If I remember, he's in pilot training, which means he actually is working harder then many enlisted probably...trying to squeeze in what would be 2 to 4 years of training at a school...into one year of military pilot training can be very intense to say the least.
I wasn't saying that what he was doing wasn't important or on one level or another not difficult or, indeed, not work. I was simply stating, from enlisted man to officer, in a manner that hopefully he would understand was a playful jab, that he doesn't actually work. You know, being an officer and all. I could have dropped a few Air Force jabs in there, too, but out of respect, did not. If he doesn't see it now, he will soon enough: officers don't work. It is both tradition, and unwritten regulation. They simply aren't supposed to. School is one thing, but once he's out "in the fleet" (don't know the AF equivalent, but close enough) he'll fully understand if he doesn't already.
Which of course brings up the question why the military tries to squeeze that amount of training into such a small amount of time, not just for Pilot training, but a few of their other schools (I think P.A. is one of those as well-that's a medical thing for you who are wondering what it is) too?
If you can't keep up with the training, you probably can't keep up with the evolving situations that can occur during the course of your work. The training is designed to be rigorous. In this way, they can weed out the "non-hackers that do not pack the gear to serve" in that particular field. The other part of this is that the military has a great deal invested both in the person being trained and the equipment that they are being trained to use. While in school the trainee isn't yet doing anything but learning. Once they're out doing what they were trained to do, they are providing skills and services that both justify the investment and improve (or at the very least maintain) the quality of the equipment that they were trained to run. The day you raise your hand and recite the "... to support and defend..." lines, you become someone's replacement. The sooner you can get out there to replace them, the sooner they can move on to a well deserved better assignment or retirement or even the simple freedom of an Honorable.
You also have to keep in mind that some, if not all, military training centers cut a lot of "fluff" credits out of the curriculum to help reduce the amount of schooling required. Meaning that when you go to learn how to poke a needle in someone's arm, they're not going to teach you how to write a 20 page report on the origins of needle poking because the class for that simply does not exist.
As long as they know their stuff though, it's okay...just seems a little hard on students maybe. And probably very intense. So I'd say he's definately working rather hard probably...at least if he's passing and trying to get fighters.
I didn't fly a plane (in fact, in my chosen field, if we heard a plane, it wasn't a good thing, either for us (sub hunter plane) or the plane (downed plane?)) or take schooling to learn such things; but I can understand exactly where Tus is with school and where he is going to be when he is done. I took the Navy's three step program to running and operating a nuclear reactor and associated equipment. It was hard on the students and staff, and very intense. Long, dry, boring coursework just to find out that, with the exception of the "basics", I had to relearn everything. And to top it off, there's the weekly training to make sure you still know what you're supposed to know.
Tus, just treat your crew like people, and you will never have to work again (and if you are going for piloting a fighter, is that really work?). And be watchful of the Senior Enlisted. You need to trust his/her judgment, but not so much you fall for one of the famous military gags (formerly known as harmless hazing, since hazing was outlawed).
Czar "I was writing when the others posted," Mohab
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