military training Archives

Decisiveness, Tenacity & Initiative Make Veterans the Best Employees

August 19, 2016/in Employment, Jobs, Military Veteran, Veteran News

When it comes to the characteristics that make employees the most valuable, the list is pretty long. But there are a few extra boxes that are ticked by military veterans that help make them among the most valued employees.

Decisiveness

Decisiveness is defined as being characterized by firmness and decision. Those who serve seldom have the luxury of long analysis when it comes to making a decision regarding a specific situation. They are trained to gather intel and understand it thoroughly. From the strength of a decision comes the ability to act. Being decisive is simply the most rational way to take on any problem. You observe the information you have available and then you decide what would be the most successful course of action. If you can’t get more data, decisive people simply make a decision based on the facts available.

Tenacity

Veterans know all about persistence and perseverance. Regardless of their branch of service, these former military members went through rigorous and demanding basic training (boot camp) in preparation for military service.

Initiative

Initiative is defined as an individual’s action that begins a process, often done without direct managerial influence. Anyone who has served in the military learns to follow orders. But through their training, they also learn that they may be faced with situations that requires them to take action in the absence of orders. If something needs to be done, they don’t have to wait to be told.

So if you are an employer and you’re thinking of hiring veterans, keep in mind that there is value in these potential employees that goes beyond the specialized skills they learned in the military. The very nature of being in the military has given them attributes unlike those that people can gain through any other type of employment.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, and their families.

Army Looks to Tackle Anger Amongst Combat Vets

August 6, 2016/in Military Veteran, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Veteran News

By Debbie Gregory.

It is not uncommon for military veterans to join police forces and vice versa. Both jobs offer a strong sense of teamwork and reliance on others in life-or-death situations — in platoons and out on patrol.

That’s part of the reason why these attacks on police by former military men have touched a nerve among veterans who traditionally share a close bond with law enforcement.

In light of the shooting deaths of police in Baton Rouge and Dallas by former service members, the Army is trying to better understand why as many as 40 out of every100 troops return from war struggling with anger and aggression.

Whether there is a link between their military service and the shootings is unknown. And military researchers have been studying the issue of anger for almost a decade.

We all get angry sometimes; it’s part of being human. But if anger is expressed in ways that are harmful to ourselves or someone else, or persists for a long time, it can become a problem.

Reacting to a threat with immediate action, rather than freezing, is an important part of military training. The problem is, a lot of veterans have trouble turning off that survival instinct once they get home.

It is thought that anger and aggression may be linked to combat-zone ailments, including disrupted sleep patterns and recurring nightmares For some veterans, anger can be related to another mental health problem like depression, post traumatic stress disorder, alcohol and other drug use.

Amy Adler, an Army clinical research psychologist, said while military studies show the presence of anger and aggression in some troops returning from war, it remains uncertain whether those emotions reach the kind extreme behavior exhibited in the recent spate of shootings of police.

“I don’t think we know that,” Adler said.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, and their families.

Military Connection: Battle for Los Angeles? By Debbie Gregory

December 11, 2014/in Archived Blogs

Residents of the Los Angeles area may see a little more of the U.S. military on their city streets than they’re used to. Now, through December 16th, USMC and Navy personnel from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) will be holding urban combat training exercises in downtown Los Angeles, as well as in other parts of L.A. County.

The mission of the MEU is to provide a rapid-response force, capable of conducting operations from the sea, surface or air. In order to prepare for circumstances that they might see in actual combat situations, the Marine Corps felt it necessary to diversify their training experiences. This exercise in downtown Los Angeles is known as Realistic Urban Training (RUT).

Approximately 2,400 military personnel will raid and clear buildings, and shoot paintballs from modified M-15 rifles as part of the RUT exercise. While these exercises are supposed to occur away from the public, residents have been able to see and hear military helicopters and other aircraft over the exercise area.

The Marine Corps is not giving the exact location or schedule for when the RUT exercises will take place. This is an intentional move to deter the public from becoming spectators who could possibly interfere with the drills. The Marine Corps coordinated with officials from every level of government to prepare for the urban combat training, and they also made sure military and local air traffic would not conflict, Block said.

Several exercises are scheduled for the nearly two-week training event that will train Marines to conduct tactical strikes in a major metropolitan area. Residents will not be in any danger, as no residents live in the spots where the simulated combat will take place. But L.A. residents should keep their eyes open in order to possibly get a brilliant display of the U.S. Marines at work, flying into downtown on V-22 Ospreys and other aircraft.

“Realistic urban training allows the Marines and sailors of the 15th MEU to exercise vital skills to better prepare them for what they may face while forward deployed,” said 15th MEU commanding officer Col. Vance L. Cryer. “Bringing together the entire Marine Air-Ground Task Force in an exercise such as this one allows us quality, realistic training that is essential for unit readiness.”

The RUT exercises will also includes training in Northern California, and on military bases in Nevada and Arizona. It will be the most widespread area the 15^th MEU has used for an urban combat training exercise.

The U.S. Marine Corps has previously held similar training in Atlanta, Memphis and other major U.S. cities.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: Battle for Los Angeles? By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: USAF Prepares for Future Foes: By Debbie Gregory

August 4, 2014/in Archived Blogs

Since 2001, the U.S. military has been engaged in constant warfare against enemies who do not possess anywhere near the level of technology and training that our forces have. Because the fighting has been mainly ground combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, our Air Force has been mostly grounded, in terms of both fighting aerial battles and researching new advancements in warfare that would be needed to fight an opponent closer to our technological equal.

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most of the budget for every military branch was spent on manpower and logistics needed for those campaigns. Training for fighting advanced military forces took a backseat.

Now that our forces are currently out of Iraq and in the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan, the Air Force is the first branch to jump at the opportunity to prepare itself to fight an adversary that possesses advanced weaponry and defense systems.

This entails training jet pilots to combat surface-to-air missiles, in order to expose them to as-close-to combat scenarios as possible. During the Vietnam War, the Air Force discovered that most pilots were going to get shot down within their first ten combat missions. With that in mind, if the Air Force can make their training as complex and representative to combat as can be, they can almost provide the equivalent of the pilots’ first ten missions in a training environment, thus sending more experienced pilots into the skies.

One of the main training centers for training of this type is held at Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas. Nellis is home to the Air Force’s Red Flag air combat exercise. Red Flag provides Air Force pilots with the intense, chaotic training regiments that are intended to replace a new pilot’s first ten missions. Programs such as Red Flag saw a huge drop in funding during the past twelve years of war.

With constant threats of war looming in several corners of the world, the danger of possibly having to fight an opponent closer to our operational capabilities is real. Russia’s daily infringement on Ukraine’s sovereignty, the war in Gaza, and the ever-present possibility of increased tensions with North Korea, Iran and a number of other nations could send America to war with countries that are equipped with weapons more advanced than those of Al Qaida and the Taliban.

Let us hope that diplomacy will continue to keep our nation’s citizens and interests safe from harm. But our military needs to be prepared in case the day comes when diplomacy fails.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.