SO incredibly angry....

[NickD 203]

I haven't been in for some time, government would get us back to the states to what they called our permanent base, the rest was up to us. Hitchhiking was not allowed, but sometimes the only way to make it home. Isn't that a MAT plane, or did they change that too? Material Air Transport. Yeah, I hitchhiked 1,200 miles, so sue me. Met some very nice people, sorry, this is as far as I am going, really hate to drop you off in the cold, but was very thankful. Would always drop me off at main road.

[thongd4me 69]

I haven't been in for some time, government would get us back to the states to what they called our permanent base, the rest was up to us. Hitchhiking was not allowed, but sometimes the only way to make it home. Isn't that a MAT plane, or did they change that too? Material Air Transport. Yeah, I hitchhiked 1,200 miles, so sue me. Met some very nice people, sorry, this is as far as I am going, really hate to drop you off in the cold, but was very thankful. Would always drop me off at main road.

When I was in Israel many many moons ago, I discovered that the army simply hitchhiked EVERYWHERE. I was a poor student at the time and every effort to

hitchhike on my own was pretty much futile. I ended up going to the street

corner where the army was thumbing rides and took the rides they rejected.

In Israel it was considered unpatriotic NOT to pick up the armed forces and there

weren't any stupid rules like those we have here. Naturally the US army is

probably worried about bad guys posing as army personnel on leave and giving

the army a black eye by doing stupid stuff.

The Israeli army used to hitch everywhere with machine guns slung over their shoulders.

I haven't been there lately so I don't know if it's changed or not.

[scandal 951]

When I was in Israel many many moons ago, I discovered that the army simply hitchhiked EVERYWHERE. I was a poor student at the time and every effort to

hitchhike on my own was pretty much futile. I ended up going to the street

corner where the army was thumbing rides and took the rides they rejected.

In Israel it was considered unpatriotic NOT to pick up the armed forces and there

weren't any stupid rules like those we have here. Naturally the US army is

probably worried about bad guys posing as army personnel on leave and giving

the army a black eye by doing stupid stuff.

The Israeli army used to hitch everywhere with machine guns slung over their shoulders.

I haven't been there lately so I don't know if it's changed or not.

"Tnu tremp la'chayal!" (Give a solider a ride) is a common bumper sticker....

That's still generally the case, especially in certain well-known interchange points - e.g. tsomet Kastina where they're all transiting to/from the residential areas in Tel Aviv/suburbs to the bases throughout the south of the country, or tsomet Golani in the north.

Due to the obvious safety danger associated with hitchhiking however, it's less common than it was, especially for females. I think the army itself may have banned it for female soldiers after dark, and if not - it's certainly the case that the families of such soldiers forbid them to do so.

Increasingly, many just drive themselves to base. That's certainly true for miluimniks (those called to reserve duty). Most of the guys I worked with who had miluim would just drive their civilian cars to their bases. Times have changed.

[JeanneVictoria 55]

you might find it best in the future to leave observations about the military to those of us that have been there

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I am RAVING MAD right now. My brother served in Afghanistan for a year. The second half of it, he was near what they call "poo pond" (basically a cess pool), which was really bad in the summer, especially when the wind blew. Poor guy - I ordered an industrial strength deodorizing pack for him.

Anyway, he was supposed to leave Dec. 7, then they said the 8th. He ended up getting flown to Kuwait on the 10th, and was told he would fly out to the States on the 12th. Once he got to Kuwait, they told him there was no flight on the 12th, and not a seat available until sometime in January. He basically threw a fit, and they found him a seat on a flight the next day. So, we were all happy and excited to hear he was in Maine on the 11th - far from his home, but at least in the country. Well, they flew him to Texas, and he sat there for about a week. Then they flew him to Georgia, and he's been there since. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and he's stuck there - 9 hours from home. He's not allowed to just leave. It's some kind of BS about getting his orders extended, and the people who can do it not being available.

He'd really like to get home, for so many reasons. I can't imagine being stuck in limbo for weeks, especially away from my family, and especially right before the holidays. ESPECIALLY after serving overseas in a war for a year!

venusfire

I don't know about you, but I am very excited at the prospect of these same people running our health care.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Gary and Alla, your comment is inconsiderate and inappropriate. It can also be seen as a baiting comment or an attempt to derail this thread. Please do not use someone else's problems as a platform for scoring your political 'brownie points'.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I don't know about you, but I am very excited at the prospect of these same people running our health care.

The defense department is going to run health care?

[sjr09 155]

For any regulars here who want to see ZQT permanently banned...please speak up here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t&p=3584255

Locked?

[sjr09 155]

Gary and Alla, your comment is inconsiderate and inappropriate. It can also be seen as a baiting comment or an attempt to derail this thread. Please do not use someone else's problems as a platform for scoring your political 'brownie points'.

Jeeezzzz that's not the 1st time!

[venusfire503 54]

An update - I don't have all the particulars, but he did somehow get home.

Yes, we were all relieved when he got back in the country, and I know we're lucky that he made it back alive (although, ironically enough, last week he was a passenger in a car that was hit by a young guy who was speeding and ran a red light - my brother made it through that ok, too). The thing is, it could ALWAYS be worse. Honestly, this doesn't even affect me directly - it's not like I'm going to get to see my brother any time soon, and if I hadn't heard about this from him, I never would've had a clue where he was or anything. I just feel bad for him that, after finally being allowed to leave Afghanistan, and thinking he was finally going home, he had to sit and wait for another 2 weeks doing nothing instead of being with his wife and young son.

I just needed to vent. I was thinking earlier (when I was away from the computer and didn't get to see all the responses) that I should've vented earlier, seeing that the problem was resolved soon after posting about it! Just a joke - I'm not superstitious or anything. I'm just really tired, and need to get to sleep.

Anyway, thanks to those who offered words of support. I really do feel bad for those who don't get to look forward to seeing their loved ones come back at all. At the same time, I think it was a shame my brother (and yes, many others) had to unnecessarily spend time away from family. Especially since they wouldn't just let him leave. I asked why his wife didn't just go there, and he said it's nearly impossible to get a flight anywhere right now (between the snow storm and the holidays).

Peace to all

venusfire

[scandal 951]

Glad that your brother made it!

Apparently the army doesn't see it as their responsibility to reunite soldiers with their families for the holidays.

There was a story on the NBC Nightly news tonight about a National Guard unit that was training in Wisconsin and furloughed to go home to South Carolina. However they needed the local community to pitch in to bring them home for the holidays.

Here's a link to the story:

http://www2.wspa.com/spa/news/local/articl...hristmas/31196/

A holiday hero’s homecoming had flags waving, people cheering, and tears flowing.

Around 200 members of the Army National Guard returned to South Carolina Wednesday from Wisconsin where they were training for deployment to Afghanistan.

This homecoming wasn’t going to happen until some South Carolinians raised $10,000 and Lowes pitched in $25,000 to bring these brave men and women home for Christmas and New Years.

“It was a long trip, a little too long sitting down, but it was well worth it to get home and see my family, be with my family for Christmas,” says Sgt. Mark Belue who was one of the returning soldiers.

The trip home is bittersweet though, the soldiers will depart for Afghanistan in January.

[MrsCat 6]

Glad he made it home. Sorry it was such a pain for him.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

This ROCKS!

[William33 110]

TOS violations removed along with associated posts.

[NickD 203]

If they gave that money to the troops they claim they need, our troops wouldn't have a problem. Obama is turning out to be just like Bush in this respect in claiming he needs 30 billion to send 30 thousand troops to Afghanistan. THAT'S A MILLION BUCKS PER TROOP!`

When I was in, they gave us literally a couple of bucks per month for a clothing allowance, but made us do very dirty things, but we had to maintain a full compliment of uniforms plus keep them super neat, that was costing well over half our paychecks! When it came time for leave, all of us were dead broke.

George Washington was the one and only president that exposed himself to the exact same hardships as his troops, causing congress to make the president the commander in chief of the armed services. It's criminal the way this country treats it's troops and they even expect them to die for their freedom. Even today, if married, our troops need to get food stamps. Now those working for government contractors, that is a far different story.