Navy to lay off 3,000 mid-career sailors

US News/MSNBC ^ | 11/23/11 | Lea Sutton, KNSD

[Nachum]

SAN DIEGO -- Imagine joining the Navy ten years ago with a career in mind. Now, sailors with that career plan are getting pink slips as the military looks for places to save money.

Since June, 16,000 mid-career sailors have been waiting to find out if they will be forced out early.

Last week, the Navy began its layoffs when the first of two rounds of personnel cuts were announced.

Read the original story at nbcsandiego.com

"Nobody ever wants to pass this sort of bad news to somebody," said Captain Winton Smith, Naval Station San Diego's commanding officer. "It's a very difficult thing for any commanding officer to sit down with a hard charger and to tell them to prepare for the next chapter of their life.”

[SoJoCo]

Can we impeach him now? A little bit?

The military has been downsizing more or less consistently since the 90's. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. Won't be the last.

[MrEdd]

The military is not there to give you a career.
It is not there to give you an education.
It is not your travel agency.
It is not your mama, your daddy, or your pastor.
You may receive some or all of these things in the military, or you may not, but none of them are entitlements.

The military is there to protect the nation from violent harm.
From time to time it expands and contracts.

If you are in the military for a retirement, then you are in for the wrong reason.

Semper Fidelis

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

You don’t make it to a mid level 10 year career if you are a poor performer.That’s what the fat boy program is for LOL.

I believe the overall point is the overall military downsize under Clinton gutted the old school and now the total drawdown. China and Russia want us dwindled down while Obama vacays. Obama sings Kumbaya and they chinese they play joke...

[alloysteel]

The RIF (Reduction in Force) has been a policy for some time, when the military services are demobilizing. Apparently, there is less need for active duty military, as the overseas assignments are being wound down, and the resources and funding for the military are drying up.

Very soon, the now failing obama regime is going to declare a “peace dividend”, and rather than apply it to the deficit, will continue to shift such funds as are “saved” to their own schemes, having nothing to do with the general welfare or defense of the Constitional duties.

Nobody can be a “little bit” impeached, nor may they be removed “a little ways” from office. The whole job has to be done at one swoop, and the best we may hope for is that somebody that is “not-Obama” takes a seat in the Oval Office.

To be sure, Hillary would not be much of an improvement, but Herself is all the Democrats have right now. Herself COULD, by a most unusual set of circumstances, be in the Oval Office before next summer. All that has to happen is for Obama and Joe Biden to get out of the way.

Otherwise, grit your teeth, pray as if it all depended on the Lord, and work as if it all depended on you.

[elpadre]

if they must cut back, start with the huge Armed Force civilian component. I suspect civilians are in charge of personnel and making the choices.

[riverdawg]

Well said.

[brivette]

I was a navy nuke; hated it.

[vetvetdoug]

Carter redeux. From 1976-1980 the middle grade NCO class was raped in all branches. When Reagan took over, it took a major effort to rebuild the military middle grades, the backbone of the services.

[04-Bravo]

When I was active-duty in the mid 1970’s, such a downsize was called “Reduction In Forces”, shortened to RIF. If you were forced out or reclassified, you were “riffed.”

But I didn’t personally meet any enlisted personnel who were effected, only company-grade officers (O-1 through O-3) with reserve commissions via ROTC or OCS.

One prior captain (I can’t remember his MOS) who was now an E-5 told me he was forced out of active duty as an O-3, and had a choice of either going to reserve status as a captain, or staying on active duty reclassified to E-5.

[SnuffaBolshevik]

Same here. 74-78. It was a pretty bad time. Since the draft had just ended, they were taking just about anyone with a pulse. Dopers, drunks and thugs were not in short supply. Money must’ve been tight because I remember our Division Cdr. ordering the tank guys not to pivot steer because they didn’t have money for new track pads.

It seems the military is in much better shape now, but with Carter 2 in charge, that may not last.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

“Problems” these sailors have....against the gay policy?

[Tallguy]

Did they lay-off a few excess captains or admirals? Thought not...

[Tallguy]

Knew some Marines that were making E-4 and even E-5 in like 2 years back then. If you had anything “on the ball” during the Carter years of the Hollow Force, you could make junior NCO pretty quickly.

[Jacquerie]

They retire without billets to fill.

[blueunicorn6]

I’m sure they’ll be joining all those federal GS employees they’ve been laying off. Oh, that’s right, they’ve been hiring those. Democrats think the military is Republican and federal GS employees are Democrats. It doesn’t have anything to do with defense needs. It’s all politics.

[OldGoatCPO]

It was 1984/85, yes the great Reagan, furlowed tens of thousands of military personnel, including me, under the Graham Rudman Act. I was on an airplane flying back from Asia with about 200 Marines all holding a pink slip. Gunny's and Master Sergeants who thought they would still have a tour or two stateside to prepare for retirement were forced to retire with no warning. So forgive me if I have little love for Reagan. I was a single father on active duty when he made me redundant. The good news I learned how to be a civilian, worked two jobs for the better part of a year before Lockheed hired me. Eventually, I reenlisted in the Marine Reserves. In 1993, the Corps was cutting Reserve billets again, I had to choose either risk remaining a Marine or jump ship for a sure retirement in the Navy. One thing the first lay off taught me, there is no loyalty in the Corps when the budget is cut, I did not wait, jumped ship to the Navy, was recalled permanently to active duty in 2000, retired in 2009. I am a Vietnam era vet, who by Gods good grace and a understanding of the convoluted DoD system, I stuck around long enough to retire. Sadly, what I did is literally impossible now. Almost everyday I tell squared away young Marines how to find work using vet sites, how to contact the railroads or DHS etc. In many I see myself in 1985, clueless about being a civilian and a family to support. I try to help them, but unlike 1985 the economy sucks.

[Mr. Wright]

THIS IS TRULY OBAMACARE.

[kearnyirish2]

I remember a couple of years ago there was a “blue-to-green” program where they basically wanted excess Navy & Air Force personnel to move over to the army; they probably didn’t get many takers, because the fact is they really needed people just to drive those vehicles that were getting attacked with IEDs. Servicemen probably figured that whatever they had been when they wore blue, they’d all be driving vehicles when they wore green.

[tacticalogic]

I was a navy nuke; hated it.

Son is a glow-worm bubblehead. He says conditions have gotten steadily worse in the last couple of years, and everyone he's talked to on the boat says they won't re-up again.

[OldGoatCPO]

In Carter years it depended on MOS, I could not get promoted in Admin so I went Avionics and made E-4 almost overnight and E-5 two years later. I ran into Admin Marines I knew still stuck at E-3 or E-4. It was really all about getting into a technical MOS back than.