Ex military, retired police

I know someone that thinks the solution to just about everything is to hire 'ex military or retired police' for just about everything under the sun. This is especially true on security type issues.

What he doesn't realize is that there are an awful lot of service people that are simple administrative types.

A guy I went through basic with back in the day was a clerk that was sent to my outfit. In basic he had a hell of a time qualifying with the service rifle. He wondered how well he would do when he got to the 4th ID. Three years later as I was getting out I ran into him and asked him how he made out and he reported that he had never picked up a rifle after basic training. I wasn't surprised.

I ran into another guy that spent his four years in the Navy at a depot in Indiana fixing things. I don't think he picked up a firearm during his entire enlistment. He eventually got a job on a tug but had to learn about as much as the farm boy flatlander they hired with him.

He was actually hired because he had been in the Navy but the hiring guy didn't understand the way the services work. He was one of those people that thought that everyone that was in the Navy was a mariner. 

Oddly enough a former army guy that ran a boat for the Corps of Engineers proved to be a great fit in the tug and barge business. Explaining how the Corps of Engineers and the Army worked took up about 95% of his hiring interview. This former soldier was a great boat handler.

An old friend that served in the Air Force actually WAS a badass back in the day. He served as an Air Commando.

I work with a Marine that was a parachute rigger and qualified annually but spent most of his time in the parachute loft. He fired annual rifle qualification, period. 

A former policeman I used to run into actually worked in a small town park and never even unsnapped his holster or pulled out his baton for his entire career.

Point is that simply being a veteran or former cop means very little as far as knowing things goes. What one did in the service is what can be considered useful on the outside. 

Incidentally hiring a hardened infantryman for a job as a school security guard may not he the best choice out there, nor would a former Military policeman. The infantryman may be a little too wired and the MP probably knows little about being a school guard. MPs are responsible for routing and protecting convoys and securing enemy POWs. 

Simply being a former Marine or soldier does not mean someone is a firearm expert or badass.







To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY