Are you friends with military families?

[Anonymous]

Makes no difference to me. We live in the Franconia area and there are tons of military families. Our kids go to the same schools, play on the same sports teams and walk their dogs in the same neighborhood. While we're not besties, we list each other on the school emergency forms and arrange rides for the kids. Being in the military is really no different than if they were feds or contractors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried but it didn't work because their children were aggresive and used violence when my child interacted with them. Their parents didn't bother to stop them.

All children of military are issued mini-Glocks at birth and are trained killing machines. None of us are liberal, intellectual, or peace-loving people, as none of our parents joined for the educational and travel opportunities open to military.

?! This entire thread is a little bizarre. The generalizations are so funny.

Yes it is.....I was raised by a military dad and do not own a gun and probably never will own one. I have shot off a few but it has been over 10 years since I have done that.

Grow up people and quit generalizing everything. There is hundreds of millions of people in the US.

[Anonymous]

Some of us are hardly exposed at all to millitary personnel despite there being many in the greater DC area. I would enjoy meeting more but we live in a gentrifying area of DC and I literally cannot think of a single millitary, LEO or firefighter family in our neighborhood or elementary school. Must be some around but not many. Forgive me if this is an inaccurate stereotype but it seems to me that almost all people with millitary and LEO type jobs live in the suburbs and millitary specifically live in NoVa. Would be happy to have more around here but they don't choose it.

[Anonymous]

I'm an over-educated Liberal, who listens to NPR in her hybrid. (For reals)

My beloved BIL was an Army capitan and several other family members are career. I count many other members of our armed services as good friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried but it didn't work because their children were aggresive and used violence when my child interacted with them. Their parents didn't bother to stop them.

All children of military are issued mini-Glocks at birth and are trained killing machines. None of us are liberal, intellectual, or peace-loving people, as none of our parents joined for the educational and travel opportunities open to military.

?! This entire thread is a little bizarre. The generalizations are so funny.

That was the point. I thought it was funny.

I got that. It's like people think those in the military are from outer space or something. People in the military - both officer and enlisted - come from all walks of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they aren't all hung-up on rank.

Our neighborhood military are officers and depending on the particular families currently residing, there's a pecking order.

Very much a pecking order. When I was dating my husband, who was a higher ranking enlisted at the time, I went to a picnic with him. He left me for a minute and a bunch of the officer's wife came over to say hello. What should have been friendly, was a lecture about how I should marry him so I can use his benefits to get my education. They were rambling on and on about how its too bad enlisted wives are not educated and more. Finally when they let me speak I told them I did have a master's and had no interest in going back to school. The irony is he did what they said and got his education in a field that was well paying and is now doing better than their husband's who had random degrees in nothing.

What's your degree in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know any, so no.

this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Officer families - yes, enlisted families - no.

My dad is a retired three star General. My DH left the Army as a full Colonel to join the Feds. I am so thankful my dad raised us not to view our enlisted and NCO service members as "less than". I spent most of my adult life taking care of our youngest military families. Our young enlisted troops are the ones doing the really hard work. They are tomorrow's leaders. Our NCOs are leaders who spend their days training and developing enlisted AND young officers. If you have chosen to eliminate them as possible friends, I assure you - You are the one missing out.

If your dad was a General, you were not hanging out, outside school with enlisted families.

first statement is true, second statement is not.

[Anonymous]

This is such an odd set of reactions!

I'm a military spouse, also of a military physician (who was prior service before med school, too). We're both lefty academics who had a gender-based Bernie/Hillary split in the praries.

Outside of military events where people wear uniforms, we just go as ourselves to events and social occasions. How would we even know someone else's rank out of uniform? There are tens of thousands of soldiers based here; we don't know most of them.

I find it hard to make friends period. I'm not a social butterfly type person. And when I know a move is a year or less away, I tend to give up. I don't blame other people for not wanting to invest a ton of time in us when they have preexisting local friends and family. I also anticipate my kids' heartache when we move, and it's hard to not try to keep them from getting too attached, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they aren't all hung-up on rank.

Our neighborhood military are officers and depending on the particular families currently residing, there's a pecking order.

Very much a pecking order. When I was dating my husband, who was a higher ranking enlisted at the time, I went to a picnic with him. He left me for a minute and a bunch of the officer's wife came over to say hello. What should have been friendly, was a lecture about how I should marry him so I can use his benefits to get my education. They were rambling on and on about how its too bad enlisted wives are not educated and more. Finally when they let me speak I told them I did have a master's and had no interest in going back to school. The irony is he did what they said and got his education in a field that was well paying and is now doing better than their husband's who had random degrees in nothing.

What's your degree in?

Its a real one from a good school. And, I had a good job at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Officer families - yes, enlisted families - no.

My dad is a retired three star General. My DH left the Army as a full Colonel to join the Feds. I am so thankful my dad raised us not to view our enlisted and NCO service members as "less than". I spent most of my adult life taking care of our youngest military families. Our young enlisted troops are the ones doing the really hard work. They are tomorrow's leaders. Our NCOs are leaders who spend their days training and developing enlisted AND young officers. If you have chosen to eliminate them as possible friends, I assure you - You are the one missing out.

If your dad was a General, you were not hanging out, outside school with enlisted families.

first statement is true, second statement is not.

The enlisted do all the crap work. They aren't tomorrow's leaders because they are not encouraged or able to become officers as many don't go in with college degrees. Officers go on and on about getting degrees but most went directly through college and then into the military whereas enlisted only have a high school diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is such an odd set of reactions!

I'm a military spouse, also of a military physician (who was prior service before med school, too). We're both lefty academics who had a gender-based Bernie/Hillary split in the praries.

Outside of military events where people wear uniforms, we just go as ourselves to events and social occasions. How would we even know someone else's rank out of uniform? There are tens of thousands of soldiers based here; we don't know most of them.

I find it hard to make friends period. I'm not a social butterfly type person. And when I know a move is a year or less away, I tend to give up. I don't blame other people for not wanting to invest a ton of time in us when they have preexisting local friends and family. I also anticipate my kids' heartache when we move, and it's hard to not try to keep them from getting too attached, too.

If you've been in long enough, you know. My husband usually knows. If I see a doc, he'll ask me (I have no clue the ranks and he usually can guess right).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they aren't all hung-up on rank.

Our neighborhood military are officers and depending on the particular families currently residing, there's a pecking order.

Very much a pecking order. When I was dating my husband, who was a higher ranking enlisted at the time, I went to a picnic with him. He left me for a minute and a bunch of the officer's wife came over to say hello. What should have been friendly, was a lecture about how I should marry him so I can use his benefits to get my education. They were rambling on and on about how its too bad enlisted wives are not educated and more. Finally when they let me speak I told them I did have a master's and had no interest in going back to school. The irony is he did what they said and got his education in a field that was well paying and is now doing better than their husband's who had random degrees in nothing.

What's your degree in?

Its a real one from a good school. And, I had a good job at the time.

So why do you write like a 16-year-old?

[Anonymous]

This is the oddest thread with a bunchbof posters who obviously have no or limited experience with military families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Officer families - yes, enlisted families - no.

My dad is a retired three star General. My DH left the Army as a full Colonel to join the Feds. I am so thankful my dad raised us not to view our enlisted and NCO service members as "less than". I spent most of my adult life taking care of our youngest military families. Our young enlisted troops are the ones doing the really hard work. They are tomorrow's leaders. Our NCOs are leaders who spend their days training and developing enlisted AND young officers. If you have chosen to eliminate them as possible friends, I assure you - You are the one missing out.

If your dad was a General, you were not hanging out, outside school with enlisted families.

first statement is true, second statement is not.

The enlisted do all the crap work. They aren't tomorrow's leaders because they are not encouraged or able to become officers as many don't go in with college degrees. Officers go on and on about getting degrees but most went directly through college and then into the military whereas enlisted only have a high school diploma.

There are many many enlisted commissioning programs. You don't know what you're talking about. Plus, there are a surprising number of enlisted personnel with college degrees. This is the Vietnam era service any more.