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	Name:	MrHodja -
	Subject:	Any Particular Reason
	Date:	11/13/2009 5:18:27 PM

True, military don't have to pay into a retirement system, but do you understand the true cost of moving every 2, 3, or 4 years? Short of a BRAC, do civilians have to move nearly as often? Have you ever been forced, as a family of four, to live in a 560 square foot house?

I have said time and time again that there are truly professional civil servants that perform magnificently - but there are also dolts who feed on the largess of the government and epitomize the old adage (from a civilian instructor in my basic comm officer's course in 1968) of the Civil Service Rocket: You can't fire it because it won't work.

Strides have been made in the method compensation is awarded to civil servants that at least help to make government civilians work harder, but the rules for expulsion are so complex that most supervisors just put up with substandard performance. And, by the way, I kind of know because I have significant personal experience with the civilian workforce with my Navy customer because it is 99% civilian.

And I have also said on many occasions that I have no reason to doubt that Hound - or Feb, are among the dolts of which I speak. I believe each to have been dedicated to their jobs and to doing the best they can. On the other hand I sense a bit of a "chip on the shoulder" attitude from Hound regarding civil servants and their contributions. She has nothing to fear from me - I know the importance of both the civilian and uniformed side to the defense of our country. Just get tired some times of the continuing defensive attitude.

As an aside - but maybe germane - we just today lost a valued employee in Charleston. He retired from the Air Force and he and his wife wanted to make a go of it in Charleston, although their families were in the Greenville SC area. He stuck it out with us for 18 months, but he and Momma finally decided that, in spite of his good job with us, they wanted to go back to their roots. While it hurt us tremendously as a company, I and my Montgomery colleague (also a 22 year AF veteran), rather than showing sour grapes, actually gave him an award upon his departure. Bottom line is that he and his wife gave 23 years of their life going where the AF told them....and now it is their turn to live where they want.

So, to end the rambling I will simply say that while active duty members may not contribute in dollars to their retiremet, they earn every penny of it in a lot more ways that dollars can ever express.

And don't EVEN get me started on the implied promise of lifetime health care for the military.....

Nasreddin Hodja