Quote: Chappers @ January 6 2010, 9:18 PM GMTA bloke who survived the Hiroshima atom bomb blast and moved back home to survive the Nagasaki bomb(or whas it the other way round?)died today. Not a bad innings.
My father survived 50. 
I read the news today oh boy! Page 69
Quote: DaButt @ January 6 2010, 9:45 PM GMTMy father survived 50.
That probably explains you!
Quote: Chappers @ January 6 2010, 9:55 PM GMTThat probably explains you!
It definitely explains why I was born in Las Vegas. No superpowers or glowing yet detected. 
One of the new "Sunday Funnies" stamps that will be issued by the U.S. Post Office this year.
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/sunday-funnies-postage-stamps
Hilarious.
Quote: DaButt @ January 6 2010, 9:45 PM GMTMy father survived 50.
Wow they really wanted your old man out of the army didn't they?!
Quote: Paul W @ January 8 2010, 9:13 AM GMTWow they really wanted your old man out of the army didn't they?!
Just the opposite, they recalled him to active duty during the Cuban missile crisis 4 years after he left the Army.
Quote: DaButt @ January 8 2010, 10:43 AM GMTJust the opposite, they recalled him to active duty during the Cuban missile crisis 4 years after he left the Army.
Don't they tend to keep "Retired" officers on a reserve list for so many years? And that's good, did he accept?
Quote: Paul W @ January 8 2010, 1:48 PM GMTDon't they tend to keep "Retired" officers on a reserve list for so many years? And that's good, did he accept?
He was an enlisted man, not an officer. Everyone who serves has a commitment of 8 years, so whatever is left over after a soldier's active duty is completed can be spent in the active (1 weekend per month and 2 weeks every summer) or inactive reserves. But you don't "accept" it, you just report as ordered or risk arrest and jail time.
Quote: DaButt @ January 8 2010, 2:03 PM GMTBut you don't "accept" it, you just report as ordered or risk arrest and jail time.
That's always bugged me, that the army own you in some way. If you decide you want out you should be able to just walk away. I wouldn't want to go into something where that kind of right was taken away from me. I suppose it doesn't bother those who go in though, including members of my family. Not that it really msatters of course as I'm never going to join the army! 
Quote: Matthew Stott @ January 8 2010, 2:06 PM GMTNot that it really msatters of course as I'm never going to join the army!
But with spelling like that you'd be a shoo-in!
Quote: David Bussell @ January 8 2010, 2:09 PM GMTBut with spelling like that you'd be a shoo-in!
F**k yuo!
Quote: Matthew Stott @ January 8 2010, 2:06 PM GMTThat's always bugged me, that the army own you in some way. If you decide you want out you should be able to just walk away. I wouldn't want to go into something where that kind of right was taken away from me.
It's not a right, it's the law. People in prison can't just walk away from their sentences, either. A military that allowed you to walk away wouldn't do very well whenever it came time to deploy overseas and/or fight.
It's fairly easy to get out of the military if you want out badly enough, but most people realize it's a solemn duty and would never desert their friends and fellow troops.
Quote: David Bussell @ January 8 2010, 2:09 PM GMTBut with spelling like that you'd be a shoo-in!
The people I served with were very intelligent and most had university degrees. And these were enlisted men and women, not officers. I don't know if the same holds true for the UK, but members of the U.S. military are better educated than the general population.
Quote: DaButt @ January 8 2010, 2:32 PM GMTIt's not a right, it's the law. People in prison can't just walk away from their sentences, either. A military that allowed you to walk away wouldn't do very well whenever it came time to deploy overseas and/or fight.
It's fairly easy to get out of the military if you want out badly enough, but most people realize it's a solemn duty and would never desert their friends and fellow troops.
It's more understandable if you present it as a contract, rather than comparing it to a prison sentence.
Quote: DaButt @ January 8 2010, 2:32 PM GMTIt's not a right, it's the law. People in prison can't just walk away from their sentences, either. A military that allowed you to walk away wouldn't do very well whenever it came time to deploy overseas and/or fight.
It's fairly easy to get out of the military if you want out badly enough, but most people realize it's a solemn duty and would never desert their friends and fellow troops.
Very true! If you sign up you shouldn't have a choice to leave 
wouldn't be many people in Iraq then!
Quote: DaButt @ January 8 2010, 2:32 PM GMTThe people I served with were very intelligent and most had university degrees. And these were enlisted men and women, not officers. I don't know if the same holds true for the UK, but members of the U.S. military are better educated than the general population.
I heard otherwise, enlisted troops on average were less intelligent, true of many armys around the world actually.