Veterans
Related: About this forumJust read about JD Vance's military service
After graduating from Middletown High School in 2003, Vance enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He
was deployed to Iraq as a combat correspondent for six months in late 2005. There, he was assigned
to the Public Affairs section of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. About his service, he commented that it
"taught me how to live like an adult" and he was "lucky to escape any real fighting"
Appears he was in for four years and attained the rank of Corporal, is that about normal rank
achievement for 4 years? That an E3 or E4 in the Marines? I made SPC4 in 11 months in the Army
and SPC5 at 22 months. (lucky, right place at the right time)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Vance
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Permanut
(6,227 posts)msongs
(69,238 posts)AkFemDem
(2,009 posts)Served in Iraq, and ended his 4 years with an honorable discharge. Nothing to be ashamed of there, the majority of the military is not actually fighting in combat- and him admitting as much is much better than those who claim war stories they didn't earn.
AkFemDem
(2,009 posts)It's a perfectly respectable rank to reach before separating at 4 years, on the Army side it's not uncommon either. I have lots to make fun of and critique in Vance, but his military service isn't one of those things.
Silent Type
(5,305 posts)But Vance is such a pissant on most things that military service hardly makes up for deficiencies. Its like giving points to Timothy McVeigh or something.
AkFemDem
(2,009 posts)So, significantly longer. He was an officer (Vance was enlisted) which is both a plus and minus depending who you ask his service included dozens of combat flights and he, like Vance, exited service with an honorable discharge. Appreciate both mens' service, Kelly has a much longer record of serving his country though.
CentralMass
(15,421 posts)unweird
(2,857 posts)At first blush it seems JD (or whatever he called itself then) wasnt an overachiever. But then Marines always did rank differently.
SlimJimmy
(3,246 posts)There are literally 10s of thousands of vets who served honorably but never saw combat. I think we have better things to ping him on than his honorable military service.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,651 posts)The Army was growing because of Vietnam, so there were huge org charts with lots of empty spots. I was drafted (thanks, LBJ) and was SP5 about 19 months later.
I think there is more retention of people in the all-volunteer Army, so the slots don't open as often as when there were many draftees serving.
HAB911
(9,211 posts)but I had in-demand communication skills set for the situation.
Mr. Scorpio
(73,689 posts)He did four years and left honorably, so he did the minimum. Its just a footnote.