Hiring Veterans

[p-towne]

Read a couple weeks ago business was hesitant about hiring vets because they lack skills and may have mental problems???

Now the Govt is working on INCENTIVESfor business to hire vets. WTF. Hand outs to hire vets.??? Thats enough to make me puke???? Is there no shame for the shakers and movers??? Of course that is rhetorical question.. Most of us know the answer

[wallcrusher]

....don't know were you read that! Most of the Co's. and clients I work for/with, prefer U.S. vets......It's the "me" generation they shun!
The "incentive" program is just another form of vote buying.....it will never do as intended. Proof?......see the Hood?

[joedoozer]

It's not that the vets have mental problems. It's that they don't have any skills. It is pretty hard these days to speak the truth about what is going on in the military. Because as soon as you say something negative, you are unpatriotic.

The military has become very very lazy. I am not talking about the 5% that actually do the gun toting and the fighting. I am talking about all the "support" people. Contractors do everything, and once a solider is in long enough to figure out they get paid the same amount of money for working hard or sitting on their butt all day. You can't get them to do anything anymore. If the day to day operations of the military were a commercial company. It would be out of business in weeks. The fact is that the military survives on the sweat of 10% of its people. The other 90% are only there because they aren't smart enough to do anything else.

I was in the Army and after 6 months I knew it was not the place for me. I was the best mechanic in the battalion, and the only one who turned wrenches before I joined. I work for a contracting company now and work daily with soldiers. There are a good many that like what they do and take pride in being a soldier, and it is a pleasure to work along side them. But the rest of them are worthless.

I have seen Army trained mechanics make the below listed mistakes. These were people in the Army more than 5 years!

1. Tried to refill a generator with JP-8. Put a funnel in the muffler and dumped fuel in the exhaust!
2. Changed brake pads on a HMMWV. Couldn't get the caliper back on so he sanded the brake pads thin enough so it would fit!
3. Tried to weld a cast steel vise to an aluminum fender.
4. Flat towed a HMMWV over 100 miles with the it locked in 4 low.
5. Used a metal 5 gallon bucket to drain engine oil into, on a 915-A2. Engine oil capacity is 40+ quarts. He pulled the plug and walked away.

These are just a few of the examples. I could go on and on.These were all soldiers E-5 and above. In a few of the cases it was the best mechanic in the facility. This kind of stuff would not fly in the civilian world. You can hold people accountable for their actions, and you can fire them.

The company I work for is predominantly veterans, there are just a handful of people that have never been in the military. We talk often about what we see, and how the military has changed over the years. Like I said there are days that is truly a pleasure, and there are days you just wanna scream WTF is wrong with you people, get off your a$$ and F'n do something!!!!!

And the sad part of it is......they serve their country for many reasons. In most cases they were out of options. No jobs, no schooling, have a family with kids and no insurance. They join the military for the opportunity to do something with themselves. And they are in an environment that sets them up for failure. It takes a strong person to stay in the military and come out of it with something. It is just so easy to sit around and just do whatever you need to, to get by. And when their time is up, they are in most cases worse off than before. They still have no training, no skills that can be applied to the civilian world. And in most cases no work ethic anymore.

I have been in and around the military for over 15 years. I am very pro military and believe every able body should do a minimum of 3 years. Everyone should serve. It is a great opportunity for many people. I just wish people would make more of this opportunity and not waste their time. It is nice when a company can hire a vet. But it needs to be because they are the best person for the job. We need to stop lowering standards and start encouraging people to over achieve.

Again this is not a blanket rant on everyone in the military. And probably not the best choice in days to go off on a rant. And anybody out there that works with the military daily like I do, knows what I am talking about. I hope this is understood as a pat on the back to the ones that deserve it, and a kick in the pants to the ones that don't.

[p-towne]

....don't know were you read that! Most of the Co's. and clients I work for/with, prefer U.S. vets......It's the "me" generation they shun!
The "incentive" program is just another form of vote buying.....it will never do as intended. Proof?......see the Hood?

Not sure I can recover the article--I'll look---Aren't most incentitives vote buying???

[joedoozer]

....don't know were you read that! Most of the Co's. and clients I work for/with, prefer U.S. vets......It's the "me" generation they shun!
The "incentive" program is just another form of vote buying.....it will never do as intended. Proof?......see the Hood?

The "me" generation is most of the lower enlisted these days. And probably a big cause for my rant.

[wallcrusher]

The "me" generation is most of the lower enlisted these days. And probably a big cause for my rant.

But those can be "fixed", because of the discipline required while enlisted! Yes, there are cases of "no hope"..but overall, I'll take the soldier!

[wallcrusher]

Not sure I can recover the article--I'll look---Aren't most incentitives vote buying???

If it's a Gov. program?.....yes!
If it's in business sales/PR/advertising?.....sure....but, we did not vote for business to handle the security and daily administration of our country!
We can or, used to be able to, vote the business out, via the free market. However now, with Gov. involvement.....well, you know the rest of the story!

[15jr]

Not sure why there would be a need for incentives to hire vets? The company I work with mainly looks for vets. The owner is a Navy vet Vietnam Era, His son is an Army Vet, I am a Marine Corps Vet, We have two other employees that were Air Force vets.

I just started a second business and will be looking to hire two consultants within the next 8 months. Of course I am looking for the best person for the job, but if it comes down to same experience but one is a vet I am taking the vet! Just more discipline and more proned to accept training.

Most businesses I work with try to hire vets without any incentives.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Just another opportunity for this campaigner, who flops at the white house on occassions to try to put more feathers in his cap. He don't miss one single opportunity of hijacking good American values and trying to make it look like he is always trying to do something good. Then after dark Barackula crawls back out of his coffin and starts (su, oops I mean sipping the country dry)!

[wallcrusher]

Baracula......I have to go clean up now!......killin' me

[ferd]

Businesses claim to have job openings, but they're not hiring. Anybody. Businesses claim it's too hard to find "qualified" candidates, but they set the bar impossibly high and will re-write their requirements if somebody happens along who does meet their original requirements. I can understand the Government trying to promote its former employees (Vets who muster out are essentially laid-off Government employees). But I must agree with joedoozer that there are an awful lot of lazy ex-Army vets who never learned many job skills. I've been a Government contractor too and have experienced them. (BTW Air Force vets seem to be much brighter and more motivated than Army vets, in my experience.) But I don't mean to insult vets, Army or otherwise. There are good ones out there... when recruiting any new hire you need to look for them.

Contrary to the comments about companies not liking "Me Generation" candidates, my experience is that companies will hire youngsters over oldsters when they have the chance. They know that youngsters are easier to take advantage of, and aren't experienced enough to demand better wages and benefits.

[wallcrusher]

Businesses claim to have job openings, but they're not hiring. Anybody. Businesses claim it's too hard to find "qualified" candidates, but they set the bar impossibly high and will re-write their requirements if somebody happens along who does meet their original requirements. I can understand the Government trying to promote its former employees (Vets who muster out are essentially laid-off Government employees). But I must agree with joedoozer that there are an awful lot of lazy ex-Army vets who never learned many job skills. I've been a Government contractor too and have experienced them. (BTW Air Force vets seem to be much brighter and more motivated than Army vets, in my experience.) But I don't mean to insult vets, Army or otherwise. There are good ones out there... when recruiting any new hire you need to look for them.

Contrary to the comments about companies not liking "Me Generation" candidates, my experience is that companies will hire youngsters over oldsters when they have the chance. They know that youngsters are easier to take advantage of, and aren't experienced enough to demand better wages and benefits.

Bullpoopy!....mostly.....however I agree with the USAF being brighter...823rd Red Horse Squadron.
....and it's not their military!.....IT'S OURS!