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"George P. Bush joins the Naval Reserve:"

29 Comments -

1 – 29 of 29
Anonymous ben tillman said...

Is Jeb that stupid? His son can't possibly be no. 44; he's too young. How about something like "47"?

6/2/07, 6:04 AM

Blogger Luke said...

You're not 42 yet? How young are you Steve?

6/2/07, 7:53 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, good point- how old are you Steve? This post btw is the reason I'm checking this site constantly. There are only a fe wpeople ZI search out on the web 1. Sailer 2. Derbyshire 3. Steyn 4. Coulter 5. Nordlinger 6. War Nerd

keep up the good work. Dan

6/2/07, 8:49 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ben, it is George W's nickname so yes he is that stupid.

Luke, most of the post was an email from a reader.

6/2/07, 10:42 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

As someone asked on another thread...does George P Bush hold dual citizenship with Mexico?

Can anyone with a knowledge of Mexican law weigh in, please (his mother is Mexican).

6/2/07, 3:44 PM

Anonymous Dave said...

I wonder if the Naval Reserve part-time OCS your reader mentions is similar to the the Army Reserve's version. You can also attend OCS in the Army Reserve over two two-week active duty sessions and 12 monthly drills, but:

1) This is only available to previous enlistees (who have already attended months of basic training and advanced individualized training).

2) Newly commissioned officers still need to spend several months on active duty for their Officer Basic Course (training in their branch -- infantry, intelligence, etc.).

Also, in the Army Reserve and National Guard, one isn't usually guaranteed a specific branch -- you can pick three preferences instead.

BTW, as someone who played high school football (poorly) and went through Army basic training around the same time, I'd say the pre-season high school football training (two-a-days) was physically more demanding.

6/2/07, 4:10 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its not Steve who is 42, its 'a reader'.

6/2/07, 5:26 PM

Anonymous Mark said...

I've a friend who's been in the Naval Reserves for going on 15 years. In spite of the fact that we've been at war now for almost 6 of those, he has yet to be called up to active duty.

When I heard that "P" was joining the Naval Reserves, I thought the same thing your reader did.

But what the hell: it worked for his unlce, didn't it?

6/2/07, 6:42 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This piece and the commentary Steve posted, which was authored by someone with no apparent credentials to discuss the topic, pisses me off.

First, there is no organization in the US military called the "Naval Reserve." It's the Navy Reserve, and there is little that is easy about the job of the Navy (Reserve Component) officer. I should note that we are legally entitled to give our affiliation as US Navy. Example: Bob Smith, LT, USN. This is because we will serve extensively alongside our active duty brethren during our careers and be called to perform to the same standards they do.

If anything, the demands on us and on our families are beyond those experienced by the active component Sailors.

We have to advance as best we can in our civilian careers knowing that we can be dragged out at any time -- as many of my shipmates have been -- to serve in the chaos going on in the Persian Gulf. We have disproportionately (to the active component) been tasked with some of the nastier jobs, and are shoehorned into roles for which we have little training. The combat preparation courses (sometimes tagged "combat survivability" classes, which I think is a more colorful name) are a sad joke. Individual Augmentation -- a scary euphemism for getting sent around the world with a bunch of people you never met -- is being foisted on Reserve Component members above the rates of active Sailors. Some of the fun jobs you might win as an officer in the IA lottery include Convoy Leader and Combat Supply officer. On the ground. With the Army. No you weren't trained for this.

Your snotty correspondent manages to cram contempt for the basic instruction of Navy (Reserve Component) INTEL officers, without really seeming to know much about the topic.

There is not an officer out there who isn't aware of the shortcomings of the education provided in these disciplines, but again, the course is likely not as easy as you think.

I am not an INTEL officer, but in my community, we spend one-and-a-half years between correspondence courses and in-person instruction before we are qualified. This was basically the equivalent of earning a graduate degree, and I should know, as I have two (most of the 25-odd members of my class had at least as many as this, and one member had a PhD). I have heard time and again that the Reserve course -- while having exactly the same content as Active -- is MUCH more challenging, since the student must motivate himself and direct his own studies.

From my many conversations with INTEL peers, this holds true with them as well.

As for drilling, we have to go to crappy, crumbling facilities, in many cases, and ensure our troops meet virtually unobtainable training goals. We do this with no money and no resources.

Oh, and we are LITERALLY dying over there. A close shipmate of mine was killed in a rocket attack, while a large cadre of Reserve Component SeaBees was injured (a few killed IIRC) by rocket.

I didn’t see the Simpsons, the League of Women Voters or your armchair admiral in the casualty lists.

And what does the following quotation from your correspondent even mean? S/he says "the Army is the only service that lets lawyers serve as JAG officers without already having served active duty."

Umm, bullcrap.

The Navy commissions JAG officers who have no prior service. Pretty sure all branches of service do.

http://www.jag.navy.mil/Careers/CareersHowToApply3.htm

Don’t let your contempt for George P. Bush tarnish Reserve Component officers. We get enough crap from the Navy – you know, stuff like mobilizations and other little things like that – without having to hear baloney like you served up here.

Anonymous, LT, USN

6/2/07, 7:08 PM

Anonymous Mark said...

I didn’t see the Simpsons, the League of Women Voters or your armchair admiral in the casualty lists.

And not too many officers from the "US Navy Reserve," either. None yet this year so far as I can tell. (Don't go to that link unless you're prepared to cry.) Practically all of the deaths, in fact, are either from the Army or Marines.

I can understand your defensiveness, but I don't see contempt for the Navy Reserves in that post so much as I see contempt for the Bush family. Face it: given the data at hand, George P couldn't have chosen a service where he's less likely to get called up and less likely to die. Gee - kinda reminds me of one of his uncles.

News flash, Jeb and George W and George P: your family dynasty is over. It was destroyed by the mindboggling incompetence and corruption of the current president. No Bush will ever again be seriously considered for national office. Perhaps P thinks he can run in Florida because its Hispanic. But middle-class white Republicans won't have him in their party, and left-wing white Dems won't have him in theirs.

6/3/07, 12:24 AM

Anonymous Fred said...

Anonymous LT reminds me a little of Chris Eigeman's naval officer character, Fred Boynton, in Whit Stillman's movie Barcelona:

Fred: You think I went into the Navy because I washed out at Shearson?

Ted [Fred's cousin]: I don't know what happened in New York.

Fred: I didn't wash out. There was no disgrace. They said I could go back.

I dreaded years stuck indoors with two weeks to go snorkeling annually.

A Naval officer has the rare job that deals with the physical world all day, and it counts.

It is not theoretical.

You dominate the elements
in four dimensions without a slip-up -- or it gets very wet.

And all that fighting for freedom,
defending democracy, shining city on a hill stuff -- which as you know, I really buy.

6/3/07, 12:43 AM

Anonymous jedster said...

Yeah this is pretty retarded stuff.

First off, the family nickname for George Prescott Bush is rumored to be 45. Jeb's is 44.

Second off, a friend of mine is a reserve officer. About three months ago he was sent to Iraq. He's still there.

6/3/07, 2:17 AM

Blogger the wily marmot said...

Second off, a friend of mine is a reserve officer. About three months ago he was sent to Iraq. He's still there.

But is your friend in the Navy Reserve? That's what this whole dumb thread is about. When George P. "The Stalker" Bush runs for office we can carefully deconstruct his combat record, or lack thereof.

BTW, the guy with the best combat record in the current race (Duncan Hunter) is close to invisible.

6/3/07, 9:58 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The previous commentator mangled the Simpson's line, as it was the "Mississippi National Guard" deploying along with the League of Womens' Voters.

Too bad, as the Missisppi National Guard's largest formation, the Army Guard's 155th Armored Brigade, already served a combat tour in Iraq. A Minnesota National Guard unit (Army's 1-34 BCT) is currently serving just about the single longest combat tour of *any* reserve component over in Iraq. Oops.

The Navy Reserve gig "P" wrangled is about the easiest freaking thing to do in the militar. Unlce W will deploy Miami Cub Scout Pack #437 before his happy ass goes anywhere.

6/3/07, 10:05 AM

Anonymous josh said...

If Steve joined up,they could call him 'sailor Sailer'!You know,kind of like Major Major! :D

6/3/07, 1:16 PM

Anonymous Rohan Swee said...

The noblesse just aren't as obligeing as they used to be.

Well, I, too, used to deplore the fact that our elites no longer share the burden of military duty, as was common in the past. However, presented more and more with commentary like that in, say, this recent post on the Borjas blog, and recognizing what Our Betters would like to implement for our moral improvement, I'm beginning to think that perhaps it's a very good thing that they be alienated to as far a distance as possible from our military class. (At least, I hope that the class in possession of our powers of organized violence hasn't adopted the same vapid tranzi utilitarian ethics...)

6/3/07, 1:20 PM

Anonymous James Kabala said...

There's no doubt that JFK was one of the great sexual pigs of all time, but his military service was honorable. Due to his back problems, he probably could have gotten out of having to serve at all. He is believed to have been originally rejected by the Army for that very reason. His older brother, of course, not only fought but also died in the war.

6/3/07, 1:49 PM

Anonymous James Kabala said...

Also, it was Steve's correspondent who claimed to be under 42, not Steve himself.

6/3/07, 1:51 PM

Blogger pt said...

OK,

I'm late to the game here, but I have to speak to this...

"And what does the following quotation from your correspondent even mean? S/he says "the Army is the only service that lets lawyers serve as JAG officers without already having served active duty."
Umm, bullcrap.
The Navy commissions JAG officers who have no prior service. Pretty sure all branches of service do. "

OK this means an officer that enters the service as a NEW JAG does not have to serve 4 years on active duty before s/he gets dropped to the reserves. The "correspondent" was correct in stating the Army is the only service nasty enough to let officers follow a straight to reserve track.

==========================

"If anything, the demands on us and on our families are beyond those experienced by the active component Sailors"

Ahhh, no. Two words, training cycle. While the demands on activated reservists are equal to deployed active duty troops, the active duty guys don't get to come home and do the ruck-sack flop. They get plugged right back into the training cycle, weeks away from the fam in the field, or at sea.

===========================

As for who's pulling their weight and eating more than their share of the sh!+ sandwich that is the Bushs' Iraq. I say ANYONE who goes.

In that context I think you can see the point of this article was to target those trying to affiliate themselves with honorable service members who answer the call, while simultaneously avoiding the risk and sacrifice. And this article was SPOT ON!

As a Marine Corps veteran, about to become an attorney I too am sick to freakin' death of these a-holes milking the blood from those of us in the military middle class. They think they can compromise our commitment to our principles with financial comforts. I have faith that we will return to our roots. And when we do ...

===========================

6/3/07, 3:38 PM

Blogger pt said...

BTW, I spent last summer in D.C. with a speech writer for one of the Bush camps. The inside scoop was, Jeb hates W with a passion. They rarely coordinated and there were strict orders not to refer to the White House/W in any speech, ever, no clearance would be granted. The strongest indictment of W I've ever heard!

6/3/07, 3:41 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I bet there are more Hispanics serving in combat in the U.S. military than there are white nationalists.

6/3/07, 4:20 PM

Anonymous jedster said...

the wily marmot:

yes, he's in the navy reserve. i thought that was clear from the context, but see that i forgot to spell it out. anyway, he signed up after 9/11 and is lawyer. he's assigned to a prison in iraq.

6/3/07, 7:03 PM

Anonymous Mark said...

I bet there are more Hispanics serving in combat in the U.S. military than there are white nationalists.

And I bet there are more whites serving in combat in the US military than there are hispanics who've played ina amriachi band. So what the hell's your point?

If, by "white nationalist," you mean members of some particular group or other, or you mean folks who specifically identify as "white nationalist" ideologically, then I bet you're right. If you mean there are more hispanics than there are whites who oppose amnesty or who want to reduce immigration, then you're snorting some of that stuff they grow in Colombia.

6/3/07, 7:47 PM

Comment deleted

This comment has been removed by the author.

6/3/07, 8:19 PM

Anonymous Mark said...

There's no doubt that JFK was one of the great sexual pigs of all time, but his military service was honorable. Due to his back problems, he probably could have gotten out of having to serve at all. He is believed to have been originally rejected by the Army for that very reason.

Upperclass men of the WW2 Era knew - knew - that to have any chance of achieving position or rank in the postwar years they would have to serve their country. I think it's just that simple. Would JFK ever have become president if he'd gotten out of duty as 4F? He barely "won" as it was.

The same could probably be said for men of the Civil War era.

It's still fair to say that in both of those wars that, disproportionately, the best men never walked off the batttlefield.

Vietnam, however, was different. It was something like 90% of young men "of age" who didn't go - especially the college kids.

6/3/07, 8:33 PM

Anonymous Mark said...

The inside scoop was, Jeb hates W with a passion.

Jeb was always rumored to be the smarter of the two brothers. After three generations, the Bush family dynasty is finished. Most Republicans thought the elder Bush suffered from bad luck, running for re-election during a recession. Today we all realize that while gladhanding is a Bush family trait, managerial incompetence and verbal ineloquence are, too.

My guess is that Jeb probably wouldn't have done a much better job than his brother. He seems equally averse to taking real political risk. He seems equally invested in the multiculti agenda - or even more so (look at his wife.)

Many states, including Texas and California, have created plans that guarantee a college spot at any state institution to anyone from the state who graduates in the top 10% of their high school class. When Jeb tried to eliminate affirmative action in Florida he doubled that, making it 20%.

And, of course, he's been a big, huge supporter of open borders.

Based on what I've seen, Jeb might've been more competent at getting an amnesty passed. But that's not the kind of competence anyone should want. Maybe that's why he's ticked off at Bro.

6/3/07, 8:47 PM

Blogger Toy-a-saurus said...

You have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to Naval Reserve Intelligence. Did you know that NO branch of the naval reserve is more likely to be mobilized to a combat zone? In fact, it's hitting a point where within the next year, we will have mobilized everyone possible, and started to have mobilized folks for a second tour! The only places we've sent these folks over the last to years have been combat zones, as well.

10/16/07, 9:39 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

the old days of the "knife and fork" direct commission school for Staff Officers (i.e., doctors, nurses, lawyers, chaplains and intel-types) are over -- I am a former enlisted sailor and used to see these new officer candidates being marched and run around NAVSTA Newport back in 2007. The instructors are all ball-breaking petty officers who take their training role very seriously. Sure, it's not BUDS hell week, but it's a far cry from the old days where all they did was teach these guys to salute and dress.

5/24/11, 7:34 AM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lots of merit to this thread. You could be a true, operational idiot in the Navy Reserve, but as long as you keep your record looking good, you'll be promoted at every step.

7/12/12, 7:40 PM

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