Military Questions Asked and Answered

[Doc Randy]

Ok, but...and this is where I'm confused, they're the same pay grade right? So doesn't that mean that a Specialist that has no NCO responsibilities and a Corporal who does, are getting paid the same amount? In other words aren't you asking one guy do do more shit for the same pay?

Yep. And most Specialists would still prefer to be Corporals.

[Tyr]

Yep. And most Specialists would still prefer to be Corporals.

...I don't think I'll ever understand the Army, good thing I volunteered for the Navy instead, though I was disqualified.

So does it ever bother you when Game companies like Dice, Bioware, or Blizzard keep getting military ranks screwed up?

[Doc Randy]

So does it ever bother you when Game companies like Dice, Bioware, or Blizzard keep getting military ranks screwed up?

Just about every TV show or movie or game screws up something military related. The uniforms are usually the most obvious fuck ups. I am amazed when I see a military person on film whose uniform isn't all jacked up. It doesn't bother me so much as it shows pervasive laziness to do a tiny bit of research. How hard is it to look something up on wikipedia?

Video games are usually silly unrealistic escapism by nature so anybody that gets bothered by anything in them is kind of an idiot.

[Doc Randy]

I've been on active duty the last few days and thought I would give some of you an idea what a day in the life of a soldier can be like:

07:00 - Show up at unit for physical training. We have a jogging track, weight room, and basketball court to use. Work out. SHower. Put on uniform.
08:00 - 1st Formation - you check in, get a brief overview of what is going on for the day and any announcements
08:20 - No patients yet so I spent a big chunk of the morning stamping numbers and letters into padlocks and their keys. Mindless grunt work. Weirdly fun.
10:00 - Soldiers start to show up for medical screenings. This involves height/weight, vitals, blood labs, dental exam, vision, hearing, immunizations, and interview with medical officer.
12:00 - Lunch - I went to Dairy Queen. There goes all the work from my exercise this morning.
13:00 - No more medical screenings for the day. Focused on continuing education. I am currently going through the "Special Operations Medic Prep Course" which is supposed to academically prepare you for a Special Operations Medical class. It is a pretty good review of Anatomy & Physiology, Medical Terminology, and math. After that is more classes to maintain my EMT certification and preparation for the Physician Assistant Masters program. Most of this is computer-based correspondence courses with some organized hands-on classes.
16:00 - Final formation. A quick review of how things went and any announcements. Done for the day. Go home.

No yelling. I didn't hear a single person say "hooah". No shooting. No field work. The most dangerous thing I did was eat a Chicken Finger Basket.

All in all, it can be remarkably routine. Way more laid back than anything they show in the commercials.

Oddly enough, it is way less stressful than working in comics was.