[OT] US 'Inactive' RE: [OT] Territorial Army was Re: [OT] Free CalTex Interplanetary...

***
That, I have heard, occurs here in the states too. Overconfident is never a
good condition for a military to be in, regardless of whose....
***

The stories I heard went on to suggest that the Guard and Reserve troops,
especially air units, had more time 'in the seat', more fuel for training and
practice, and no longer deal with out of date equipment. Weird, no?

Add to that the fact that a fair number were both previous active military and
in position a lot longer than the bulk of the military, as I understand it,
and it actually makes sense.

I think you end up with experience and treachery trumping youth and
enthusiasm. ;->=

The down side is, if true, our full timers get(got?) less practice than 'one
weekend per month and two weeks per year' warriors.

Still, as Al Franken has pointed out, George Bush won the war with Bill
Clinton's army. I'll leave off the nasty debate coming as to if he'll win the
peace.

> It's been since late 1970's/early 1980's since I was associated with

Interesting, and a bit weird, given the extra duties that the NG has taken up,
including disaster relief that sounds more like "support".

Back when I was looking into service, before I was told I was unusable
(childhood illness), I got the impression that the reserves were strictly for
those who'd previously been in active service, and was in fact an extension
thereof. The guard was open to both 'newbies', and those who'd previously
served, who were VERY actively recruited.

And with that, I apologize for extending this thread. Sometimes, even I can't
resist.

The_Beast

> On Tue, Sep 30, 2003 at 10:45:39AM -0500, Doug Evans wrote:

> Add to that the fact that a fair number were both previous active

Somebody who's in the regular forces made one decision to do that job.
Someone in the reserves is making that decision _every month_. IME
(which may of course not be universal) you get rather fewer timeservers
and time-wasters in the TA...

ObGZG: so, how about upgrading those "militia" starship units...? :-)

> On Tue, 30 Sep 2003, Doug Evans wrote:

> ***

I think most of the US Air Guard/AF Reserve types are professional
pilots in real life, too. Herd 767s during the week, play in fighters on
weekends
- I'm envious...

Not sure about military-training time, but a lot of these guys would
have more overall flying experience than the regular Air Force pilots.

> The down side is, if true, our full timers get(got?) less practice

Not quite true, I think. The Reserve/Guard pilots might have many more
hours flying time, but less (and less recent) military flying time.

When the AF regulars fly, it's always going to be in a fighter or fighter
trainer aircraft; the weekenders might be herding 7x7s or Airbuses - and
getting more hours, but less military training time than the regs.

> Still, as Al Franken has pointed out, George Bush won the war with

Won't start that up...

Brian.

> >It's been since late 1970's/early 1980's since I was associated with