Yeah, the job kind of sucked ass. That is until I knew what I was doing in the Node Center, and thus supervisors started relying on me heavily enough that I got away will bloody murder.
Some of my fondest memories are of sending in network status reports to Battalion Command with our unofficial platoon motto "Balls Deep!" Pasted across the bottom.
Signal Battalions in the Army are sort of a testament to how quickly communications jobs, and technology in general, has been changing. For instance, our platoon sergeant stayed the hell out of our Ops shelter. All he knew was that we turned red lights into green lights, and kept them that way (or else god damnit!). This shouldn't be all that surprising, as when he joined the army, I'm pretty sure all the signal guys were running lines to hand-crank telephone units. I mean, what the hell is a "work station" to him, right?
I have to say that most of the job consisted of doing shit just like what you're talking about. Pounding in grounding rods. Filling generators. Picking up shit and moving it. But occasionally I was able to really put to use some problem solving skills and trouble shoot a fairly complex computer network (consisting of line of sight radio, satellite and TROPO links all across a battlfield). And we could do it at night, while getting shot at and bombed. I dare you to top THAT! If this had been all the job consisted of, I wouldn't have left.
Unfortunately, this is the fuckin' Army we're talking about.
I spent four years in the Army myself. I was a "Network Swtiching System Operator/Maintainer." Sounds a lot cooler than it is, trust me. I've got two deployments to Iraq under my belt.
Really, I have to tell you, every other iteration of the America's Army "game" I played blew ass. I had more fun going to work. Seriously, they gave you "Task, Condition and Standard" in a video game?!?! Jeeze, I'd rather shine my boots and clean my weapon.
Not to mention that they just happened to leave out the whole screaming-in-horrendous-agony part of war. People usually don't just fall down and play dead when shot or hit with shrapnel from one source or another, you can trust me on that too.
So, I'm kind of glad this game ate shit. The only "realistic" part of it was how outrageously boring training in the Army can be. Other than that, the only purpose it served was to give children a false impression of war, and how god-forsaken horrible it is. Usually that wouldn't matter in a video game, but it certainly does matter when that video game is really a recruitment tool for the US Army.
-Reed
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, the job kind of sucked ass. That is until I knew what I was doing in the Node Center, and thus supervisors started relying on me heavily enough that I got away will bloody murder. Some of my fondest memories are of sending in network status reports to Battalion Command with our unofficial platoon motto "Balls Deep!" Pasted across the bottom. Signal Battalions in the Army are sort of a testament to how quickly communications jobs, and technology in general, has been changing. For instance, our platoon sergeant stayed the hell out of our Ops shelter. All he knew was that we turned red lights into green lights, and kept them that way (or else god damnit!). This shouldn't be all that surprising, as when he joined the army, I'm pretty sure all the signal guys were running lines to hand-crank telephone units. I mean, what the hell is a "work station" to him, right? I have to say that most of the job consisted of doing shit just like what you're talking about. Pounding in grounding rods. Filling generators. Picking up shit and moving it. But occasionally I was able to really put to use some problem solving skills and trouble shoot a fairly complex computer network (consisting of line of sight radio, satellite and TROPO links all across a battlfield). And we could do it at night, while getting shot at and bombed. I dare you to top THAT! If this had been all the job consisted of, I wouldn't have left. Unfortunately, this is the fuckin' Army we're talking about.
I spent four years in the Army myself. I was a "Network Swtiching System Operator/Maintainer." Sounds a lot cooler than it is, trust me. I've got two deployments to Iraq under my belt. Really, I have to tell you, every other iteration of the America's Army "game" I played blew ass. I had more fun going to work. Seriously, they gave you "Task, Condition and Standard" in a video game?!?! Jeeze, I'd rather shine my boots and clean my weapon. Not to mention that they just happened to leave out the whole screaming-in-horrendous-agony part of war. People usually don't just fall down and play dead when shot or hit with shrapnel from one source or another, you can trust me on that too. So, I'm kind of glad this game ate shit. The only "realistic" part of it was how outrageously boring training in the Army can be. Other than that, the only purpose it served was to give children a false impression of war, and how god-forsaken horrible it is. Usually that wouldn't matter in a video game, but it certainly does matter when that video game is really a recruitment tool for the US Army. -Reed
its 1984 maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan
How in the hell is the United States government going to try ANYBODY for "War Crimes" ??? note- I am a American, and I am an OIF Veteran.