Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   will trump announce a RIF today at 3:00? Date:   1/20/2019 5:23:16 PM

The point is that there is no "free" healthcare.  Yes, there are vacation days which are quite generous after you have been there 15 years - most civilians do not use all of their vacation days- which by the way, they get in trouble when they don't.  Yes, there is the ability to accrue sick leave - but govt employees don't get disability like other workers, so if you are out for 6 weeks, and you don't have 6 weeks of accrued six leave - then you don't get paid.   As far as the "free air travel" - in as many trips that I took, I never once made money on it - yes, I got a ticket - for the cheapest price, not usually conveniently routed, and always in steerage.  Have you ever sat for 15 hours in steerage?  And the hotels that per diem pays for?  Not exactly luxury, and most of the time, it didn't include enough money to cover the cost of meals.  

And yes there is a bureaucracy.  I don't know where you worked that had all those senior and field grade officers in one place, but here is a hint.  The military is set up to follow a chain of command  - innovation and creative thiking is not discouraged, but you have to be able to sell it.   You have to expect to be questioned and to prove that your way is the right way.  But keep in mind - the military is set up so that if one soldier falls, the next steps up and carries on.  When you are in combat, there is no time for discussion, debate, building consensus.  You have to trust that those around you know what they are doing.  Now, when yhou work in the Pentagon, there is plenty of time for discussion, white papers, meetings, etc - but if you are not a person that can organize your thoughts , be logical and concise, you will not be entertained.  No innocation?  Ever hear of Joint Stike Fighter?  Well, I led a team to come up with viable ways to export technology information, and methods with foreign companies, some of the most sensitive technology that exists (and believe me, you would not believe the innovation in that airplane).  It was the first time we had a co-development of the most sophisicted technologies with other foeeign companies (so the countries buying could sell the buy of the F-35 to their own govenments with workshare).  

If you foudn you weren't suited to the military or the governmental work, well , it was probably a good thing you did something else.  I'm not trying to impress anyone with what I did, becasue it was over 11 years since I worked anywhere; however, before people start throwing around terms like "non-essential" and "RIF" so casually, and I hear you talking about "slugs", well, it gets my Irish up.