That unit armorer post reminds me of the time my 4ID unit promised my soldier he could deploy late so he could see his kid get born. Then someone decided he couldn't. So the company decided to make him the armorer so be would have to go to the course and would come out on trail.
Here's the twist: they made me counsel him that if he failed the armorers course for any reason, for example, taking his wife to the hospital because she was in labor and not getting the required class hours, they would give him an article 15.
Aug 12, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
So my understanding of this is that it's not that unusual in large cities, as people who receive the live virus vaccine (not used in the US, but used in other places) can carry the virus in their intestine and spread it through their stool for a time after getting vaccinated.
If you have the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV, commonly used in the US) this is normally fine, because even though the IPV doesnt give intestinal immunity picking up the vaccine-derived strain won't make you ill. The problem is for people who are unvaxxed or immunocompromised.
Jun 5, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
I sometimes get frustrated with my son's teachers at school because I feel like his developmental delay for well-documented medical reasons isn't always taken as seriously, because technically speaking there is nothing medically wrong with him *now*.
My son had an undiagnosed hearing loss due to fluid build up from too-large adenoids. He was nonverbal until he had the surgery to correct it, when he was 3. That was essentially three missed years of language and social development.
Jun 4, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
My experience with enlisted PME is it primarily serves as a gut check to make sure everyone is passing height and weight and their physical fitness test and after that's done unless you actually commit an EO/SHARP/UCMJ/local law violation, you are going to graduate.
I remember someone being concerned at ALC if they were going to be able to get the required grades on all the projects and our instructor rolled her eyes and said they hadn't had an academic failure in over two years.
May 21, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I don't think a toothache and a bad experience with a Jewish dentist is why the Buffalo shooter turned to racism. I think a bored teenage edgelord with unlimited access to the internet, whose family cultivated an interest in guns, found his way to predictable, unmodded websites.
Parenting in the 21st century is terrifying. There are plenty of families in rural America who like hunting and paintball and don't have kids who go this route. But the right combination of bored, teenage assholery and an enjoyment of shocking people, and it can go deadly quick.
Feb 26, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
It's not that I think that the Ukranians are definitively winning this thing, or that every story we see on Twitter about the war is true.
It's that Ukraine is having an honest to God, real "we shall fight on the beaches" moment.
I've asked myself a lot over the past day or so whether the Ghost of Kiev is real, for example. And I think it's besides the point. The narrative is real to the people of Ukraine right now, and that narrative has power.
Oct 26, 2021 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Hey, so, people are still allowed to make jokes about their own pregnancies. It has nothing to do with your infertility, she wasn't mocking people who can't get pregnant.
There's a conversation to be had about trauma and how to differentiate between "this is triggering to me but their behavior is not problematic" and "this is intentionally triggering to people who've gone through a specific trauma".
Oct 24, 2021 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
Since we are talking about how the military trains linguists let's also mention how they tried to raise the standard from 2/2 to 2+/2+ but didn't provide the Defense Language Institute with any additional time, resources, or instructors to make that happen.
You can't increase language proficiency with wishes and "make it happen".
Oct 20, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
My pet theory is that Havana Syndrome is burnout.
Oct 20, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Is it possible to acknowledge that gay representation in the MCU is long overdue and to also hate this
Absolute least-guilty scenario for Brian that I can come up with is they were hiking, she started hitting him for whatever reason (she admits in the police encounter to hitting him), they're near one of the cliff edges they take photographs on, he pushes her away, and she falls.
Sep 11, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
A story that haunts me about 9/11 is how all but 13 of Morgan Stanley's approximately 2,700 employees made it out of the South Tower alive because their head of security over rode the NYC Port Authority's instructions and started evacuating immediately.
Rick Rescorla was born in Cornwall and fought for both the UK and US militaries, most famously in the battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam, of We Were Soldiers fame. He was awarded a Silver Star and two Bronze Stars.
Sep 11, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Reading a fanfic that I am enjoying for free and becoming unreasonably annoyed when the unpaid author incorrectly writes that the north star is the brightest star in the sky
Apr 28, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I got flagged for ABCP once.
I had just stopped breastfeeding my twins, so that 1000 calorie deficit I had every day went away, and my body was still adjusting.
I passed my APFT still (this was years ago) but was one percent over body fat.
I think Height and Weight are frustrating for a lot of soldiers because it's a tool that's used like a sledgehammer when individual soldier circumstances vary. People go on and off medications, they're trying to gain muscle to improve ACFT scores, etc.
Nov 15, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Okay I did not expect the making of Frozen II documentary on Disney Plus to make me cry.
The lead animator of Elsa is reading off letters from fans about how much the first movie meant to them and I 😭
Kristin Bell crying as she records "The Next Right Thing" 😭
Aug 25, 2020 • 86 tweets • 22 min read
Good morning! Here is your military TikTok of the day.
Good morning! Here is your military TikTok of the day.
Jun 14, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Yeah it would be unprecedented for white supremacists to lose control of the Alamo
A fun fact is that one of the major causes of the Texas Revolution is taught as "concern of immigration of Anglo-Americans" but one of the major reasons for THAT is that the Mexican govt of the time disapproved of slavery while the white Texans really wanted to own slaves.
Jan 1, 2020 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
My new conspiracy theory is that the PMF militias at the US Embassy were there with the cooperation of the Iraqi government as a calculated, escalated response to the bombing of PMF sites within their territory, without clearance from the Iraqis.
The PMF have legitimate (if problematic) status in the Iraqi government and the Iraqi government does not have the strength to get rid of them. And CJTF-OIR's stated mission is to counter ISIS, not the PMF.
Jun 1, 2019 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
@ThomasJTobin1 When I was a kid my Catholic bishop rotated four known child molesters through my hometown parish. At least two molested more kids while stationed there. He then fought against removing child molesters from their parish positions at the Bishops conference in 2002.
@ThomasJTobin1 Later he fought against the NY state legislature relaxing the statute of limitations so victims could come forward later in life and see their accusers face justice.
But anyway please tell me more about the Catholic Church's philosophy on what is harmful to children.
There's a conversation to be had about trauma and how to differentiate between "this is triggering to me but their behavior is not problematic" and "this is intentionally triggering to people who've gone through a specific trauma".
