Monday, September 29, 2008

Scarrier than fiction

. Monday, September 29, 2008
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Hello military folks and those interested in military matters and this blog.

Today was an ugly day on Wall Street. Congress failed to pass the 700 Billion dollar bailout bill, and Wall Street reacted by dropping more than 700 points.

I’m not here to point fingers or preach doom. I’m just here to add some food for thought, because although I have a blog on the web, I don’t have a crystal ball.

I’m sure the burning question for many military personnel is; How does this affect me?

The short answer to the question is that your retirement accounts, if you’ve put into a 401K or the like, will go down in the short term. As with any investment you don’t want to invest in the short term, you want to invest in the long term so that you can weather hiccups like this, well maybe this is more like a big smelly burp.

The long answer is harder to see or even guess at. Could we see a decline to the point where we look like the 1930’s depression era? Anything is possible. Is it likely, I really truly doubt it, at the very least if the depression didn’t teach us how to keep from getting into one, at least it taught us how to get out.

The outrageous answer is this; financial markets are not supposed to collapse when everything is running, I dare not say smoothly, but they are not supposed to collapse in such a manner with out an incredible world event. So don’t be surprised to wake up in the next week or so and find out the government has released all their knowledge about UFO’s and aliens. At least it would get our minds off our money woes.

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Friday, September 26, 2008

The Cornerstone of the Military

. Friday, September 26, 2008
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Discipline.

The dictionary has several definitions for discipline, but why is it so important to the military that it is considered the cornerstone?

For many in the military, particularly the newest members, discipline is sometimes viewed as what happens after they make a mistake. And for many members, because of less than perfect leadership and their own failings, this is the only definition of discipline they know.

But this is not the discipline that has kept the military strong.

The discipline that is so crucial to the military and to the individual Sailor, Soldier or Airman, is personal discipline.

Why do I say this? Because being disciplined is more than just getting up everyday promptly at five in the morning, although that is a form of self discipline, it is not the discipline that is the cornerstone or the military.

The cornerstone of the military is the discipline to do the right thing morally and ethically all the time, every time. To maintain your self discipline, when you are tired, hungry or cold. And to have the moral courage to point out to others when they lapse in their own discipline.

Discipline, not being being beaten when you mess up, but the discipline that you posses to do your job right, to keep yourself and other safe, to protect and care for your family, is what allows Saliors, Soldiers and Airmen to deploy to hostile zones and return alive.

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Boot Camp - Basic Training - Inprocessing

. Thursday, September 25, 2008
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Since this is the first blog and since it has to do with surviving and succeeding in the military, let us start off at the beginning. And with the military there is no other place to start off with, other than Basic Training, Boot Camp, Initial Training, or whatever you would like to call it. Enlisted soldiers and Officers alike go through some sort of initial training.

For those of you that may be preparing to go into the military for the first time. Basic training can seem like a formidable obstacle to overcome, and by no means is what I'm about to say here intended to belittle in any way the accomplishment of completing basic training. If you are about to enter Basic training and you are worried about it, think of one thing first before you ever set foot on the bus or plane that will take you there. Think first; you are not the first one to go through this, or even the first one to have the feelings that are going through your head. Hundreds of thousands of people have gone through basic training and thousands more will go through it after you have completed it.

The next thing you need to do is take a deep breath and take one thing at a time. You do not have to complete all the weeks of basic training in the first moments you arrive. Take a breath.

Next, and this may be the most practical and "duhh no kidding", advice I have but here it is. Do WHAT your are told, WHEN your are told, and HOW you are told to do it.

That is the easy route through basic training. Now if you would like to make it harder, or more exciting you can question the Drill instructors, but that is up to you, I don't recommend it.

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