matthewcline

Just me. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Well did ya have fun? How did the 8 way Speedeve nt go for you? Sorry I hadto leave a day early. Maybe next year us retired folks (I will be by then) can participate. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Top over 3500 jumps. AFF-I (had the same goal this year but duty got in the way). Run 2 Coach Courses (one next weekend, yeah I know it is still this year) Run 2 Static Line I Courses (one scheduled for Jan) Run 2 Tandem I Courses (one scheduled for Jan) Train no less than 6 FJC Students through the "B" license. Train no less than 4 to PRO Rated Demonstrators. Perform in no less than 20 DEMO's. Print two articles in the local paper on skydiving (had 3 this year and the yhelped to draw students to the 2 local DZ's and they did list 6 DZ's each time) and get others to do the same as all the above. Not enough really, but a start. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Happy Birthday ole' Boy! An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

A CG dude stood on the podium last year or was it the year before that? Any way his RW suit is in the CG colors and has "Coast guard" on the sleeves like the Army team had Army on theirs. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Yes, he is describing that to a "T". Since it has been an Army Standard since before I joined, it kind of shoots the "none analytical" idea down huh? (Law Rocket wasn't saying that, just to be clear) An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

About 30% Infantry, 20% Transportation, 10% Artillery, 10% Combat Engineer, 5% Personel, 10% Mechanics, 5 % Supply, 5% Med, 5% Riggers. These are rough figures, SWAG if you will. My Team is 9 Infantry and 1 Artillery. They combined have 12 Degrees. 3 more will graduate with 4 year degrees this spring (you college folks know how you can have multiple degrees at one time). Bringing the total to 15 Degrees in the Combat Arms Team alone (that is the bunch of mindless brain washed dumb asses referred to in a previous post). They are from the "line guys" of the 101st. They have done this additional schooling on there own time adding to what they had when they joined. I have a realtor (Infantry guy) with a degree in realestate law, PA (Infantry guy), PR/marketing (Infantry guy), Criminilist (SP) (Artillery guy), 2 History dudes (Infantry), 3 Business dudes. I think eclectic is a good definition. Back to the original post, 5 of them voted strait DEM today. 1 didn't vote and 3 did the REP deal. 1 voted half and half (me), depended on the state issues since all but 2 are absentee. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

My post is not about a SOF unit but a good ole' regular set of Joe's in the 101st ABN DIV (AASLT). It is becoming more and more typical. The current system had to be lowered to allow what we call "cat 4's" in, lucky calls them College freshmen. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

I made a "presumption" based on D-lama's offer, he wouldn't do it for me! An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Your funny. My unit: 2 Officers and 25 enlisted. 12 Bachelors 10 Associates 1 Doctorate (enlisted! DOO) 2 Harvard grads (Enlisted again, damn!) Texas A&M AU Duke and many other locals. Only 1 joined because the Civilian life sucked (I went and asked after reading your post), 8 joined for the college money, 1 for the AMED program (could lump that in to college money too I guess). 7 for the adventure and 6 for the Duty Honor and Country cause. 4 for Family reasons (trust fund being 2 of them, no service no money, they both re-enlisted last year). Only 4 enlisted without at least an associates. Take away the two Officers and that leaves 21 enlisted with college when they joined. So, they had a 2 year degree upon enlistment, are they smart for the degree or dumb for enlisting? An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Ya got to work during the day? Damn! I will pm the celly telly # to you. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Last year we went full TDY. I just got clearance for PTDY and am working on an upgrade. lows of 48F and highs of 72F all weekend! GK's do have a few CRW Guru's. So it is looking like 2 SE's will be there again this year and able to team up with some one. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Oh sure just 'cause she looks good in nylon! Why not help out an "Eagle" this weekend? Or ya gonna be too busy keeping the rif raf in line? An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

38 years old, over 20 years of the Army and still doing 2 miles in the mid 14's (1 mile just over 7 minutes). I used to be faster when the jump numbers where lower (not skydives but the near 200 round jumps). An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Several times a year, but it is a tough job.

Cool, just didn't know the answer for the fellow. He will be looking up Chuck in a few weeks. After he is done blowing bubbles for a while he is taking a little time off. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Thanks for the well wishes, but I am home and soon to retire so I will forward that to a Service member over seas if it is OK. Don't get me wrong, we don't shurk any duty or cut corners (hence the death rate), but we also don't dwell on the why of politics. I hope my being a voter didn't scare you! It scares my Dad though, he said it makes him feel "old". An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

The currrent mission we are concerned with is keeping the Service members safe and bringing them all home, after that do you really care? I will be honest, we don't really think about the "why" any more. We do what we have to do to get back as a group, complete group. Politics we leave to the politicians and vote like any other citizen on how we feel. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

I will address you post point by point: I AM IN THE U.S. MILITARY! 20+ YEARS! I also have voted for each party and spoke up to my "superiors" on all occasions when we have discussed politics. never did I feel "Isolated". I never felt President Clinton did well as Commander in Chief, he didn't give us the equipment and authorizations we wanted in Somalia (yes, I KNOW he inherited the situation but he could have helped the soldiers there when he did). His "Don't ask Don't Tell" policy was some thing his admin and supporters came up with and injected into a military who for the most part was just moving along and ignoring Sexual orientation issues (at least in the units I was in) it only became an issue if it envovled adultery of the "higher" ranks or was in addition too a charge already levied. He agreed with his political supporters who wanted "Gay Rights", seems silly to need them to me, just acknowledge and allow Human Rights regardless of who one sleeps with. I would hope one day we could just live in that manner, buut as you have shown me there are plenty of bigots who still believe in a way that will not allow it. Well again in my units it was not an issue you may have seen some thing different, AF right? (guessing by the "blowing" part of your post) Don't read some thing between the lines that does not happen to be there. I will tell you all you have to do is ask (no Pun was intended). I have no issue with any one at all in regards to sexual orientation, I actually vote in line, at times, with those who wear the "liberal" tag, in regards to "same sex" marriage. Don't know about all services but I think the Army Times showed in was more like 50/50 in the Officer Ranks and 60/40 in the Enlisted ranks (thats Rep/Dem). I guess we will just disagree that those in the military make up their own mind at the voting booth and that politics doesn't stop soldiers from doing their job along side each other, no matter which POTUS got them there. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Whitman is stupid. Of course the Commanders on the ground are committed to the mission, their Service Members are serving on the same damn mission! An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Spelling is not my strong point, ask Kerry. I never heard a leader push a party on a troop or troops in 20 + years. This to me, with all the Regs AGAINST it, seems a very large exageration. But the troops I have served with had a lot of issues with Clinton and the ones I seve with now are feeling the same way about the current POTUS. We still see troops having to use food stamps and "wick" to feed a family of three! But the military also got used by Clinton in his "social experiment" for homosexuality. I have no issue with ones sexual orientation and see no need for "extra" rights becuase they choose to sleep with the same gender. I also saw no need to change the way the military ran its self in this regard. The regs about it had pretty much been ingnored except by those trying to draw attention to thier "cause" and those who used it to get out. I find that when it comes to the military both parties are full of ass clowns who are only truly looking out for them selves. Want to know who the military is voting for next term? ask the thousands who are retiring at the first date of eligability. Look what party they are running under in Presidential Elections, Senate, House etc etc. If the Sec Def had been fired last term Bush would have gotten 10 to 15 % more Mil votes acording a an Army times pole last year, I probably mis quoted that and it is Army votes now that I think about it. McCain, Powel and Leiberman (sp) can we do that next time? What is wrong with a three man oval office? An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Also lets not forget that Congress makes the bills too. The defense budget is always a comprimise and all invovled can take credit/blame, but we tend to only assign it to the POTUS. The better judge of the Military Vote would be its Moral. As I serve from Regon till now, I can say I felt better and had a higher moral under Regan and Bush 1, but not under Clinton and am losing tolerance for the current admin. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

In all fairness only ONE Dem in that Article openly supported them. I also didn't see a direct link to "illegal imagrants". ( I did hear a GOV say it in support of a Sen. Candidate than retrack it when it started to hurt the two of thems re-elct bids) Question; Why are they opposed to the forms being turned in for some one they registered to vote? IS it to keep the Local, State and Federal Elections people from finding fruad? I have no Party affiliation but I guess I would be considered a "Moderate". Although I hate ALL plitics and hope one day the Declaration and its intent will be followed. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

Where did you find that? It has far bigger implications than Iraq. The IG is also what investigates the Military as a whole. (paraphrazed of course) Was this just a specific location the IG wont be working? I kind of think it is important. An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!

There is a thread on it some where. I own one of each. My Parapack rig looked better in the begining than the Cordura. Now 3 years later the Cordura looks better. Cordura is a bit tougher and hides the "oops maybe it will buff out" mistakes better. Since your young to the sport I would stay with Cordura, heck I am not considered young and will go back to and then stick with Cordura. If the Rig wears better (or at least lookes like it) it will resell better. I only now see a reason to have Parapack as a "Team" look or for a "special" rig (for an event or sponsor deal maybe). Just my 2 Cents., An Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!!