I ran across this spoof motivational poster at the New York Time’s excellent At War blog.
It pretty much speaks for itself, but the accompanying blog post does point out that even some of the so-called “POGs” are warfighters stuck in a “rear-with-the-gear” job.
We saw plenty of both during our short stint in The Box (nothing’s as bad as Bagram, or at the time, Ali al Salim) but if you peel away the thick layer of paper pushers and TCNs, there’s some steely-eyed killers just chafing at the Green Bean Coffees and rug shops.
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Gives a new meaning to "Roll up the rim to win"
Alright, no making fun of the Canadians. : )
It always seemed incongruous to me to be living out of dirty DCUs and MREs for days on end to wake up to hot showers and lattes the next day without leaving our district.
Don't forget the Chinese and Filipina "massage" establishments.
Hey, no one forced anyone to join the infantry…I'll stick with my cushy chair and air conditioned office. I still will get the exact same retirement check. :)
I gotta give the guys on the frontlines credit though…It's a tough job and they do great.
maybe so, but you won't have the camaraderie that we grunts have. If I'm going to something for God and Country it will be in the Infantry.
Exactly, Infantry. Totally agree with you
You have no idea how true that is…camaraderie in my job is unheard of…truth be told, Infantry was what I wanted to do but then I got married and I'm not gonna leave my wife for 15 months.
Oh, man. The happy endings are completely mind blowing, and for only 20 bucks plus tip.
I must not have found that massage girl yet….does she have a name….lol
What a joke. When will the military learn you can take the "morale" thing too far….especially when the enemy can easily infiltrate a base and raise all kinds of mess…then those cappacinocoffeelattemilkshakes go right out the window…not only that, but when you promote a environment like the ones pictured, you create disparity in readiness
Ithink you are wrong about "morale". I believe the break away actually clears your mind and you are more ready to face the realities.
This is true all situations of life. You need a break from a bad situation to see it clearly.
It is nice to know you can get a steak sandwich at the end of the day at Subway in Camp Victory rather than wait until your year is up. It is the little things like that which help you get through the day. Think of when someone in your squad busts out the little stove and makes real coffee in the morning to get you going, or the cigars you carry just for the field.
As for the disparity between REMF's/POG's and infantry… that has always been there. POG's always have trucks to carry their coolers and twinkies to the field, while infantry is happy when the 1sg drives up with warm soda to sell for the 'company store'. From that resentment is where REMF came from.
I'm a MEDEVAC pilot and have never really known where to identify myself. I always feel like we're POG's, as we generally have nice built up compounds, never have to worry about convoys, etc, sleep in a bed every night and eat at the chow hall. However, we also go from playing Rock Band to hauling ass out to a hot POI (Point of Injury) within minutes. But everything is always so fast, furious, and hectic on a mission, you often never even realize the kind of danger you're in (ie, getting shot at, etc) until the post flight when you find bullet holes in your aircraft.
I guess, in the end, POG or not, a label is just a label. Because I couldn't be more proud of what we do. For all you infantry folks out there, if you ever get time on a FOB, I encourage you to find the MEDEVAC folks, as we'll always go out of our way to welcome you into our "home". And if you find yourself or one of your buddies having a really bad day outside of the FOB, you can trust that we'll do EVERYTHING we can to make sure you guys make it home!
As a former grunt who served in a war long ago where helicopters began to come into their own, I'll tell you where you belong: In the hearts of a grunts. There are soldiers and there are warriors, labels or not. The things medical evacuation helicopter crew members (and many other pilots) repeatedly do places them firmly in the latter category (especially among those of us who have required dust-off's).
I'd be curious to know how many of the ones disparaging the rear goodies have ever actually been in combat. I wasn't a grunt, but I was a loach gunner in the scouts in Vietnam and I'll tell ya, after a day or more of flying around with Charlie trying to kill me it was friggin' nice to come back to a hot shower and a half assed decent meal. The local 'steam and cream' was a nice touch every couple of weeks IF one got any time off. Usually that only happened when you were between helicopters having had the last one shot to pieces and waiting for its replacement. And my hat was always off to you MEDEVAC dudes. No armament, no weapons and flying into the same hailstorm of bullets I was in. If anyone ever gives you static about it, politely, but with forcefulness in your voice tell them to F.O.A.D.
Yawn, this is just the left mocking us and creating infighting so they can laugh at us
Be strong. Serve with Honor….no matter your position, location or vocation. I appreciate every soldier.
Boy you can tell I have been out for a long time, people complaining that the left is mocking soldiers because grunts hate the REMF'ers. That's been life in the military since Jesus was a private. Who built the log basis, fire bases, trains areas, etc? It wasn't the combat folks! I remember the first Gulf action, we were building log bases and supply points faster than we could count, I was afraid we would run out of letters in the alphabet. Theater support down to battalion support, we all had a job to do which materially contributed to the overall action. Hell, supply personnel were capturing Iraqi soldiers, probably both were lost! Kris B said it well: Be strong. Serve with Honor. Pushing pencils or pulling triggers, it takes both to make an army work.
Operation Desert Storm. I was the NBC NCO for E Trp 2/3rd ACR, the tip of the point of the 3rd ACR along the eastern flank. Lessee, we had M1A1 tankers and M3A-something scouts up front because they had the eyes forward and the big weapons. Then came the mortars and the fire support because they had the long shooters and the lasers. Then came TRP HQ where I was because we had a cranky ol' 1SG, .50 cals and anti-armor weapons if they got past the tanks and the mortars and the fire support calling in the artillery… so I was a combat support "bugs 'n gas" REMF/POGUE/NoBodyCares guy, and damned proud of it.
Hey, neither one of those pictures looks all that great to me! Those troops at the Green Bean don’t remind me of the soccer moms I see all around me everyday. You guys all rock, each and every one of you!!!! I have nothing but undying respect, admiration and love for all of you.
oops.
I was a HET driver in Iraq in '03-04 and 06-07,so I saw how things were for eveyone in camps and FOBs between my first deployment and last. I cant begrudge any MOS since I was parts clerk in my first 7 years. But i do hold exception to those that I have seen "fake it" or do whatever it takes to stay within the confines of camp.
When I was in Afghanistan 06-07, I saw both sides all too often. And I agree with the post about Bagram. That's a place where we went to war and a garrison broke out. Talk about Pogue central! Thankfully, I was only there a couple times a week at most.
Phoenix was bad enough and had its share of bums that never left post. Staff officers trying to explain how 'bad it is out there' while they kick back in their A/C'd huts and their Green Bean frappes all while trying to tell those of us on the roads daily how to run shit. Punks!
On the other hand, I became a staff punk while in Iraq 09-10. So, I could gripe about the boredom of being stuck on base. At least I talked to those on convoys and could relate with them from my previous deployment. Oh well, move up and you get hot coffee and A/C!
I started my career in 1990 first hitting the road in Operation Desert Storm and ended with Operation Iraqi Freedom with stops in every conflict we have had in between. The little places that have come in for moral are very welcome when you live in the dirt for weeks on end it's nice to have a hot shower and drinkable coffee for a day or two. I have now retired and miss the suck and bad coffee but I am glade that our men and women are out there carrying on and I hope they can enjoy the coffee and showers at least once in a while. I hope they all come home safe.
I have tremendous respect for what the guys kicking in doors do but the BS about being in the rear with the gear needs to stop. We are all on one team. Some one has to supply, feed, arm, and support those guys. Id' say rathern tahn be critical and start with the I'm more of a hero than you crap maybe they ought to be thankfull that thay have the best support in the world. Hey next time some of the guys outside the wire get in a jam I'd be happy to come an load their own bombs. Enough of the I'm better than you crap. We are a team. Remember those POGUES you disparage are supporting you!