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SEAL who shot bin Laden speaks out

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  • #31
    Originally posted by Chogy View Post
    I've often wondered about the U.S. rule of 20 years minimum before any sort of pension kicks in. I'd like to see a sliding scale that starts at 10 years, with 20 being the minimum before any medical benefits are realized. I'd set it up such that the 10 year pension would be very low, almost a token, but it would rise exponentially towards the 20 year value. So at 19 years, you'd see 85%, 17 years 60%, 14 years, 15%, etc.

    Or... it could be limited in time, not a pension for life.

    True story from the airline world - an Air Force pilot was at the 19.8 year mark, and had already been offered a job at Delta Air Lines. His financial future was set... military pension, plus major airline pay. Unfortunately, at this time, his wife ran off with the gardener, and filed for divorce.

    In the USA, she would be entitled to a significant portion of his military pension for life. Being a tad miffed, this pilot went to his commander and resigned his commission just two months shy of 20 years. Wifey goes ballistic, as now she gets nothing. "You can't do that!!!!" Oh yes he can, and he did.
    Got one from the enlisted side.

    When I was a Career Planner, our Battalion Ops Chief (E-8) was going through a divorce, and it was reenlistment time. I went to him to discuss submitting his paperwork. He said he wasn't going to do it. The MSgt has 25 years in, so I tell him I'll go to admin and have them start his retirement request. He doesn't do that either.

    Instead he gets out at the end of his contract. Doesn't retire, just gets out. At the divorce, judge tells him he has to give his wife half of his retirement pay. She thinks he is retired.
    I get to testify that he, in fact didn't retire but simply left at his End of Service date. She has a cow.

    Flash forward 5 years, I'm talking to him (he never left Jacksonville, got a job at range control). He tells me the ex wife got remarried and had moved away. After she did that, he submitted a package to the Board of Corrections to have his status changed since he was eligible to retire. They "Corrected his record" and he retired.

    Ex got nothing because she had remarried.

    Reinforces the old saying "Enlisted men are stupid, but very cunning and deceitful and bear considerable watching." - Marine Corps Officers Manual, 1894 ...

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    • #32
      Originally posted by McFire View Post
      I don't know what the guy was thinking. He probably wasn't thinking at all when he made his decision. With four years or less to go it's a no brainer, especially if your main concern is for the well-being of your dependents. I suspect he made a rash decision to get out, found out the grass wasn't quite as green as he thought, and now it's too late to change, and he's grasping.

      When my airmen reached the 12 year mark, I would sit them down and we would talk about their plans for the next few years, especially if they were married and had kids. We would go over the advantages and disadvantages of spending so much time in, and the ramifications of getting out before twenty.

      Now, that's not to say there are some rocks out there. I worked with a contractor in Iraq who always talked about being in the Army. I asked him if he was retired and he said no, he left after 18 years. I asked him why he didn't just finish with twenty, and he said had a disagreement with a higher ranking person and didn't want to spend his last two years working under that guy. The result? He got his satisfaction not working under the guy...and is now in his late 50's with no financial security, no benefits, health problems, and nothing to look forward to as he will have NO retirement years.
      I reckon it went something like this:

      May 2, 2011, guy shoots Bin Laden. High point of his career.

      2 days later, he realizes that the shot also ended his career and the careers of most of his teammates: JSOC will never ever send them out to the field again. The risk of having some two bit terrorist get in a lucky shot on him and then being able to claim to the world that Al Qaeda has avenged the Sheik, is far too great. It's now paramount to keep him and the rest of that particular team out of harms way. They will now have to go through military life practically wearing foam padding to prevent bumps and bruises. It's either that or he tries to climb the officer ranks.

      Being a risk taker, he decides to call it quits and do something more meaningful rather than having to waste 4 years of life at his prime on the BS outlined above. Trouble is he can't tell anyone else what he has done and can't point to a record to show them what he is capable of. Instead he faces the prospect of starting all over again, working for others of far lesser capability and professionalism than his former team mates. So he's looking for something better. In the mean time, it's uncertain and frustrating. He chats about it on occasion with his journalist neighbor. It ends up on Esquirer in an article that happens to make him sound like a whining twit. We all read, sit back surprised, and opine wisely in judgement.

      Sounds about right?

      Comment


      • #33
        Originally posted by citanon View Post
        I reckon it went something like this:

        May 2, 2011, guy shoots Bin Laden. High point of his career.

        2 days later, he realizes that the shot also ended his career and the careers of most of his teammates: JSOC will never ever send them out to the field again. The risk of having some two bit terrorist get in a lucky shot on him and then being able to claim to the world that Al Qaeda has avenged the Sheik, is far too great. It's now paramount to keep him and the rest of that particular team out of harms way. They will now have to go through military life practically wearing foam padding to prevent bumps and bruises. It's either that or he tries to climb the officer ranks.

        Being a risk taker, he decides to call it quits and do something more meaningful rather than having to waste 4 years of life at his prime on the BS outlined above. Trouble is he can't tell anyone else what he has done and can't point to a record to show them what he is capable of. Instead he faces the prospect of starting all over again, working for others of far lesser capability and professionalism than his former team mates. So he's looking for something better. In the mean time, it's uncertain and frustrating. He chats about it on occasion with his journalist neighbor. It ends up on Esquirer in an article that happens to make him sound like a whining twit. We all read, sit back surprised, and opine wisely in judgement.

        Sounds about right?
        When the rest of his team went down in that helicopter were they on a mission?

        -dale

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        • #34
          2 days later, he realizes that the shot also ended his career and the careers of most of his teammates: JSOC will never ever send them out to the field again. The risk of having some two bit terrorist get in a lucky shot on him and then being able to claim to the world that Al Qaeda has avenged the Sheik, is far too great. It's now paramount to keep him and the rest of that particular team out of harms way. They will now have to go through military life practically wearing foam padding to prevent bumps and bruises. It's either that or he tries to climb the officer ranks.
          assuming that AQ actually knows which unit, let alone which people, actually did this...

          if prince harry can fight in afghanistan, so too will they.
          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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          • #35
            Omerta for Specal Ops! Ain't asking too much for these Hollywood/Bollywood stunts?
            Thanks for the the Marksmanship!!! Give me more...
            sigpicAnd on the sixth day, God created the Field Artillery...

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            • #36
              Originally posted by Deltacamelately View Post
              Omerta for Specal Ops! Ain't asking too much for these Hollywood/Bollywood stunts?
              Thanks for the the Marksmanship!!! Give me more...
              That would be some cool recruiting :)
              No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

              To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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              • #37
                Originally posted by dalem View Post
                When the rest of his team went down in that helicopter were they on a mission?

                -dale
                Wasn't the same team Dale, as far as I know. When the chopper went down it was explicitly (and quickly) stated that none of the Bin Laden team were aboard.
                Last edited by citanon; 14 Feb 13,, 22:06.

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by astralis View Post
                  assuming that AQ actually knows which unit, let alone which people, actually did this...

                  if prince harry can fight in afghanistan, so too will they.
                  Not AQ, the press. If some of the principals in that operation got killed later, you don't think it will leak? AQ does not have to "get" them, it just have to get lucky.

                  Also, look at that team, we know of at least 2 members now that left right after or there abouts. Prince Harry, important as he is, is not taking the same kind of risks as a Team Six SEAL. Illustrated, again, by what happened shortly after to the other chalk.

                  I could be wrong, but I think I have pretty good odds of being right.
                  Last edited by citanon; 14 Feb 13,, 22:08.

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                  • #39
                    DEVGRU has "in excess of 300" members, I seriously doubt "No. 2" was on-board that chopper.
                    "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

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                    • #40
                      Originally posted by citanon View Post
                      I reckon it went something like this:

                      May 2, 2011, guy shoots Bin Laden. High point of his career.

                      2 days later, he realizes that the shot also ended his career and the careers of most of his teammates: JSOC will never ever send them out to the field again. The risk of having some two bit terrorist get in a lucky shot on him and then being able to claim to the world that Al Qaeda has avenged the Sheik, is far too great. It's now paramount to keep him and the rest of that particular team out of harms way. They will now have to go through military life practically wearing foam padding to prevent bumps and bruises. It's either that or he tries to climb the officer ranks.

                      Being a risk taker, he decides to call it quits and do something more meaningful rather than having to waste 4 years of life at his prime on the BS outlined above. Trouble is he can't tell anyone else what he has done and can't point to a record to show them what he is capable of. Instead he faces the prospect of starting all over again, working for others of far lesser capability and professionalism than his former team mates. So he's looking for something better. In the mean time, it's uncertain and frustrating. He chats about it on occasion with his journalist neighbor. It ends up on Esquirer in an article that happens to make him sound like a whining twit. We all read, sit back surprised, and opine wisely in judgement.

                      Sounds about right?
                      OK, so "he can't tell anyone else what he has done" but then he "chats about it on occasion with his journalist neighbor" (WTF??) and innocently discloses that 1) he is a SEAL, 2) he was on the Abbotabad mission, and 3) that he is the actual guy that terminated bin Laden? LOL The best thing he can do to protect his family is go home and kill himself. As long he acts with this kind of flagrant disregard of even the most basic security measures, there is nothing the government, or anyone else, can do to protect them from his own stupidity.
                      The more I think about it, ol' Billy was right.
                      Let's kill all the lawyers, kill 'em tonight.
                      - The Eagles

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                      • #41
                        Originally posted by citanon View Post
                        ...Being a risk taker, he decides to call it quits and do something more meaningful rather than having to waste 4 years of life at his prime...

                        Yep...and it's a risk he obviously regrets...and as as risk taker, he knew the consequences. It's the same decision every US military member makes around the 15 or 16 year mark. The Navy gave him options...and he opted not to take any of them.
                        "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams

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                        • #42
                          He didn't get to make a movie, write a million dollar book, or get hired to consult for video games - there is a wide range of jobs out there. The tone of the articles makes one wonder how hard he looked for work after his retirement plans failed to pan out.
                          Last edited by troung; 15 Feb 13,, 02:20.
                          To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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                          • #43
                            Regarding his statement that he lost health care the day he got out. Its not true. All Iraq and Afgan vets get 5 years of free health care through the VA. After that you only get free care for service connected disabilities, unless you have a disability rating of 50% or more.

                            When he went through his transition class, he would have been told this

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                            • #44
                              Originally posted by troung View Post
                              He didn't get to make a movie, write a million dollar book, or get hired to consult for video games - there is a wide range of jobs out there. The tone of the articles makes one wonder how hard he looked for work after his retirement plans failed to pan out.
                              As Judge Smails said "The world needs ditch diggers, too."
                              “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
                              Mark Twain

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                              • #45
                                Originally posted by McFire View Post
                                Since 2001, military members could participate in the Thrift Savings Program and can contribute to it while on active duty. It's essentially the same TSP the Civil Service employees use. Unfortunately, since most new military members are young and don't think "long-term," many do not utilize it, especially if they can't touch the money until they are 59 1/2 years old without a tax penalty. (I wish they'd have had the TSP when I enlisted in 1987!)
                                Thank you McFire, I too missed it. 1986-2000.

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