Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

[paulsharvey]

Also, more and more of the critical function of the military requires a relatively high level of training and education. We'll always need some in boots to just point and shoot, but more and more it's about drones, theater warfare systems, automatic guidance, piloting highly-technical equipment, etc. The old Swiss system of a few months in the military before college doesn't seem as useful today, when there's such a substantial up-front investment required to turn a civilian into a proficient soldier, in today's high-tech US military.

Yes and no... A lot of the highly trained stuff now is contracted out to consultants and service contractors.

Edit: By that, I mean a lot of the skilled maintenance, programming, repair, ect. Not as far as I know, actually using said equipment

 

[Hay Dude]

Also, more and more of the critical function of the military requires a relatively high level of training and education. We'll always need some in boots to just point and shoot, but more and more it's about drones, theater warfare systems, automatic guidance, piloting highly-technical equipment, etc. The old Swiss system of a few months in the military before college doesn't seem as useful today, when there's such a substantial up-front investment required to turn a civilian into a proficient soldier, in today's high-tech US military.

What my nephew (Engineer in Navy Surface Warfare) has told me is pretty incredible.

 

[Jstpssng]

Several years ago I came across a couple of books at my mother's house which were written by women who survived the Holocaust. Each started by telling about life in pre-war days, then described the buildup and how they were gradually isolated, ostracized, moved from their homes to a central "Jew" area, and eventually put on trains to Auswitz or another location. I read about their lives there, their release by American soldiers and how each ended up in the US. Since then I've read several other books from that time; including a collection of articles from "Look" magazine interviewing survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Now I'm reading a book about the resistance movement in each country, aptly titled "Resistance." Again, it goes into how each country was taken over and the risks people took who fought against it. The results are set in stone now but back then it could have gone either way. If not for the tenacity of the British and the patriotism of the US and other allies the war could have gone the other way. If Iwo Jima, Battle of the Bulge, and a few others gone the other way, members of the Resistance would be called rebels in the history books.

I try to be open about other viewpoints yet every time that I hear some punk say that the Holocaust didn't happen, I get rather testy.

 

[jjeff]

Losing the battle of the bulge I can see how it might have changed the course of the war in Europe or at least prolonged it and the Soviet union might have taken most of Europe by the end, i don't quite completely see the significance of Iwo Jima though besides maybe a field for damaged aircraft like the b29 to land? I was fortunate to talk to someone 10 yrs ago who actually fought in the battle of the bulge. Unfortunately like so many others he's passed on. He did kind of mention how it got to him no one was left in his unit for reunions anymore.

 

[oldballs]

Yes and no... A lot of the highly trained stuff now is contracted out to consultants and service contractors.

Edit: By that, I mean a lot of the skilled maintenance, programming, repair, ect. Not as far as I know, actually using said equipment

Yeah,,,,like KP duty..... peeling potatoes...firing the barracks coal stove.. I was 9 years old on December 7th 1941.........I daily fly the flag in honor of all those from WWII right on to today.

Cheers,
Mike













c

 

[paulsharvey]

Yeah,,,,like KP duty..... peeling potatoes...firing the barracks coal stove.. I was 9 years old on December 7th 1941.........I daily fly the flag in honor of all those from WWII right on to today.

Cheers,
Mike













c

Looks like by law, contract maintenance is capped to 50% for airforce. Looks like currently, it's 39% (thats some generic google search stuff, but im sure we will never know). Looks like Army is capped at 50% maintenance by contract work force as well. You don't need to like it or not, but its a way to keep knowledge/experience in the system once guys get sick of the BS pay.

It keeps a large number of skilled people, even if they aren't enlisted, without having to train as many expensive/time intense skills.

It's the high value stuff that is outsourced.

 

[Hay Dude]

Yeah,,,,like KP duty..... peeling potatoes...firing the barracks coal stove.. I was 9 years old on December 7th 1941.........I daily fly the flag in honor of all those from WWII right on to today.

Cheers,
Mike













c

I salute your dedication and honor of our flag.

 

[WinterDeere]

I'm sure many here have seen "Darkest Hour", with Gary Oldman. If you haven't, stop what you're doing right this minute, and add it to your watchlist. In any case, fantastic film about Churchill steering the Brits into WW2, as opposition party was pressuring to bend to Germany's threat. It also covers a little bit of US involvement, prior to Pearl Harbor, such as plans made between Roosevelt and the UK to smuggle planes out of the USA without notifying Congress that we were indeed helping in opposition to Germany.

The reason I bring it up is that there is no similarly good film centered on Pearl Harbor, and the US entry into WW2. There is of course the movie "Pearl Harbor", which is fun but really total trash, a silly fictional romance film centering on Pearl Harbor. There have also been countless television documentaries. But there has been no major American film, of similar quality and depth to Darkest Hour, covering the events leading up to and through the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

[wawajake]

Several years ago I came across a couple of books at my mother's house which were written by women who survived the Holocaust. Each started by telling about life in pre-war days, then described the buildup and how they were gradually isolated, ostracized, moved from their homes to a central "Jew" area, and eventually put on trains to Auswitz or another location. I read about their lives there, their release by American soldiers and how each ended up in the US. Since then I've read several other books from that time; including a collection of articles from "Look" magazine interviewing survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Now I'm reading a book about the resistance movement in each country, aptly titled "Resistance." Again, it goes into how each country was taken over and the risks people took who fought against it. The results are set in stone now but back then it could have gone either way. If not for the tenacity of the British and the patriotism of the US and other allies the war could have gone the other way. If Iwo Jima, Battle of the Bulge, and a few others gone the other way, members of the Resistance would be called rebels in the history books.

I try to be open about other viewpoints yet every time that I hear some punk say that the Holocaust didn't happen, I get rather testy.

My Grand Parents in Holland were part of the resistance and their home was a quick distribution point to hide Jews until moved to more permanent places in the country side. My Mother was under 12 at the time and prefers not to talk about those terrible times ( raids on their home, the hidden radio , I heard about from my Uncle) . Sadly the world now seems to have lost that bravery and lessons learned.

 

[Jstpssng]

My Grand Parents in Holland were part of the resistance and their home was a quick distribution point to hide Jews until moved to more permanent places in the country side. My Mother was under 12 at the time and prefers not to talk about those terrible times ( raids on their home, the hidden radio , I heard about from my Uncle) . Sadly the world now seems to have lost that bravery and lessons learned.

Churchill never would have been Prime Minister today. I'm surprised that the history books haven't been rewritten yet to take him out of them. We've come to expect our heros to be God's, with no imperfections.

Many resistance members were tortured and killed. It was a dark time and if not for a lot of people, England, France, Belgium and Poland would be speaking German now.