So here's the deal... My recent attempt to inform those who are less informed that those enlisted in the Air Force are thus Airmen, Marine Corp thus Marines, so on and so forth has fallen on deaf ears and the response is laughable. My readers are either worried about everyone else’s' feelings, being Politically Correct or the wife of someone whom enlisted in the Army National Guard and therefore don't appreciate, see, dignify the differences between one branch of the military to another. At this point I'm finished responding with fact, quotes, and concessions on this issue.
Let’s just summarize what I've learned since my original post (which was accurate, not meant to impune, or negative in anyway) that everyone in any branch of the military all fight for our freedom and are thus "soldiers". Now I know... I wonder how that will go over the next time I run into someone enlisted in the Air Force, or Marines for that matter to know that the opinions of those in blog-last have declared them no longer Airmen or Marines, but they are soldiers. But at least everyone is on an even playing field and we're all equal and live in a world made of marshmallows and love!! I thoroughly thank you all for your opinions, passionate declarations of my assumed ignorance, and for reading my blog! :)
Final address for Mrs. (army)wife... I do owe you an apology. I apologize that you assume "different" or "separate" to mean "less" or "diminished". Furthermore, I apologize that my pointing out the National Guard, Army, Air Force, Marine Corp, Navy are infact different and have altogether different titles for their service members, in some way upset or insulted you. I sincerely did not know that they were all to be referred to as "soldiers." Now I know and hence forth will refrain from dignifying any long-standing differentiations between services, specifically the National Guard and Army.
I hope we all have a joyous and enjoyable Friday, along with a blessed and equal weekend with those that they love!
As of now... I am personally done addressing the issue and will be moving on in my upcoming posts. I don't mind if any of you continue to post your thoughts and continue the debate... But I reserve the right to again address the issue at a later date. Tootles ladies! On to other bigger more important issues of the day... :)
Friday, April 17, 2009
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12 comments:
I don't think you meant to offend anyone by just making a point. The beauty of the freedom of speech :) Have a great Friday!
Well I hope you have a great weekend!
I wasn’t trying to say that you were being controversial and I definitely was NOT trying to stir the pot for whomever took what you said in the wrong context. I was tweeting because of others responses and the controversy over your post is all, and thought another Army Wife might be able to offer up a different point of view. Hope all is well and keep on posting–it’s good to have military wives, girlfriends and fiances keeping in touch!
Please don't apologize on my account...especially when it's dripping with sarcasm.
Wow I'm shocked that the "Army" wives on here really couldn't back you up on this issue. It's disgraceful! First, (army)wife there is are HUGE differences between the National Guard and the Active Duty Army. Calling them something different or simply defining them as something separate than the Army is not lessening or diminishing their service. National Guard is essential! Be proud that your husband serves irregardless of whether or not the rest of the world calls him "Soldier".
Second, Samantha's original post was not offensive to any branch of the military. For you or anyone else to take offense at her attempt to state the obvious shows something that you should further explore within yourself. At no point did samantha say that the Army was better than anything else out there... for you to assume (as she stated) that different or Guardsmen vs Soldier meant she was saying they weren't as good as hooah or whatever it was that you assumed says that, that idea is already in your head. Not hers.. yours. So take your victim glasses off. And embrace what Diddy preaches "NO MORE BITCHASSNESS!"
Samantha... maybe you shouldn't have bothered to be affended when reading the mother of a Sailor refer to her son as a "soldier"... Bc thanks to the dictionary.com link we all now know what (army)wife was trying to school you on: All members of all branches are evidently "soldiers". unfortunately my Marine husband begs to differ. he is a MARINE- one of the few, and extremely proud. (army)wife... since you can't accept the fact that the branches are different from one another and have different names or titles as samantha called them (which she didn't invent)than you may want to stay out of the discussion. There is not room for discussion.
well since different is now a bad thing maybe we should call all black people white? I mean just so that they feel "equal"... we wouldn't want to diminish their existance.
Yes different is most definited "bad"...
Anon~
I never said there wasn't a difference between Army and ANG. I simply said they are still all soldiers. I am proud of my soldier so don't you dare try to say I mean otherwise. And I never said you're husband wasn't a Marine...I just said he can also call himself a soldier should he choose to do so. The differences that have been pointed out between Big Army & ANG are not entirely accurate. Nor did I say "different" was bad. I said that while claiming these differences you also allude to ANG as making less of a sacrifice is also inaccurate. However, ANG is NOT entirely seperate from Big Army...it is NOT it's own branch...IT IS ARMY!!! Deal with that, people! ANG IS A PART OF BIG ARMY! I really can not for the life of me understand why you continue to deny that. And yes, the Marines are under the Dept. of the Navy, however they are their own branch! If I'm going to blog about my husband and his service, I'm gonna know my facts and you should too! I'm not going to waste more comment space here pointing out and correcting the inaccuracies, but please feel free to email me and I will further educate you, so that in the future you can make well-educated arguments, rather than spouting off half-truths. (and this is directed to Anon., not Samantha. You said your peace and I'll leave it at that.)
I'm done with this.
I know quite a bit of Marine's and if I called them a soldier, they would probably slap me. Lol. They are MARINES. It's a big difference.
And going back and reading the past couple of posts, I get what Samantha was trying to say. And (army)wife, while YES, ANG is a PART of Big Army, it is it's own branch and not ENTIRELY the same thing. If you referred to a "Big Army" service member as a member of ANG, he would probably be offended. Does that diminish what your husband does? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Especially in this day and age, when we are at War, and everybody is fighting and deployed.
But at times of peace, the roles of Big Army and Army National Guard are totally different. Still "Army" ... but not the same.
I respect anyone who is in the military and fights day in and day out. But Airforce are Airmen. Marine's are Marines. Navy is Navy. Soldier are ARMY. It's not an all encompassing word. And if you call any of those other branches a Soldier ... even though they are all fighting the same war ... you are offending them and their branch of service.
first of all I am the hubby of samantha, an Active duty soldier who has been in the army for 7 years. I have proudly deployed next to gaurdsman and reservists an multiple occations. and they are proud to be just that. They know the different sacrifices that each service makes and know that all the services have different titles as well as slogans and little sayings such as hooah for us in the active army (SOLDIERS). It is not a disgracefull title being called a gaurdsman or reservist like I said before I have proudly served next to many of them in combat. At least they are doing there part by serving in one fasion or another. Be proud of your service member whether they are guardsman, reservist, soldiers, airmen, sailors or marines.
AWWWW... There goes my man weighin' in! I love him! :) I love the discussion ladies! Woooo hooo!
To make this all even more entertaining, this is (Army) Wife's husband. I have served for 10 years both on Active Duty and the National Guard. My first deployment was Active Duty, the second tour, which I am on now is
with a National Guard unit on active duty status. Within the United States Army, we have several different components. There is Active Duty component, by far the most deployed and highest OPTEMPO units. They and their families make a huge sacrifice moving around constantly, doing the PCS moves, and constantly being on alert for yet another
deployment. There is also the Reserve Component, comprised of the Army National Guard and the Army Reserves. Reserves are federally controlled and the National Guard is both federally and state controlled. Army
Reserves normally augment the "holes" in the Unit Manning Documents when an Active Duty Unit deploys or deploy CSS units. The Army National Guard, on the other hand, deploys groups anywhere from company level units through Brigade level units. I currently have Active Component soldiers in my company, yet my Brigade falls under the command of both
a historic and active duty division HQ. All of those components fall under the Department of the Army.
The Soldiers all attend the same Basic Training Schools, the same AIT schools, and the same training schools such as Airborne or Air Assault. We all live by the s
ame 7 fundamental values. We get paid by the same organization, DFAS. We all follow the orders of GEN Casey. We all use Tricare. We all wear the ACU uniform with tan leather boots. We all carry CAC cards. We all wear dog tags. We all shop at AAFES. We all have our nametapes with our name on one side and "US Army" over our heart. I suppose it's easiest to call the NG Soldiers when they are
deployed or activated, not so easy when they are working for a traditional weekend out of the month; especially while their active
duty counterpart is in a JRTC rotation during the one year reset before returning to theater. If I were working a full time job plus was in the guard and somebody asked me what I did for a living, (which has never
happened anyway) I would tell them a manager,or an engineer, or a
teacher, and I am in the National Guard. To only say I'm a Soldier, or a Guardsmen would be a lie. Honestly, I don't give a shit what you call me. I'll still get up and fight whenever and wherever I need to.
There is no question that the role of the Army National Guard and the Reserves has changed significantly over the past decade. During every armed conflict that this country has ever entered the reserve forces come in to step up our numbers and capabilities. I agree with the good NCO though that not for one instant do we worry over here about what
component we are currently assigned to. I wish you all would not either, (including (Army)Wife ;) )
Finally, I know that my wife is proud of me, I don't need her to say it. I love her very much. God Almighty, if she was not proud I would not be hearing about discussions like this by email... These blogs only afford the written word so we automatically become defensive and question "what if" s/he meant this? Well, everyone pull your dukes
down. We are all fighting as a team over here. Me (former Active Duty), my 1SG, (who is a former Marine), my mail clerk (who is a former
Sailor), and all the other awesome Soldiers from 4th ID and 1ST Cav, all Active Duty, who are over here fighting... again. Sorry folks I
know it sounded cool but I don't have any former Airmen. I have to go, thanks for reading.
WOW (ARMY (WIFE)'s Husband I agree with everything you just said. This is Samanthas husband again. You are right it is nice to know that our wifes are proud of us and I dont want to speak for you but I think it would be safe to say that we both are very greatfull for that. I especialy appreciate the comment about we are all fighting the same fight and as my wife has said while activated a gaurdsman or reservist are by all means soldiers but when they get deactivated they return to gaurdsman and reservists. Throughout the military we all poke fun at one another. marines are called jar heads, gaurdsman are called nasty girl or weekend warriors so on and so on but the truth is when push comes to shove that is all in fun and games. If it came down to it I would have a fellow service members back regardless of what service they decided to join. I think that there is enough fighting going on where we are so we should all agree to disagree on this. Army) Wife's husband I dont know where you are in Iraq but you mentioned the 4th ID. I am in the 4th Id and am also around a bunch of gaurdsman. Where in Iraq are you stationed?
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