Just because you are a vet or serving currently

[STG]

... all I can say is WOW MA2

rossatkinson- I agree with you and I don't think I'm the only one...

[Maniac Craniac]

It's not really an "out-group stereotype" since I was a civilian for 20 years, and will be again shortly.

Let me guess: some of your best friends are civilians? hilarious

[blu2blu]

Please forgive MA2 for making the rest of us look bad. He is an MA after all, the Navy's version of an MP, and you can't spell wiMP without MP. Also can't spell MAMAs boy without MA2 - lol!

As an ET2 I am much more elite. Is that in-grouping?

I am bothered by the term "soldier" being thrown around this thread. Soldier should be capitalized but that is beside the point. Please do not use the world Soldier as a generic term to describe anyone in uniform. Sailors, Soldiers, Airman and Marines are quite sensitive about what we are called. It's like when someone gets your name wrong, it shows they don't even care enough to get that much right, you know?

Confidence and cockiness can be an asset to a Serviceman but should not be directed at the public. The citizenry should be treated with respect and MA2 is failing to do that in this thread, he shows his immaturity.

[STG]

I don't agree at all with this statement:

I've worked with service members from EVERY branch, and I promise you, that the average Soldier, Sailor, Marine, or Airman IS A CUT ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE. Most civilians are nasty. Active duty members are on average... smarter, healthier, more respectful, more observant, cleaner, punctual, and so on than civilians.

You have no statistics to prove what you're saying and I think you should think about hurting others with your comment before saying it...
blu2blu, MA2 is not being immature...I think it's just the way a person grows up... It seems to me that MA2 is just the type of person who says what they want without thinking... which can be good sometimes - when it's not putting down others. Just because you're in the army or whatever, DOES NOT mean you are smarter...and just because I'm a citizen does not mean I'm nasty...if anything, someone who says that is nasty...If you don't agree, then you can feel haughty about who you are when you are with other people like you...you need to care about other people's feelings here.... I don't know why people make such generalized statements... Is it just me who's thinking this way? Can someone help me out here??

[videguy]

I am glad you have that narrow minded biased opinion MA2, too bad it is not true. People who served or currently serve in the military are too be commended for their service, but they are not better than civilians. Attitudes like that will not get you far in life outside of the military.

[MA2]

I am glad you have that narrow minded biased opinion MA2, too bad it is not true. People who served or currently serve in the military are too be commended for their service, but they are not better than civilians. Attitudes like that will not get you far in life outside of the military.

What I shared was a personal opinion. People share their opinions on here, and everyone is fine with that. But I share my opinion based on my experiences and thoughts, and suddenly I'm "immature." In jobs I had before the Navy, (most) civilians were always late, didn't iron their clothes/uniforms, were lazy, and so on. In the Navy (most) Sailors are on time, clean looking, etc etc. If your opinions are different from mine then that is fine, but attack my point made, not me for "immaturity."

Nice double standard on here just because my opinion is different from the majority.

[MA2]

----military
Steve Sailer's iSteve Blog: The Kerry-Bush Flap

So, what came out of Kerry's mouth?

You know, education, if you make the most of it, and you study hard, and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.

Not surprisingly, the troops in Iraq didn't take well to this. As I've been pointing out for a long time, American enlisted personnel are pretty smart. From 1992-2004, virtually nobody was allowed to enlist who didn't have a high school diploma and who scored below the 30th percentile on the Armed Forces Qualification IQ test. Indeed, the typical enlistee had a 3 digit IQ, above average. They've been scraping a little closer to the bottom of the barrel recently, due to Iraq, but volunteers remain pretty strong. I don't think many in the media know this. You are supposed to say that IQ is a discredited concept, and the fact that the military is utterly devoted to IQ testing (and, in fact, most of the middle section of The Bell Curve came from data provided to Charles Murray by the U.S. military) is something you aren't supposed to think about.


-----civilian
Average IQ Of 98

There recently appeared a chart that indicated an average intelligence quote per state that claims the states with people of lower average IQ chose Bush. The states with higher average IQs leaned toward Kerry. It claimed that the average IQ in America is 98, far lower than I realized.

[MA2]

According to wikipedia 86.68% of Americans in 2009 graduated high school. Except in a few very unusual circumstances, (pretty much) all military members have a high school diploma.

So assuming more than 86% of military have high school diplomas, this would mean the average intelligence level of military is higher than that of civilians.

This is obviously a very brief and vague argument, which assumes that higher education means higher intelligence, and so on.

Also, according to Educational Attainment in the United States: 2009 - Detailed Tables - U.S. Census Bureau

17% of civilians had a bachelors degree.

Accorfing to wikipedia, about 20% of the military are officers. Assuming all officers have 4 year degrees or higher, (which not all do, but most do, even a lot of LDO's now have 4 year degrees) plus all of the enlisted that have a 4 year degree, this would yet again mean the average intelligence of military is higher than civilian. Although it is true a degree does not measure intelligence, I think it can be assumed that the more education a person has, the smarter they become.

Everyone on here refuting my claim that the AVERAGE military member is more intelligent than the AVERAGE civilian is forgetting that most of the people they work with are probably above average in IQ. Don't forget all the high school dropouts and the "lower IQ jobs" that are a vast majority of Americas service industry and all those not on here seeking degrees and so on in your assesment of the "average" civilian.

I could go on and on but I think I made my point for now.

Consider this: why does the military have an IQ type test required score in order to enlist? The bottom 30% are weeded out. This increases the average score by raising the curve... although it is true that not everyone of military age takes the exam.

[MA2]

and just because I'm a citizen does not mean I'm nasty...if anything, someone who says that is nasty...

Let me clarify... we use the term "nasty" to mean "sloppy, lazy, dirty, unshaven, late, etc" not the "textbook" version of the word nasty that you are thinking of.

[blu2blu]

Dude enough!