Rubma:

The other point I forgot to bring up about downsizing and how it relates to your comments concerning the "kicking out" of those who are perfectly willing to serve. In the Navy, those that are currently targeted for "kicking out" are those that can't maintain body fat and physical readiness standards, high year tenures, and those in overmanned skills that don't wish to convert to an undermanned skill. Culling out the fat and inflexible dead weights isn't a bad thing. We are only as strong as our weakest link....

I am unfamiliar with the Navy policy on reducing forces. However, I completely agree on the idea of releasing people unwilling to maintain a “war fit” standard. I hate that high tenure people are being targeted. That amounts to “We are kicking you out, even though you have devoted 10, 15, 20 years of your life to serving your country. We don’t want to pay you a fair wage or give you the retirement pay we promised you. So here’s the door.”

The Air Force rif was not about pt standards or even high tenure. I personally know three men who have just been rifed and not one of them ever placed lower then the top 10/15% of their year groups. Men with awards and ribbons, stellar careers and 11 years in service. Several of the airmen rifed this time around where in the Iraq war zone when they were informed that they were no longer needed! My husband was one of these airmen. (So yeah I am biased here) We have lost everything the Air Force promised us. Our health insurance, our retirement plan, our life insurance, our whole future was wiped out because of money. And the fact that the Congress has decided that we are really, technically not at war.