Reply to Can someone explain the wealthy military officer phenomenon?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It’s because the taxpayer funds a huge portion of their expenses (housing while on base, no down payment for Va loans, the list goes on). Welfare queens to the max[/quote]

+1. Even one of Reagan's hires (Stockdale, I think his name may be) wrote a book a few years ago describing the US military as socialistic. But if you dare question it, you're labeled a "communist" or worse. DH has several retired military in his family, and when they start bragging about their free health care and whatnot at Thanksgiving, I say "you're welcome."   [/quote]

Maybe when the conversation turns to the safe and free society we live in, your retired military family members can turn to you and say, “You’re welcome.” 
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Oh, they do, at every turn. [/quote]

Good, I’m glad you are making sure to thank them for their service.

You are thanking them, right, and that’s why they’re saying, “You’re welcome”?

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Thanking them for their service is cringe. They didn’t do it for you.[/quote]

This.

The elephant in the room is that many people join or stay in the military because it is their best (financial ) option.

That is not politically correct but it is true. (That is why they use bonuses to get them to re-up, not flags or the constitution!)

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Come on. That's not true. Of all the officers that got to retirement there isn't a single one I know that did it for a paycheck. Many easier careers that don't totally burn your family and regularly puts you at risk. [/quote]

My spouse and I both got out at 8 (dual military, both service academy graduates).  The majority of our former peers that we know that are staying in until retirement are…very average. Many of them were open about staying in until retirement simply to get retirement pay. Nice people, but very average in intellect, skill, and ambition. This label is true for both the ROTC graduates and the service academy graduates that we know; only OCS and prior service officers defy this trend in my experience. They definitely don’t have many options for stable pay and benefits at the level that they have in the military, although laughably more than a few have commented that they could have been “CEO level” if they had gotten out pre or post company command. [b]Their wives are also to this day, even post GWOT era, the most into the “I am a military spouse! Thank me and my family! We serve too!” culture, way more than the enlisted wives that I knew. [/b]There are of course exceptions to every generalization. A small minority are exceptional. 
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To be fair, officers' wives are typically more educated (like attracts like), so they do sacrifice more than the high school grad who marries her first boyfriend right after he graduates from basic. For the latter, the military lifestyle is a step up. For the former, it's forfeiting what could have been. [/quote]

That’s a really interesting point that I hadn’t considered.

Your observation actually makes a lot of sense and explains the persistent, perceived sense of entitlement that I saw from so many officers’ wives.

Although, lol, [b]I think maybe some of the wives are as delusional about their forfeited potential as their “I could have been CEO of a Fortune 500 company” officer husbands who choose to stay in until retirement. [/b][/quote]

+1 DP here.  From what I have seen, military wives have an elevated lifestyle, compared to what they would otherwise have (had they not married an officer).  Burial in Arlington Cemetery, for one. [b]She would have had that being a teacher?[/b] [/quote]
This comment is so obnoxious.  1) there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a teacher and 2) officer wives tend to also be high achieving...like attracts like. The majority of officers we know have very highly educated wives.

For people complaining that officer wives act entitled, you sure aren't very down to earth with your dig at teachers![/quote]

Is it possible that your experience is valid and also not representative of all people’s experiences?

I believe you when you describe the people that you know. I have learned from you and I have adjusted my opinion to incorporate your insightful observation. But can you consider that other people have conflicting anecdotal experiences that can be equally valid?

Especially since each person’s experience with and opinion on this subjective topic will be strongly influenced by their personal career, their spouse’s career, their personal definitions of high achieving and highly educated, the branch of service, the duty stations lived on, the units served in, the specific military jobs performed, their generation (as another poster incisively posited), their year group, etc.

If you talk about the people you know, and I talk about the people I know, and others talk about the people they know, as long as we all keep adding qualifiers to our observations (and accept the limitations of dialogue with anonymous people on an internet forum) then we can gain greater insight from each other.

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No. You made a dig at just being a teacher. You were being a jerk and nothing I added is new info to you. Just own you made a jerky comment and stop the word salad. [/quote]

Actually that wasn’t me. I was the poster that preceded the teacher post.  I commented about your like attracts like observation, which I thought was good. [/quote]

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