The commander of a Vermont-based Army recruiting station issued a public apology this afternoon for the remarks made by a soldier there on an inflammatory, viral blog post written by that soldier’s wife that sent the online spouse community into a whirlwind.
“You are correct about wives not being under the prevue of the command. I assure you that the Soldier in question is,” Cpt. Allan-Jay Catindig, commander of the Burlington, Vt. based recruiting station wrote in a message on Facebook. “There has been a face to face counseling session with this Soldier as to the responsibilities of the freedoms and rights that our Constitution has so given to this Nation.”
The blog post, which appeared on the blog “Army Wife, Army Life,” gave a list of reasons why National Guardsmen are not real soldiers and why their spouses are not real Army wives. Her reasons, which we detailed and discussed here and here, included her perceptions of the Guards’ deployment tempo and claims of PTSD issues. She has since edited her blog to remove some of her previous claims as well as all past posts and photos of herself and her family.
Update: Since this post went live the blogger appears to have completely killed her site.
The problem with the soldier, however, started when he responded publically on the post to the spouse community’s lash back. The 417 word comment, which has since been removed from the post, both defended her right to say what she wants as a private citizen and her opinions on the Guard verses Active Army distinctions.
“What most of you don’t understand, since you are National Guard, related to one, or married to one, is that it really bothers any active duty, full time, regular Army soldier to be compared to National Guard,” he wrote. “Most people do not know who we are, or what the Regular Army is about. A lot of people actually believe the National Guard is the one and only army for the U.S. This is a huge pet peeve of mine and I make sure to educate people who think this. My wife was doing the same thing by writing the blog, in a ranting kind of way.”
While the soldier was correct that his spouse has the freedom to say what she wants, he misunderstood his right to do the same, Catindig wrote. Catindig assured Guard members that the opinions on the blog were not the opinions of the recruiting station.
“In response to your concern, I would truly like to say this is not the command climate that we pursue nor agree with. We respect and honor all military personnel with whom we serve that has stood and swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We are all brothers and sisters in arms,” he wrote. “We apologize for the actions that one person has brought it up on himself, and we want to ensure you that this is NOT the actions or the climate of this command.”
About Amy Bushatz
Comments
Rock. On.
ALL branches of the Military should be considered "REAL". As a spouse of a National Guard soldier, I know the sacrifices our family has made and the critical role our National Guard has played overseas. I assure you the two deployments my husband and our family has survived in the past 6 years were "REAL". Let's all stick together, you would think she would understand what we all have gone through as military wives. We all share this in common and know how difficult it can be at times, why look down on any other branch of service?
I have read some of or most of these comments. So National Guard wifes do feel this. They are not informed or in the loop of things. If they new the real history of the Army National Guard. Perhaps they would be more supportive. If you look back to 1636. The first Army Units were Army National Guard units The Militia. Two of the first Army Units and history says this was the 182d Infantry and the 101st Engineers. Both units are from the state of Massachusetts. Everyone has hird of the battles of Lexington and Concord. These units were there and the first US Army units in history and National Guard units.
Gosh, I thought we all were Americans in this together.
They both sound like idiots. Whether National Guardsman or Regular Army Soldiers we all serve the great country and have shed blood to defend and protect it…
Interesting….. I served both active duty and National guardsman and enjoyed both tremendously. If she studied her history, it was the state militia which defeated Great Britain and gave us our freedom as a country. We are all one team, whether full time or part time. let us not forget that if it was not for National Guard/Reserve soldiers augmenting our full time troops. we would be in worse shape that we are
I guess she forgot what she does reflects on her husband. We all have free speech rights. Sad to see her husband called to the carpet for his wife's "lack of judgement."
Hubby wasn't called to the carpet for his wife's actions, he was called to the carpet for his actions. Re-read the article. To quote what you apparently missed "The problem with the soldier, however, started when he responded publically on the post to the spouse community’s lash back." It was the content of his post that got him called out. Had he posted in a professional manner, he would have been fine. However, he chose to post like an idiot.
it just PISSES them off that we can do our jobs better than them, and state side we're only part time. our unit transported something like 500,000 tons of cargo on our last deployment in iraq. we never had to change a tire. we never had a vehicle break down. but convoys would have to stop ALL the time because some active duty unit in front or behind didn't do their proper PMCS or daily shop maintenance or something. our mechanics busted their ASSES working 24/7. we had an awesome chief and a good first sgt. our unit followed our SOPs to the letter and EVERYONE came home safe. the THEATER command sgt major came to tell our commander that they were going to be looking at our unit and what we were doing that was different because we were the only battalion that never got hit. there'd be units in front or behind that would get hit but never us. i guess you have to be blown up or break down or get a flat tire cause you drove over something you shouldn't have to be 'real'… maybe active duty soldiers should look up the word real? I THINK a REAL soldier is one that can get the job done RIGHT and come home SAFE. shit the army got a real bargain on us. we did the job just the same and we got paid less too!
You are fostering exactly the same attitude this chicks husband did, only from the other side of the fence. The POINT is that you're all military. A REAL soldier wouldn't have a need to boast about how much better they are than someone else. Sad. Truly sad.
I had posted a response to the blog this morning, and a few hours later all the comments had been deleted.
If you don't believe that Guard/Reserve troops are really in the military, that's fine. But when you post it on a military-themed blog you need to expect to take some heat. I respect her right to say what she feels but she needs to understand that Guard/Reserve troops are going to speak their minds.
Right or wrong, what a milspouse does will get back to the command and could make the troop's life rather miserable.
It wasn't even so much what SHE said, it was the fact that he had responded to the comments on her post and even created a separate blog post to defend her internet honor, back up what she said and then even called the people of Vermont ignorant for not knowing that there was a "real" Army because apparently they all think that the NG is the only Army. Like the last 10 years of war haven't educated anyone on anything military.
Had he reserved comment, he wouldn't have gotten a counseling. He made his own life miserable. This is along the same lines of a post not too long ago where someone in the military went to a political rally in uniform and while I don't remember the details, he wasn't exactly representing the military in a positive light. I do feel sorry that this happened so close to her due date and is most likely making her last days of pregnancy terrible when they should be starry eyed and wishing their little bundle would just come already while nesting feverishly , but this is how we learn. Unfortunately, she had to learn the extremely hard way.
She knew she was going to catch heat, hence her little preface about her freedom of speech, so she should have considered her little bundle of joy before she opened her mouth to insert her foot. She was also a hypocrite with the whole uniform thing, when she posted a picture of herself in his uniform with a pink belt added. I loved the picture, thought it was adorable for a maternity shot, but don't sit there telling us not to wear the uniform while you are doing it yourself.
Her husband, on the other hand… well, let's just say, I think his counseling should be followed with a version of probation. He is an NCO, he is supposed to be a LEADER, represent the Army, and show civilians why they should join the Army (and if they don't want to be Active, he shold be encouraging of them to join the Reserves or National Guard and refer them to the appropriate recruiter for that status if he isn't supposed to do it himself since he's an Active Duty recruiter). If this is his attitude, I don't see how he can do his job effeciently and think he should be released.
I'm so glad the "real Army" took this seriously and the "real Soldier" got a "real counseling" . Really.
Now, I'm off to make a fake dinner for my fake Army family if my fake Soldier gets home in time from his fake Army job. (gee, I hope the paycheck isn't going to be fake, and my Tricare isn't going to be fake too. That would suck)
I guess my fake soldier should be home anytime now since he shouldn't be deployed again…he wasn't home for 4 years.
It's also too bad the fake soldiers had to all fight in the real Iraq and the real Afghanistan, and it really sucks for fake soldiers who suffered real injuries and even real death. And really sucks for the fake Army wives who are left. :(
I want to just embrace every single one of the Army wives that this article has hurt. The wives left behind when our husbands deploy. The wives who arrive Walter Reed. The ones who arrive at Dover. All military wives. The Soldiers who miss births, graduations, marriages. The Soldiers who are not there when their parent or sibling passes away, when their marriage falls apart, when their children get ill and the Soldiers who come home, but never really come home whole. ALL Soldiers.
Her words – swiftly and without thought – told entire groups of people that their sacrifice in service to our Country wasn't up to snuff.
Guess my fake soldier and I should remain home instead of going to our fake Army and Air Force jobs too so that our children don't have to stay at home for the weekend with their babysitter who only babysits for reasons that are fake. Or is my babysitter fake too?
Apparently they're both extremely insecure and childish if they felt the need to write all that. They wouldn't have done so if they didn't feel threatened by the attention/respect that National Guard servicemembers and their families receive (and earn). It's pretty pathetic, really.
The only people truly hurt by their words are themselves. Good luck to that "real" soldier with his career in the "real" army now that this mess is on his record.
Ironically: last night she had 31 followers on her blog. This morning she had 140+. I guess she made her point and got people interested :( So happy to see the command up there taking action on this blatant disrespect for soldiers serving in any capacity.
Either that, or people like watching a car wreck and are only following to see what other trouble she gets herself in to!
She is entitled to her opinion, whether people like it or not. It is her blog site and she has the right to say whatever it is she wants to. Why is it so terrible that she expressed her opinion? (rhetorical question there) I can tell you why, it's because people disagree with her and took it personally. If I took everything that was ever said negatively about me personally, I'd crawl in a hole and never come out. Clearly, both sides have their own views and opinions. Let's not get our panties in a wad over what one person says. As for her husbands comment, which I did not read all of, (cause it's all so trivial) at least he came to her defense and stood by her side. Instead of throwing her under the bus. You don't have to like or agree with what they say, but why let one person's opinions and comments effect you so negatively. If you don't believe what she says to be true, then don't get all pissed off about it. I do have to admit, that this drama right here, is why I stay to myself or make friends outside of they "army wife" circle. While I do still have friends who are Military Wives, of all branches (NG and AR included) I have been very cautious in making friendship making and believe that I have surrounded myself with women and men, who are positive and uplifting.
I'll say this again. It wasn't that she expressed her opinion. It's that she did it with so much venom and denigrated an entire group of people.
There's a reason why people are upset, just like there's a reason that racial slurs and insults are upsetting. Take a peek at Lowe's facebook page in regards to them pulling advertising from the "All American Muslim" tv show. It was disheartening how many people showed their fangs and true colors. Absolutely people are entitled to their opinion no matter how vile it is, but putting that vitriol online for the world to see is disgusting and if she didn't want to deal with the backlash, she should have kept her opinion to herself. "If you have nothing nice to say….."
You can't tell me that it's not ok for an african american / hispanic / indian / asian / etc to be upset if someone's opinion is a negative stereotype and posted in public with obviously hateful words. The group of people it targets makes no difference, it's still singling out one group of people and putting them down for no reason other than to make ones self feel better.
You are exactly right, she is entitled to her opinion. But her opinion is based on what?? Not facts.. All of the sudden a civilian marry's a soldier hasn't even been married a year to that soldier and now she thinks she know's everything about how civilian spouse should act or how the system works when it comes to deployment. She should have kept those opinions to herself till she actually, had some deployment time under her belt. I served as in the "Regular" Army and The Reserves and as an AGR soldier, I am also, married to a retired soldier, so I pretty much can say how all those systems work.
Are you living my life? I started as RA, went USAR due to pregnancy, then went AGR (married another RA while RA, got divorced shortly after going AGR) and got married again to a Soldier after I got out. I won't touch ARNG because I had enough of an issue with confusing regs between RA and USAR and was warned that for ARNG it is even more confusing with reg variations on top of 'answering to two masters' and I have to bow down to those ARNG personnel that can keep all of that straight enough to be able to complete their missions.
It’s kinda funny you say don’t take it personally but you are obviously guilty of taking the replies to her blog personally or you would not of taken the time to post a book about it. I always tell my kids to think four things to themselves before they talk about others: 1) is it necessary? 2) is it kind 3) does it serve a purpose? 4) would you like it done to you? she could of had her opinion but she didn’t have to go about things the way she did. I also think she fails to realize it is disrespectful and hurtful to those you have not family members. National guardmens made it able for her to state her opinion ust like acive duty and guardsmen can be killed just like active duty and can leave behind wives and children
Take your own advice!
1) Is it necessary? Nawh, it really wasn't.
2) Is it kind? Basically tossing out a jab at J.J, not so much.
3) Does it serve a purpose? not.at.all.
4) Would you like it done to you? I doubt you like getting called out any more than the rest of us.
As for your little checklist, I really don't care about it, so I don't think I'll be applying it to me (or my fam). BTW, "I always tell my kids to think four things to themselves before they talk about others:…" <— this gives off an air of "I'm better than you." May I suggest finding a better wording, or do you really feel superior?
A friend of mine got screen shots of the original blog and comments before all the edits and outtakes. I saw them on the original blog myself. I was an Army wife and would NEVER discount anyone of our servicemen/women like that, and neither would my "real" Army husband!
if you have those could you maybe send them to me? you can find me on Facebook
just put in her bog address on google and you can pull up the entire cached version, complete with her hubs info.
MWAHAHA game on hubs >:}
It appears that the blog has now been deleted. A shame, really. I'd much rather her either apologize, or stand behind what she said. She might be dead-wrong, but she still has the right to say it. (He, of course, is a different story entirely.)
I'm assuming that the Commander in question checked the veracity of the story, since he stated that a soldier was subsequently counseled. Had that not happened, I'd have really thought this was a troll, as I simply can't fathom anyone — military or non-military alike — having the audacity to disrespect any of our troops or their families, whether active duty, retired, Guard, Reserve, etc.
(I am wondering what the blogger in question would think of full-time active duty Guard. Are they half-real, half-fake??)
AGR – my personal, ongoing experience as a military wife.
Real deployments (first one a month after our wedding).
Real Tricare (Standard or Prime Remote – no bases around most AGR).
No military community surrounding us.
Not taken into consideration in the new post-911 GI Bill unfortunately (can we change this Congress?). You have to either be Active Duty or National Guard/Reserves to transfer the benefit to dependents according to what went into effect August 2010.
Tell spouses of guardsmen and reservist who lost their loved ones that they are not "real" military spouses. This wife is an idiot for even thinking what she did, period. If you were a "REAL" military wife you would never speak such trash. I run into active duty folks who are ignorant as to what we in the guard and reserve do as well. Do you know how hard it is to balance civilian life with your military obligations? You have NO clue. I as prior active and now reserve DO know, I have lived both lives.
Your comment is right on having been with the reg. army and air force as well as the
army reserve and air force reserve, I couldn't agree with you more. after 32 years total
I now enjoy retirement. Thank God for all the young men and wives who keep up.
he deserved a lot more than a counseling. I mean do they honestly want that guy representing them to the populace of that state in recruiting new soldiers? all that will do is perpetuate his ignorance in new young soldiers.
I am a guardsmen been depolyed 6 times now. One active duty tour the rest have been guard what gets me is she says guardsmen don't get PTSD… Really so tell me why I am still having nightmars or still jump when somthing sounds like a gun fire.
Tell that my buddies wife who got choked out by her husband bc he was haveing niightmars.
what about all the guardsmen who have been wounded or killed in action guess thats all fake to.
I think her husband should of gotten a lot more then what he did. What to the days of where if the wife or kids messed up the husband got in lots of trouble for unbecoming of rank.
There is something wrong in Vermont. The command needs to find the root cause. Not saying she or her husband was right, but either she is just a mean self centered woman or there are problems with-in that command.
Perhaps things were 'fine' in that command until this couple showed up with their elitist attitude!
Regardless of issues with command or not how did comments about Guardsmen and their spouses fit into the puzzle better yet fix the problem she seem to have had? This all boils down to the “I am better than you” mentality. I see it all the time where spouses gather and try to 1 up the next person. In this process of doing 1 better we are essentially putting one down. If only these same spouses who are busy with categorizing, fighting, name calling could see how their spouses work together in deployment and on other missions. In the meantime we are busy at home tearing each other down and apart SMH. I hope she learn a lesson the most important one is that the first amendment does not apply to soldiers and in some cases it extends to spouses too. Apparently hubby forgot to mention that! I can remember as a soldier the briefings we received after deployment about what to say and not say to the media etc. Maybe the military need to start an in processing briefing for spouses too…lol.
Richard. I'm curious what sort of command issues you think would cause a woman to lash out at total strangers.
I agree with Amber. She wasn't lashing out at her own dh's unit, she was lashing out at a whole group of people whom she knew nothing about. The problem lies with whatever her hubs learned along the way about the National Guard not with his current command.
I feel we all should pray for this LADY,she needs alot of help. Does she need the attention or she hasn't been accepted by wives of the Soldiers around her?
Lady,If the Guard and Reserves aren't Soldiers,WHY do they deploy, Why do they Die,and come home Mssing Limbs,etc?
My two friends were KILLED IN ACTION and they were Guardmen as well as Soldiers in the U.S. Army. And you have the nerve too say the Guard and Reserves aren't Soldiers,while My Dear you should go too Arlington Cemetery, listen too TAPS,if this doesn't bring chills over body your your need HELP!
J FLEMING Retired Guard/Army
Given his defense of the 'truth' of her comment, it is obvious that the information in her opinion came from him and his comments dispense at home to her to start with.
It's obvious now huh? Please, do explain how you draw this obvious conclusion. Maybe, just maybe, you might be obviously wrong? Maybe, just maybe, she obviously has her own mind and therefore her own mindset on the topic? Hmm, 'tis plausible!
My husband has been Active Duty for 22 years, but before that he was in the National Guard 1986-1990, he tranferred Active Duty 3 months before the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. Prior to the Gulf War, I might would have agreed that there was a difference between NG and AD. But I was still in my hometown for the entirety of Desert Shield/Desert Storm when National Guard units were activated. I watched what them have to endure being gone for months to improcess and train before they deployed overseas and then stay for months at AD posts to outprocess. Post 9/11, I watched my friend whose husband had left Active Duty for the National Guard have to endure a whole new mess when a year later his NG unit deployed and she became the FRG leader. The spouses were spread over 4 states and there were no actual FRG meetings where they could get together, only an email loop to share news and verbal support. There was no CDC offering free or discounted hours of hourly care for the kids so she could go to appts. My friend was in Washington State, her family in Iowa, so she didn't have much of anybody..
One cannot say that one is better or has a harder or easier life than the other. Only that the challenges are different.
When the CIC and Good ol' Boys network are blocking a Guard/Reserve seat at the Joint Chiefs table, all while expanding the role of those folks, aren't they saying the same thing?
I have to say that I have worked with many Active Duty Soldiers. Most of them are professional, but there's a bad apple in every barrel I suppose
ARNG Officer
This man is a recruiter?! I think he's gonna have trouble making his quota for a while, assuming the Army doesn't cut him a new set of orders elsewhere, like, yesterday. QM1 USN AD
Its sad that she calls ARNG and Reserve fake Military when in fact we do alot. Yes when we come back from deployement we stay home and only wear our uniform once a month 2 weeks in the summer BUT did she realize that we have a regular job and wear a different uniformt there everyday and on top of our civilian life we still have to manage and take care of military stuff. So next time you decide to call us FAKE get yur information straight and do research!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It appears the statement has been removed from facebook – any word on why??
My husband and I will celebrate our 6th Anniversary next month. He's been on two deployments, both before we became a couple, and for the exception of a good number of months after his return from Afghanistan, he has been on Active Duty. He is a Guardsman. He has, somehow managed to be of more use at home, which has saved us from, if I remember correctly, 3 potential deployments in less than 6 years. This last one, we received 2 months warning, and his fate wasn't set until after mobilization. I can also tell you that, the 4 year mark for deployment turn around, is incorrect, or at least for the most part. In VA, a soldier cannot be re-deployed within a year, after that, fair game. Whether or not one can, would, or should expect or We have a friend, who was re-deployed, however, within months of his return from a previous deployment (if I understand correctly, though, he deployed with another unit, when he returned and deployed again, it was with his unit).
Gosh, and I thought we all were Americans in this together.
This Army wife doesn't know what she's talking about, and her husband must be filling her with a lot of bad information. In my opinion he shouldn't be a recruiter for the National Guard if he feels that way about them and he doesn't have any Army values. My wife was more than this Army wife ever thought of being one. My wife watched me deployed to Panama, Bosnia, Kosovo and to the Gulf, plus 3 back to back tours to Iraq 03, Afghanistan 04, and Iraq 05 all as a reservist. She didn't have any FRG support because my reserve unit was 200 miles away. She didn't have the resources of being on a Army base for her needs. She had to rely on remote Tricare for her and my son. She had to work extra overtime to make up for my lose in civilian salary which was cut by 2/3 when ever I had to deploy.
(continued) She never got any information about me or our unit unless I was able to get a message or phone call to her. She had to fill in on all the stuff we use to share, like taking my son to school, taking him to his sporting activities, adjusting our family financial responsibilities so we could meet our mortgage payments and other bills that I handle. Arrange for flights for her and my son to come see me to what ever base I was temporarily assigned to until I deployed from there. I was gone on active duty off and on for 6 1/2 years from 2000-2007 because of my MOS only getting to come home for short burst of a month or two at a time. I'm really lucky I'm still married and have a family. Thank goodness she didn't have to put up with my real active duty service time before we got married, it may never have happen. This Army wife needs to know what sacrifices NG/Reserve wives make, before she mouths off. It's my wife that deserves the Bronze Star not me for her commitment and sacrifice.
I served on Active Duty for 5 years with 2.5 years being deployed away from home. After those 5 years, I decided that time with my wife and children was more important to me, but i still wanted to serve my country, so I decided to join the Reserves. This does not make me, nor my wife, any different than we were during the Active Duty years. I still serve my country by training soldiers as a Drill Sergeant, and my wife is still an Army Wife as she still has to deal with me being gone during the times of mobilization with my unit, and training days. She has to play both mother AND father, do the things that I would normally do when I am home, AND try and run my business when I am away.
I am the one who signed on the dotted line, she did not, but she also plays a huge role still, and will always be an Army Wife.
United States Army, United States Army Reserve, and the United States Army National Guard. Hmm, what do they all have in common? Oh, United States Army! What a silly little bimbo of a gal. And what a sily little douche of an "NCO" (I quote NCO because he is obviously not worthy of this title.)
To the blog writing "Real Army Spouse": Your "hubs" is a Recruiter and, as a retired Infantryman who spent 22 years on active duty, he isn't a real Soldier either.
Cougar57
I can not believe my eyes, someone really wrote such trash. Let give you a little insight from someone that was Active and reserves over 26 years. I fought in Viet Nam, and Desert storm. I was in reserves in between however my team flew all over the world correcting explosive problems. Now, that being said, let me give you some problems people in reserves faced when called up to active duty being fake Soldiers. We had several of our people in our battalion that were injured, I won't even go into the problems of Viet Nam, lets just take Desert Storm, several of our people were owner operators of their own businesses back home, left there entering active duty some of which were Presidents lost their companies.
Continued Cougar57
Some went bankrupt do to their pay was not enough to sustain their business back home and the people back home did not have the ability to run the company the same. We also had one take their life because they could not deal with the stress of balancing killing people and being a civilian within days and weeks of each other. So your write, when you say we do not live a life of full daily duty as a full time Soldier, but they do not have to balance in and out of civilian life either. Correct me if I am wrong, but the Military by having a back up reserve, can reduce their full time military during none war times to save expenses
Cougar57 continued;
Knowing that they have a reserve that would not take long to bring up to speed if we enter into a war. So do you say because a Doctor or nurse is not shooting weapons that they are not real soldiers, or cooks and pay masters. If that was my wife, I would have to give her a wake up call. Speaking of my wife, the life I put here through being on call 24 / 7 while in the reserves due to the type of unit I was in. She is a saint, and raised a beautiful family for me while I was out being a fake soldier. But you want is important to me, I am proud of what I did for my country and have a chest full of ribbons and metals to support what I did. I have since retired and continue my belief in military support as I took many offices in the local VFW as a life memeber. I only have one more point to make, God bless our entire Military from cooks to special forces that I was proud to be a part of.
her husband is a recruiter? really! now thats not a real soldier!
My only charge with controversy was the point going on with a little more than was possible, yeah I ain't afraid to fall and have someone fall on top of me as I would then finger roll over the dude and end up pro and with no accolades.
My husband has been in military service for over 20 years, most of his career in the Georgia Army National Guard. He has been in 3 deployments since 2003, VOLUNTEERED for the last 2. Anyone who is so misguided to say that a soldier–any soldier– isn't real when they are being shot at, bombed by RPG's and Mortars, facing difficult tasks in a place where they could die in service of their country isn't much of a soldier or spouse. They are required to put in a years' worth of Military training in 2 days a month and 2 weeks a year (AT). The spouses of National GUARDMEN/WOMEN ARE THE TOUGHEST ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. When they are called, we step up to take over their tasks at home so that they can do what is necessary for the Military. We do it without bitching and complaining. In alot of situations, Regular military couldn't do what they need to do without the assistance of the men and women in the National Guard. So please, do not disgrace all Soldiers by saying anyone of them, whether Regular or Guard, isn't a REAL soldier.
WOW, my fake Army wife cant beat up that so called real Army wife. 21 years 5 deployments since 9/11 still going. I can only hope that I (a fake Army Soldier/ full time Fire Captain/Paramedic)would be able to answer a 911 call from that so called real Army wife. I would show her just how fake I can make things can be. Also our fake Army wife's would never say such a thing in a public post.
Apparently, this lady has not been around many Military spouses, or, she wouldn't have made those statements, and, should know that making them is hurtful to the other wives who are in the same boat. And, in some cases, girlfriends, and to his career, I am glad I was never in this ladies earshot, or, she would have gotten a mouthfil from me. If she can't stand the Heat, she needs to get out of the Kitchen. Be Proud of your significant other and support him. My husband was in Nam, and, other conflicts he doesn't talk about. .I am proud of his service to this country, andddd, I hope she has changed her mind about what being in the military is all about. The next time u see a service man in uniforrm, stop and Thank them for their Service. I saw a young man stop and shake my husbands hand and Thank him last year for his Service, he had a new baby with him and he was fixin to deploy, I pray he made it home. God Bless Our Soldiers, and, Please if you don't have a Flag Flying, try to get one. Kookie Hart
what she needs to know is that some of us "fake" army wives are not just reserve wives alot of us have been threw the "real" part also, alot of us have put in our fair share of time in active duty.
I have been reading these post….Personally the freedom of speech is there for every AMERICAN to stress their oppinions. I am and will always be for that. that is why i am a National Guard SOLDIER……..but notice the word SOLDIER. You will never be looked at as a National Guardsman. you are still a Soldier who swore an oath to protect the country you love, and the AMERICAN people will look at you that way we are all soldiers. As for me I am a Former MARINE who missed the lifestyle of active duty so chose to become a National Guardsman. This way i can live my life WITH SOMETHING I LOVE. which is family and country. I love the fact that i still serve my country. And it has nothing to do with anything else WE all have familys Active or Guardsman we are the same. this is just my opinion some will choose to disagree but I KNOW IM NOT FAKE i know now what is has been like to be active duty and now a guardsman. And for as the soldier and his wife that started this huge discusion i hope that this was a leason to both of you that being disrespectfull is different that placing your opinion as a free American. being disrespectful gets you knowwhere in life.
I was a gaurd soldier I deployed 2 times spent 3 1/2 years deployed our of a six year hitch. I was wounded in action and medavact to the US I learnd a very good lession no matter who you are bullets and bombs do not care. So gaurd or active war is war and it sucks for every one that has to be involved in it sposes and all. I singed a 6 year contract with the gaurd and as you see above spent over half of it deployed.