i was in the u.s. Army for 8 years i was an airborne ranger i got out of the millitary in september 07 when i got out i was guna join the local swat team who was accepting apps. after an interview i was told that they were worried that i would be to fast acting for the unit reverting back to my millitary ways. and that being i had ben in to combat,several times that i would flash backs and step back into combat mode. i served this country now either i am to dangerous or over quailfed for every job. now i am a liscensed builder but my question is why are most soldiers builders are we really that bad?
man that totally blowes that you got shot down for SWAT. i am currently active duty AF i know i "should have gone army" well actually i have thought that several times specially lately. i have a friend who got out of the Marines here pretty recently, he was having a hard time getting a job. people kept telling him he was over qualified. when he was in the service his job was counter terrorism. anyways he ended up working for a christian college for a while and now he is a cop. people don't seem to know or understand alot about the military and the media doesn't help.
Yeap, welcome to the "Thank you for your service but we don't want you near our women and children, you cold hearted bastard" club. I was too 'over trained' / 'over skilled' for any law enforcement opportunties. Oh well. This job pays much better and I don't have to deal with too many pricks/arseholes now. Now, I was a Treadhead. I just can't imagine how it'd be with an Earth Pig having to deal with this crap...:whistling
Considering I work mostly with ex Army friends in construction, I don't see the problem. Keep up the spirits HUHh - Find some like minded people and start showing em how wrong they are.
I find most of my friends ( 2 -3 tours in Iraq ) are good guys with work ethics not easily found today. Looking at where USA is headed ....... Your skills will be needed greatly real soon!
Remember its us that need to get adjusted to you!
Everything else doesn't matter.
I have a bunch of friends who are deputy's or officers. In fact another friend of mine just graduated from the sheriff's academy a couple of months ago and the head of the class was a military guy back from overseas. Out here the sheriff's dept, CHP, or LAPD is always looking for people. Most of the local police departments usually only hire people who are already in. So once someone get's their foot in the door and get through the academy and out on the street with sheriff's, CHP, or LAPD they apply to the local agencies and do a lateral transfer.
Another close friend of mine started with sheriff's dept here in Southern California and after 3 years applied to a local agency in Northern California. He was hired and within 1 year he was on the swat team.
Thanks for your service. I really appreciate that you served our country.
I understand your plight to some extent. I am a USAF veteran, served in Southeast Asia 1972 to 1973, 552nd AEW & C Wing. I think everybody knows the kind of "welcome home" the veterans of that war received. So be it, like my Old Man (also a contractor and a WWII veteran) told me, "You've still got your arms and your legs, just press on with your head up and your mouth shut."
I wasn't in the infantry, but I have and still do employ veterans who were. I think contsruction work is something of a familiar comfort zone for a combat vet. Beats the hell out of sitting under flourescent lights all day. And my Hilti jackhammer definitely reminds me of an M-60. It is just my opinion, but I think a lot of people (certainly not all) who "support our troops" are just following the crowd because it has become the politically correct thing to do. It's not as acceptable now to denigrate our men and women serving in the wars. But I'm sure many a vet out there knows that we are always somewhat under suspicion by people who haven't been where we've been, as possibly being whacked out demolished baby killers who could blow any minute. On my current job, the architect of record is an Ivy League butthead who thinks all contractors are just grunts. I was wearing my National Rifle Association baseball cap one day on the job site and he made an offhand smart-ass comment to me which sounded like nothing more than a thinly veiled opinion that I might be prone to climbing a tower with a rifle if the stress of the job got any worse. I offered an invitation to him to come out to my truck and see my AR-15 Bushmaster. Declined.
I went through something very similar. And Im thankful for it. At least this way you can make some coin. I think the real reason is that most of those guys are REMFS and are jealous/ intimidated when they see tabs and a CIB. Welcome to the club brother.
I went through something very similar. And Im thankful for it. At least this way you can make some coin. I think the real reason is that most of those guys are REMFS and are jealous/ intimidated when they see tabs and a CIB. Welcome to the club brother.
Good point. I wonder if Trades01 would have heard that same opinion about his qualifications for SWAT if the person interviewing him and making the decisions had been a combat vet whose service record equaled or exceeded Trades01.
In the USAF, upon returning to the states, one had to be cautious when dealing with someone of higher rank that had not flown missions in a hot area, or been overseas at all.
Thanks for serving. What a lot of people don't get is that it doesn't matter if the war is right, wrong, or what the popular opinion of it is. What is important is that the tradition of volunteering to put your life on the line in the military for the freedom of this country continues on. And those who would follow the collective thinking that men and women who do serve and then return are used up and unfit ain't exactly the best way to acknowledge the person's service.
I'll get off my soapbox. It's just that I get a little red-assed when I hear about someone finding out that their combat record actually counts as strikes against them. Everybody's a friggin' psychiatrist when it comes to veterans.
??!!! Total side note, but are you saying that where you are from they hire Civis right off the street for SWAT? Every place I know you have to start out just like everyother cop, on the street working the beat, prove yourself there...and work your way up...
First off Trades01 - thanks for serving. No your not that bad nor are 95 -99% of those that have served - however there are some misconceptions out there & some have given rise to said beliefs.
TBF - Depending on the Police Dept, Sheriff's Office, Federal Dept, etc... those with prior service (especially MP, sniper's, etc...) can sometimes get hired directly into a SWAT unit, or as a Detective, without having to work there way up. A Civi - generally not a chance in H#!! because they have no experience or training. This particular dept was probably trying to poached off of departments that have had already trained said officers.
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