Subj : War is coming?
To   : metalhead
From : tenser
Date : Sat Oct 07 2017 22:05:15

On 09/18/17, metalhead said the following...
 
 me> I heard from 2 different "veterans" (I put quotes because they aren't war
 me> veterans, but guys who have served, who are now referred to as
 me> "veterans.")
 me> 
 me> Anyway, they said they have been put on notice that they may be called
 me> back to duty within the next few weeks.
 me> 
 me> I thought it was BS at first, but 2 different people with the same
 me> story. And I always thought once you're done with your service, unless
 me> you're in the reserves, then you aren't required to serve any more,
 me> unless you wan to..
 me> 
 me> But these guys say they have no choice.

It really depends on when they got out, and whether they're officer or
enlisted.  A little known fact is that every enlistment contract in the US
military is an *eight year* contract.  Now, most people "sign up for four
years" but what that means is that they agree to serve on active duty for
four years and stay in something called the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve)
for an additional four years.  People who enlist as reservists will also take
a 6 by 2 split: 6 years "drilling" and 2 years in the IRR (that's the minimum
required to qualify for e.g. the GI Bill and maybe some other benefits).

The story on the officer side is a little different.  Commissioned officers
(also called "unrestricted officers", as opposed to Warrant Officers who are
"restricted" officers in the sense that they're only permitted to do one job)
serve at the pleasure of the president.  After commissioning, you've got a
certain amount of obligatory service time, but after that you usually go into
the IRR.  Some people accept "career designation" where they've got another
couple of years of mando service, but after that it's sort of like a normal
job and you can resign at basically any time.  But if you don't resign and
you hit your end of obligatory service, you can drop into the IRR and you're
in there indefinitely.  Or at least until the service decides that they don't
need you anymore, after which you may be discharged.  (The IRR has some
minimal requirements to stay in "satisfactory" status; very few people
actually meet those, but it doesn't affect the characterization of your
discharge or anything.)

So basically, what this all means is that you can be "out" for all intents
and purposes while still *actually* being a member of the military.  And if
that's the case, they can call you back in times of national emergency if
they want.

For example, I checked out of my last unit in 2011 and I'm still in the IRR. 
But I'm also a communicator with experience working with foreign militaries,
so....

 me> It's stirring things up. Is our military not equipped enough already, as
 me> far as manpower goes?

Depends.  Some jobs are hard to fill and take longer to train for than
others.  You can train almost anyone to be a grunt; it's a lot harder to get
someone through the pipeline to be a radio repairman or data dink.  If either
of your friends have a special MOS, they may be first in line to get called
back.

 me> Also, perhaps related, perhaps not, there was a story on Telemundo (they
 me> are even faker than CNN, but..) they said that North Korea can strike US
 me> mainland, and that Americans should prepare with emergency shelter and
 me> food.

Yup.  The ICBMs they've got probably have range to get as far as New York. 
Whether they've got the payload miniaturized to the point that they can mount
it on one of those missiles, got the technology down so that the warhead and
survive reentry, or whether they've got the guidance system to actually hit
something is another matter.  It's one thing to nuke NYC; it's another to lob
a nuke at New York and have it splash down in the Atlantic 30 miles off the
coast of Manhattan.  Still bad, but not nearly the same league of bad.

 me> Although this sounds like a pile of paranoid bullshit, what if there is
 me> some sort of truth to it? I'm not prepared for anything. I need to stock
 me> up on water, baby food, bread, weed, and alcohol. But I'm broke! 
 me> 
 me> So, my attitude is "Hell with it," because when it's my time to go, so
 me> be it. Only the wealthy survive?

If it pops off nuclear between Cheetolini and Fatty Kim, ain't nothing going
to survive.  The odds of China staying out of it are basically zero, and then
we're all screwed.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A35 (Windows/32)
 * Origin: ACiD Telnet HQ / blackflag.acid.org (9:91/17)

.