Military Elitism.

[Zeke]

A strength and condition coach at LSU taped a note with names on it to his door denoting players that had been missing workouts. On a Razorback sports board, an intellectual struggle ensued as to whether this was leadership or being a whiny bee-yatch.

Eventually, a typically polite E-9 Air Force guy whose entire identity seems to come from his stripes rolled in and pissed all over everything. I offered some choice jabs but, eventually, gave up the below.

Am I way off?

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I feel the need to be very clear here in order to maintain the absolute truth that this is not personal. (It's not.)

I am not anti military. In fact, I was an Air Force brat who learned to read and write English in Great Britain. Have any of you wondered why my prose has an occasional odd lilt? That's why. Formative years never really go away.

In any event, the presumption might be that I am completely unaware of sacrifice made by many within our Armed Forces. That is a false presumption. But so is, in general, the presumption that any of those sacrifices were made selflessly as our military is not conscripted any more than is a job at Denny's. There was a choice and I didn't prod anyone. That many desire a pedestal beyond all of their entitlements merely indicates a level of immediate displeasure with the choice. (Long-term healthcare and 75% of pay with retirement by mid 40's, on my tax dime, isn't enough for a job I didn't ask you to do?)

Currently, wearing a uniform for a position your volunteered for then whining about the hours is a lot more like being a dealer at a casino than engaging in a Sisyphean struggle in support of my freedom. (And, as an American Indian, I possess a bit of historical perspective on the military and my freedom but that is not germaine to this discussion.) You CHOSE and get many benefits for it. Hero worship isn't part of the package.

In sum, I have absolutely nothing against members of the military with their heads on straight who know their place in society.

I feel the same about strength and conditioning coaches.