and alcohol problems aboard my ship weren't that bad, but they were there. I found out for sure who the alcoholics were when we got stuck out at sea for 3 1/2 months without hitting a port! When the hidden hooch ran out they got antsy. The marijuana and hash smokers got the DTs, too. Everybody that paid attention knew who fit in either group, but nobody got turned in. Midnight swims underway would kind of suck.
And 'Uncle Elmo' Zumwalt was behind a lot of the stuff that caused other stuff to hit the fan regarding the Navy, manning of ships, and crew assignments. My last 6 months in, I ended up working mostly 16 and 20 hours a day between security watches, ships store record keeping, and working 8 hours per night in the ship's laundry. Some anus chapeau officers decided that the crew working uniforms (dungarees and chambray shirts) should be pressed so they'd look better. My division officer didn't think that 12 hours a day watch standing and doing the records was enough so he 'volunteered' me for the night laundry detail from 0000-0800 pressing pants and shirts. We were undermanned by 6 people in Ship's Service, and it didn't look like we'd be getting any new bodies soon. That was the situation with every division on the ship, though; every division had open slots.
I actually tried to reenlist before my time was up, but the Navy in its infinite wisdom decided that I could change rating from Ship's Service to GMG (gunners mate- guns) but refused to send me to school. Without the school(3 months at Great Lakes training center) moving up in rank was impossible. Buncha asshats! At least I made the effort. :roll2:
Good article SS3; says what should be important, and what should be just a footnote.
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer” ― Douglas Adams
My next-to-last duty station was to an "almost" combat zone in Thailand. We only had to deal with the occasional attempt at vandalizing the airplanes that were flying combat almost every day, by local thugs who thought it was funny to paint graffiti on them or do other cosmetic damage after sneaking under the perimeter fence and onto the flight line. Since I had spent 7 years or so fixing autopilot and compass systems on SAC bombers and tankers, working on a bunch of tactical fighters and recon planes with totally different autopilot and compass systems wasn't an option. However- - - -I did happen to be a supervisor-level E-5, which made me the logical guy to appoint as assistant shift chief. My duties included babysitting the E-7 shift chief whose wake-up routine every day included a couple of straight shots of gin and feeding his alcohol habit regularly for the rest of the day, and doing most of the paperwork and supervision of a 15-man electronics shop on the 16:00-24:00 shift. That's not exactly a good argument to convince me to re-up!
BTW, one of my junior airmen there was in the process of being investigated prior to court-martial for bringing a stash of weed INTO Thailand! That's like taking a sandwich to a smorgasbord!
Jerry
I seem to remember a guy named Zumwalt who was responsible for a bunch of that crappola. The USAF made us go through a bunch of "sensitivity training" that was a horrendous waste of time. One of the factors that influenced me not to re-up was the fact that most of the oldtimers were drunks, and a huge number of the newbies were dopers. Try getting caught in the middle of a situation like that, when I had to figure out which one of the guys at roll call every shift were drunk, hung over, or stoned, and who I thought I could trust to hit the flight line and work on a bunch of multi-million dollar airplanes with the crew members' lives depending on their work!
Jerry
Sounds very familiar. Senior NCOs hopeless alcoholics. Enlisted personnel hopeless drug addicts.
My next-to-last duty station was to an "almost" combat zone in Thailand. We only had to deal with the occasional attempt at vandalizing the airplanes that were flying combat almost every day, by local thugs who thought it was funny to paint graffiti on them or do other cosmetic damage after sneaking under the perimeter fence and onto the flight line. Since I had spent 7 years or so fixing autopilot and compass systems on SAC bombers and tankers, working on a bunch of tactical fighters and recon planes with totally different autopilot and compass systems wasn't an option. However- - - -I did happen to be a supervisor-level E-5, which made me the logical guy to appoint as assistant shift chief. My duties included babysitting the E-7 shift chief whose wake-up routine every day included a couple of straight shots of gin and feeding his alcohol habit regularly for the rest of the day, and doing most of the paperwork and supervision of a 15-man electronics shop on the 16:00-24:00 shift. That's not exactly a good argument to convince me to re-up!
BTW, one of my junior airmen there was in the process of being investigated prior to court-martial for bringing a stash of weed INTO Thailand! That's like taking a sandwich to a smorgasbord!
Jerry
A guy I went to Victoria College with and worked at Carbide with was a Dog Man guarding the B-52s on the field in Thailand about that time. He talked about the infiltrators that snuck onto the airfield at night. He had his dog and an M-16 and said it could get awful lonely out there at night.
Daddy, what's an enabler?
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
One of the occupational hazards of being a perimeter guard at the alert pad at Little Rock was getting tracked by one of the 20MM Gatling guns in the tail of one of the birds across the flight line. The Defensive Fire Control Systems techs used to fire up the radar on low power, lock onto the guard's M-16, and follow him back and forth with the turret as he walked his rounds. There's something a little unnerving about having a bunch or 20MM cannons following ya around!
Jerry
I used to hate policing up hundreds of pieces of 20 Mike Mike brass on the ranges in Germany. If a butt-hole came around to clear your unit, you had to police everything up to get cleared and stay there until it was done.
Didn't matter if your unit wasn't even firing it it ALL had to be picked up. Left behind by Vulcan AD units or the Krauts. Then again, the OIC should have never signed for the range in the first place if he did a thorough inspection.
I mean, some of it had obviously been there a long time.
Such was Army life.
It's only true if it's on this forum where opinions are facts and facts are opinions
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
One of the occupational hazards of being a perimeter guard at the alert pad at Little Rock was getting tracked by one of the 20MM Gatling guns in the tail of one of the birds across the flight line. The Defensive Fire Control Systems techs used to fire up the radar on low power, lock onto the guard's M-16, and follow him back and forth with the turret as he walked his rounds. There's something a little unnerving about having a bunch or 20MM cannons following ya around!
Jerry
That's exactly what Ozuna told me.
Daddy, what's an enabler?
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Replies
That's a great article and hits it straight on. In this position his sexual preference makes not a bit of difference. And it appears he has the background needed to do this job well.
One thing, he or Ashton Carter could serve in any administration. Who ever the president is, they will have to do as they are told. That's the way it is. Such was the case with Robert Gates. He was a Bush appointee. He had to tow tow to Obummer for a couple years until he helped get USB. That's why Obummer kept Gates on the job.
So it makes no difference whether Fanning is gay or straight, conservative or liberal. Just like others in such a position he will have to follow the lead of the Prez.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
The drug and alcohol problems aboard my ship weren't that bad, but they were there. I found out for sure who the alcoholics were when we got stuck out at sea for 3 1/2 months without hitting a port! When the hidden hooch ran out they got antsy. The marijuana and hash smokers got the DTs, too. Everybody that paid attention knew who fit in either group, but nobody got turned in. Midnight swims underway would kind of suck.
And 'Uncle Elmo' Zumwalt was behind a lot of the stuff that caused other stuff to hit the fan regarding the Navy, manning of ships, and crew assignments. My last 6 months in, I ended up working mostly 16 and 20 hours a day between security watches, ships store record keeping, and working 8 hours per night in the ship's laundry. Some anus chapeau officers decided that the crew working uniforms (dungarees and chambray shirts) should be pressed so they'd look better. My division officer didn't think that 12 hours a day watch standing and doing the records was enough so he 'volunteered' me for the night laundry detail from 0000-0800 pressing pants and shirts. We were undermanned by 6 people in Ship's Service, and it didn't look like we'd be getting any new bodies soon. That was the situation with every division on the ship, though; every division had open slots.
I actually tried to reenlist before my time was up, but the Navy in its infinite wisdom decided that I could change rating from Ship's Service to GMG (gunners mate- guns) but refused to send me to school. Without the school(3 months at Great Lakes training center) moving up in rank was impossible. Buncha asshats! At least I made the effort. :roll2:
Good article SS3; says what should be important, and what should be just a footnote.
― Douglas Adams
BTW, one of my junior airmen there was in the process of being investigated prior to court-martial for bringing a stash of weed INTO Thailand! That's like taking a sandwich to a smorgasbord!
Jerry
A guy I went to Victoria College with and worked at Carbide with was a Dog Man guarding the B-52s on the field in Thailand about that time. He talked about the infiltrators that snuck onto the airfield at night. He had his dog and an M-16 and said it could get awful lonely out there at night.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Jerry
Didn't matter if your unit wasn't even firing it it ALL had to be picked up. Left behind by Vulcan AD units or the Krauts. Then again, the OIC should have never signed for the range in the first place if he did a thorough inspection.
I mean, some of it had obviously been there a long time.
Such was Army life.
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.