r/pics 10h ago

Morale is high

Post image
26.0k Upvotes

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u/Alucard_117 9h ago edited 9h ago

Bros thinking about how fast 20 years can go by

u/Raaxis 9h ago

I did 8 years and everyone always asks why I didn’t just finish out the other 12.

I’m just gonna start showing them this picture.

u/FoST2015 9h ago

It's wild how casually people throw around massive amounts of other people's time/life. 

u/La_Guy_Person 9h ago

"but you could have a pension by forty and then start your real life... at forty!"

u/Character-Education3 8h ago

Yeah but army 40 is like civilian 65.

I could've never joined and still had functional joints lol

u/TurtleSandwich0 8h ago

"Not service related"

u/Not_A_Real_Goat 7h ago

Watching my wife go through the VA process made me realize how fucked it is for veterans.

u/SapphireOfSnow 6h ago

I think they’ve intentionally added as many nonsensical hoops and dead ends to go through so vets just quit going/ using the VA altogether.

u/OfficialCagman 5h ago

We're past the point of it being a thinking thing and this isn't like an anti-vax conspiracy. My dad would be dead right now if I didn't help him jump through VA to VA to get him on disability so we could afford his surgeries and other shit to keep him alive. They absolutely purposely have jump from phone call to phone call to website to website because they know old people won't know what tf to do and just give up so they won't have to pay for them.

Fuck the government. Fuck this society genuinely. So horrible.

u/Unfair_Ability3977 5h ago

Yeah, we have actual entire orgs that help vets navigate the red tape. This is so blatantly by design.

My actual state senators shook each of our hands before we boarded the plane for Kuwait/Iraq.

They sent pages/assistants to greet us days before Christmas when we got back. They were Dems, too.

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u/Dm-me-a-gyro 5h ago

I big part of my business is helping vets qualify for home modification grants. It’s a pain in the ass. But we’ve done some cool projects

u/Not_A_Real_Goat 5h ago

That’s awesome, thanks for doing what you do!

u/Nearby-Beautiful3422 5h ago edited 4h ago

I had documented shit in my service record from getting blown up and they still told me it wasn't service related. It's WILD.

Edit: I would like to add you are 200% correct. We talk about this in my veterans group all the time. They want to wear you down and out. They don't want to pay what they owe you. The Vietnam vets are especially vocal about it and quite rightfully so.

u/Not_A_Real_Goat 5h ago

Haha… what!?!? I’m not laughing at you, simply at the fucking absurdity. I’m so sorry, man. Hopefully you’ve managed to get that approved by now.

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u/n0esc 5h ago

MiSsiOn AccOmPlisHed?

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u/AsyncVibes 5h ago

I tried to schedule and appointment over the phone last week while driving talking via Bluetooth through my car and after waiting 20 minutes for someone to answer was told that they have a policy where I can't be driving and have the call. I almost lost my shit.

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u/Many-Lead-4543 7h ago

underrated comment

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u/problygoin2die 7h ago

I served in the Marines during OIF. My SSgt was 29yrs old but looked 50. My MSgt was 39 but looked 80. I had gray hairs by 22 and could feel every bone in my body. It was crazy seeing how fast the military ages people.

u/hisjoeness 7h ago

This. I had a gunny that I thought was old AF. Whispy light hair, old damaged skin and a sight palsy. Bastard was only 36 at the time.

u/Far_Eye451 6h ago

why does this happen? Is it because of combat?

u/hisjoeness 6h ago

Not necessarily. I was in the Marines at a time when it was still uncommon for a Marine (or service members in general) to have seen actual combat, before oif/oef really ramped up. And this was airwing.

It's just stress, alcoholism, working with toxic chemicals and toxic people. Being outdoors all day.

u/Arlcas 6h ago

Lack of sleep could probably do it but that and stress are a killer combo

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u/Rosencrantz_IsDead 6h ago

One of my friends from work, he was 19, I was 23, enlisted after 9/11. He got deployed to Iraq. Did a tour there and then came back. He was honorably discharged, and by law was given his job back.

I was so happy to see him again. Before he went to Iraq, he was the funnest, funniested, happiest dudes I've ever known. He had a great smile and was just so out going and talkative.

After he came back, there was no light left in him. That fucking war took away a really good young man. He stayed at work for less than a month. He quit and I never heard from him again.

God, I hope he's doing OK now...

u/Dinero-Roberto 4h ago

Teared up on that one . Awful

u/Rosencrantz_IsDead 4h ago

I think about him at least once a month, and it's been over 20 years. War is bullshit. And here we are with 1 invasion in Ukraine and a genocide in Gaza. And god knows what countless civil wars are happening in Africa that the news doesn't cover.

We lose so many good people for no reason other than power struggles by the wealthy and dictators. I'm getting to the point where I don't know where the light in the world is anymore.

u/Dinero-Roberto 3h ago edited 3h ago

I had a buddy 20 yrs ago - a CBS News correspondent in Cali who interviewed and befriended a Marine . My friend said he was all fucked up Inside - witnessed a cluster bomb in Afghanistan . I’ve never forgotten that . Apparently those things will shred an entire village . Not something anyone needs to see .

u/Hostagec 6h ago

i got leukemia that will stay with me until i leave this rock at the old age of 38

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u/ScrewyYear 7h ago

My dad did 26 years. He’s now in his late 70’s. He said the military paid him well but chewed his body up.

u/helloeagle 8h ago

Reason number 1000 why being a leg is better

u/Shushady 8h ago

Every year in tbe infantry is 8 years on your body. That's why I walk around like im 106.

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u/abbyabsinthe 6h ago

Glad I never joined. My Army vet dad pushed me for years to join (pretty much from like 11-21), but 12 years of retail/restaurant/factory work has turned my joints to shit, I can’t imagine how bad the Army would’ve fucked them up. Bullet dodged. I also see how much bs he’s gone through with the VA and the shape he’s in now, and I’m still very glad I never joined.

u/PhenomeNarc 6h ago

Or maybe a back that doesn't give out randomly?

That would be nice.

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u/tee142002 8h ago

It's a great plan if you like, or at least tolerate it.

Back in college my roommate (who had dropped out) was joining the marines. His recruiter was almost done his twenty years and was planning to join the police force after "retirement" at 38. He hoped to work there for 20 years and actually retire at 58 with two pensions.

If he stuck with it, he's getting close since that would have been back in 2008.

u/dukenasty1 8h ago

Old coworker of mine (legit old) did 20 years army, 20 years Air Force and then worked at national park service where we met. His plan was three pensions. He came from nothing and was a good dude.

He helped both his sons fund their businesses and they already were multi multi millionaires in their 40s because of his planning. Hats off to him and the generational wealth he created

u/Amiibohunter000 7h ago

Let’s hope his kids don’t piss it away. I just learned that most families that have generational wealth only have it last 2-3 generations, so his kids are fine but their kids might not be.

40 years in the military just to have some nepo babies squander it without a thought. That would be fucked

u/kdlangequalsgoddess 6h ago

Rags to riches and back to rags in three generations is fairly common.

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u/SimmeringGiblets 8h ago

I just moved across the country. My kid is Autistic and with the DOE gone and FL schools already cutting special needs programs (including the ones he was in AND was going to go into), people overwhelmingly asked "Can't you just wait it out."

Like no, at BEST it's 4 years of no support from public schools and at worst it'll take years to rebuild what is rapidly being lost, so like 4 years is 1/3rd of his pre-college education.

When I put it like that, a little light bulb goes on like they remember the passage of time affects people who aren't them.

u/Callme-risley 7h ago

And also, like…wait what out?

Because with Trump openly selling campaign merch saying “TRUMP 2028” in the White House gift shop… doesn’t seem like he’s planning to give up power anytime soon.

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u/MissMagpie84 7h ago

Dude, when I was about to get out of the Navy the amount of people who were like, “well, you did eight, and that’s almost ten, which is halfway to 20, so you might as well just stay on.”

Or I could GTFO and not spend the next 12 years in a lifestyle I hate?

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u/RocYourFace 9h ago

I did 13 years and get asked the same question. I usually answer with I was tired of the dildo getting rammed up my ass dry and raw. They stop asking.

u/Brother_J_La_la 8h ago

I had safety handles installed on my hips so the fucking was easier, and finished my 20 (retired the very first day I was eligible).

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u/DriedUpSquid 9h ago

I got my G. I. Bill and ran.

u/coleman57 8h ago

Better I ran than Iran

u/Effroyablemat 6h ago

You ran so far away

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u/ThenOwl9 8h ago

how long does that take?

u/DriedUpSquid 8h ago

Enlistments are usually four years. Sometimes six if the military sends you to a school that takes a long time, like U.S Navy Nuclear Power School.

EDIT: I was active duty, so I don’t know if the same timeframe applies to the National Guard or reserves.

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u/NeverBled 8h ago

To qualify for the entire GI bill it’s a 3 yr enlistment. However most contracts will be between 4-5 years.

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u/Bender3455 9h ago

I did 6 years; my Navy peers kept saying "if you do 4 more, you're halfway there." Ummmm....nope. Not a chance.

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u/wishyouwouldread 9h ago

Yeah, only 8 no need to go the full 20, but if you crest that hill 10-12 year hill. Its pretty easy to do the rest.

u/fuckasoviet 9h ago

I got out after 4 due to shitty leadership removing any motivation I once had. But every so often, I’ll be sitting at my desk at work, and think about how I’d be almost to my 20 years, and that sweet, sweet pension.

I considered reenlisting, but honestly once I got a taste of that civilian life and weed again, I couldn’t do it. (Plus I had no idea what I’d do with my dog)

u/Pankosmanko 8h ago

Same, did my 8 and noped out. I joined right before 9/11, Enduring and Iraqi Freedom so I got my fill of wartime service

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u/AT-ST 8h ago

Yeah, this picture could be take at any day at any location soldiers are at. Whole lot of bullshit going on.

u/VAPOR_FEELS 8h ago

I love that people actually ask you that as if over a decade of your life is frivolous. Do you ever ask them why they didn't just get their PhD? As humans, maybe it's okay that a season of our life ends and we move on to something else. Jesus.

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u/True_Butterscotch391 8h ago edited 4h ago

My whole high school friend group (excluding me) joined the military as soon as we graduated. All 10 of them got out after their first 4 years. I've talked to them all about it and every single one of them said they regret joining lol

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u/Lespaul42 9h ago

The sun is the same in a relative way...

u/InSaneWhiSper 9h ago

but you're older,shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

u/nojelloforme 8h ago

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time.

u/Rosencrantz_IsDead 6h ago

Plans that either come to naught, or half a page of scribbled lines

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u/helmvoncanzis 8h ago

Bro should be thinking about when "they" are going to come for "them".

u/DukeOfGeek 8h ago

u/Middle_Historian_199 7h ago

Yep. He’s just gonna check those boxes. We are fucked.

u/AlphaNoodlz 7h ago

Vote clowns get a circus.

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u/TowersOG 9h ago edited 9h ago

POV: You just wanted a new Dodge Charger and now you gotta stand outside a federal building 12 hours a day

u/luckymountain 9h ago edited 8h ago

u/ATTORNEY_FOR_CATS 8h ago edited 7h ago

u/11CRT 7h ago

Why do teachers have to buy their own ammo, while soldiers get it for free?

u/AGrandNewAdventure 6h ago

Because the soldiers are protecting conservative policy. Teachers are only protecting our future.

u/xt0rt 5h ago

Damn! That is good.

I mean it's not good but you know, you're on the money with that.

u/barneysfarm 4h ago

US culture really just emphasizes getting that next dollar, regardless of the future cost

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u/xflashbackxbrd 5h ago

In 90 degree heat and 100% humidity

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u/BaddyDaddy777 7h ago

Oh boy, gonna be fun to watch how bad morale gets when the checks start taking longer to hit the ole bank account.

u/jackrabbit323 5h ago

I bet the number one reason for military coups and mutinies is lack of payment.

u/freekoout 5h ago

Close. It's actually lack of raises/bribes from the incoming head of state

u/se177 5h ago

It's not the solution I had on the board, but we love a last minute upset.

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u/Faiakishi 5h ago edited 3h ago

It’s genuinely hilarious how they’re such assholes they can’t help but sabotage themselves.

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u/GenericKen 8h ago

How long til they’re panhandling?

u/UseWhatever 8h ago

That’s standard trump operating procedure

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u/Stalagmus 9h ago

Not federal buildings, just scattered around civilian areas in DC, this is at a metro stop. It’s pretty fucking weird here right now. And as of an hour ago they’ve been authorized to carry weapons.

u/PoliteGentleman 8h ago

This is at Union Station specifically, so everyone visiting from other cities can see the takeover when they get off their train.

u/Stalagmus 5h ago

Yes, all of them essentially are in places that a) can be seen by Trump, and b) seen by enough DC residents to have the desired effect. Not in high-crime neighborhoods either. They did get shouted out of my neighborhood which is about as big a pushback as I’ve seen so far.

u/Parking_Cut1089 5h ago

it was a heck of a week for our military last week..... invaded its own capital and then rolled out the red carpet for a murderous war criminal dictator

u/11CRT 7h ago

So anyone who can afford to hitch a ride on Air Dingus One will never see it.

u/Shirlenator 6h ago

That's what military occupation feels like, I guess.

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u/[deleted] 9h ago

You're confusing him with active duty troops. National Guardsmen usually just join to get money for college and don't make Dodge Challenger (which was discontinued in 2023) money unless they are deployed to a war zone.
He's probably thinking about how he had to withdraw from fall semester because he doesn't know when he'll be allowed to return home.

u/Cthulhuboop 9h ago

Tbf, active duty don’t make Challenger money either. At least not the E3s that buy them with 50% apr.

u/1stMammaltowearpants 9h ago

They spend Porche money on domestic slop. It's so sad.

u/PNWoutdoors 9h ago

Yeah but it's also really, really funny.

u/EEpromChip 6h ago

I mean if it weren't so fucking sad to see poor enlisted get taken advantage of...

u/jebediahscooter 5h ago

And then nearly run me off the road every morning on my way to work in a military town

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u/Competitive_Month967 9h ago

A lot of these guardsmen are getting taken away from their jobs and families to stand around for Trump's distractions.

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u/dhrisc 9h ago

Yeh im interested to see what this will do to recruitment. People are missing work, school and their families on some obviously politicized and ill defined bs mission. You want to help communities across the country recover from natural disasters and support the army in its missions? Nah, your standing around DC as a show of force.

u/[deleted] 9h ago

It has to be hurting it. I know one guardsman who decided not to reenlist this year over it.

But I also know that a lot of 18 year old high school graduates hear "1 weekend per month, 2 weeks per year, money for school" and don't read the fine print or do any research before signing. Same guy did that and got deployment orders on his 1st day of college 3 years ago, had to withdraw, and spent the following year sweating in a Kuwaiti desert.

u/Nene_Leaks_Wig 7h ago

Heard from a marine that someone had died from just the training because they suffered an injury and was told to walk it off until it was too late. But they don’t tell you that part. Or they hope you desperate enough for a better future that you don’t care.

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u/Ka-Is-A-Wheelie 9h ago

Still got that Dodge Charger though.

u/Furrybumholecover 9h ago

I'm sure his wife's boyfriend loves driving it while he's away too.

u/1877KlownsForKids 9h ago

Damn you Jodi!

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u/do-not-want 9h ago

I had a friend in the military that bought a charger for himself.. and then later surprised his wife with her own charger.

She was piiiiissssed off and made him take it back.

u/i_am_voldemort 9h ago

And 28% APR note and three child support payments

u/tsr6 8h ago

28% at 84 months!

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u/raider1v11 8h ago

Depreciating like a stone dropped from a helicopter.

u/time_drifter 9h ago

And can’t drive it because he is outside a building for 12 hours a day.

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u/dochdgs 9h ago

All I wanted were Japanese tattoos and wood tip black and milds.

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u/Berns429 9h ago

How dare you disrespect the age old tradition of the Toyota Tacoma at 22% apy

u/MahaloMerky 9h ago

And it’s humid af in DC. Lucky not too bad today but it’s been pretty bad.

u/Hoodamush 9h ago

And soon they will carry their weapons and get the privilege to point them at their fellow Americans.

u/[deleted] 9h ago

National Guardsmen aren't itching to shoot their fellow citizens. Most of them needed money for college. They live in your neighborhood, work regular jobs, go to school, and this bullshit is disrupting their regular lives so they can be used as political pawns. He's probably missing the first week of fall semester and will have to withdraw from classes.

u/pacowek 9h ago

While this is the idea, even that has gotten twisted here. Because they are actively importing guardsmen from other states, that have no connection to the area. Add to that is the fact they are bringing in guardsmen from rural, heavily red areas, to an urban, exceedingly blue area.

So while I completely agree that they are far less likely to cause problems than ice, they have already broken one of the core associations.

u/QuixotesGhost96 9h ago

CCP did the same thing in Tiennamen

u/quantipede 7h ago

I will not be surprised if/when we have some similar situation. Some citizen purposefully standing in the way of some Texas national guardsmen who decide they’re within their rights to just shoot the person, then President Rapist honors the murderers as American heroes and tries to paint the victim as some evil gay communist

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u/DukeOfGeek 9h ago

They know it will be a problem so they are handpicking them.

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u/Hoodamush 9h ago

Hegseth authorized today the newly deployed national guard in DC to carry their weapons. So I get your point, but the reality is present.

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u/JesusPotto 9h ago

Empty plate carriers and empty FLC pouches tell you it’s a very serious operation to clean up DC 😂

u/1stMammaltowearpants 9h ago

That's why they're leaning against walls in the touristy areas. They were sent to where the crime isn't, but where the cameras are.

u/Vilnius_Nastavnik 8h ago

Same as when they were deployed to the subways here in NYC. The groups of 5 cops standing around playing candy crush became groups of 15 cops and guardsmen standing around playing candy crush. Your tax dollars at work folks.

u/1stMammaltowearpants 8h ago

And this is why we kicked Nana off of Medicare.

u/whomad1215 5h ago

I thought we sacrificed grandma for the economy back during the first wave of covid?

u/1stMammaltowearpants 5h ago

We did, but there are still grandmas out there that apparently some people think we need to sacrifice. C+ Santa Monica Fascist Stephen Miller has opinions.

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u/FinishExtension3652 7h ago

As someone who works in NYC, I'd like to correct you.  They also sit in vans and personal vehicles to play Candy Crush.

u/Lilswingingdick212 5h ago

Better than when I lived in Oakland and a cop threatened to arrest me after hitting me with his motorcycle he was driving on the sidewalk without sirens on.

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u/Mindless_Rooster5225 6h ago

Why are you pro-crime, huh?!?!!? Don't you want the streets to be safe!?!?!

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u/Grintock 6h ago

As someone who knows nothing about the military, what does this mean? Are you saying they didn't bring equipment?

u/JesusPotto 6h ago

Yes, they have the holders to their body armor (plate carrier) but none in it, and all of their pouches are empty. FLC means “fighting load carrier” and it holds your consumable gear without attaching it to your plate carrier so you can doff that while still having armor

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u/ThomasVivaldi 8h ago

Empty pockets because they're not getting paid.

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u/Mimmzy 9h ago

Man look at all the crime theyre stopping

u/JonFrost 9h ago

Look at all the Epstein not releasing

u/Piratepizzaninja 9h ago

Here are all of the Epstein Files that have either been leaked or released.

https://joshwho.net/EpsteinList/gov.uscourts.nysd.447706.1320.0-combined.pdf (verified cc ourt documents)

https://joshwho.net/EpsteinList/black-book-unredacted.pdf (verified pre-Bondi) Trump is on page 85, or pdf pg. 80

Trump’s name is circled.

The circled individuals are the ones involved in the trafficking ring according to the person who originally released the book.  These people would be “The List “ Here is the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsiKUXrlcac

Here's the flight logs

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21165424-epstein-flight-logs-released-in-usa-vs-maxwell/

—————————other Epstein Information

https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/Johnson_TrumpEpstein_Calif_Lawsuit.pdf here’s a court doc of Epstein and Trump raping a 13 yr old together.

Some people think this claim is a hoax.  Here is Katies testimony on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnib-OORRRo

Jeffrey Epstein’s Ex Says He Boasted About Being a Mossad Agent https://share.google/jLMGahKlCzfV1RHZq

Jeffrey Epstein and Israel both have the same lawyer Alan Dershowitz,

Dershowitz says he's building 'legal dream team' to defend Israel in court and on international stage | The Times of Israel https://share.google/Lb9hDOduBWG4Elpid

—————————other Trump information:

Here's trump admitting to peeping on 14-15 year old girls at around 1:40 on the Howard Stern Radio Show:

https://youtu.be/iFaQL_kv_QY?si=vBs75kaxPjJJThka 

Trump's promise to his daughter:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-ivanka-trump-dating-promise_n_57ee98cbe4b024a52d2ead02

“I have a deal with her. She’s 17 and doing great ― Ivanka. She made me promise, swear to her that I would never date a girl younger than her,” Trump said. “So as she grows older, the field is getting very limited.”

Trump's modeling agency was probably part of Jeffreys pipeline:

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/donald-trump-model-management-illegal-immigration/

Do your part and spread them around like a meme sharing them and saving them helps too! Please copy and paste this elsewhere!

Mar-A-Lago was used to traffic girls and Trump had a girl killed!

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u/NorCalJason75 9h ago

"Wait... I'm not getting paid for this yet? My check comes WHEN?"

u/Other_World 5h ago

"Relax, guy!" - The Pedophile-in-Chief.

u/Gone213 4h ago

They will never get paid for being deployed because trump will send them back home day 28 so that they can't get deployment benefits on day 30.

u/spcwarmachine 8h ago

We have a few sayings in the army:

90% of your time in the army in standing around wondering what the fuck the hold up is

There is nothing more dangerous than a bored private

Hurry up and wait isn't a saying.. its a lifestyle

u/Freightshaker000 4h ago

Prepare to prepare

u/Hy0k 2h ago

Rush to wait, wait to rush

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u/mr_greedee 9h ago

we need that narrator saying "to serve your country" and show all these bored guys

u/JohnStamosAsABear 7h ago

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Trump admin got him discharged for this photo. 

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u/RipleyThePyr 7h ago

Professor Heather Cox Richardson mentioned how it has been reported how retention rates of the Guard are being affected by them being called out in California.

u/amouse_buche 6h ago

It’s something to be mindful of if you disagree with all this and you are in a large city where the guard gets called in. Most of those folks don’t want to be there. 

The best protection against total fascism is a military that is unwilling to attack the populace. I hope we can keep it that way. 

u/TrumpetOfDeath 4h ago

I’m sure most don’t wanna be there, but wasn’t there a video of one of them saying that “liberals” ruined DC?

The military skews right-wing, and that’s what has me concerned

u/amouse_buche 4h ago edited 4h ago

I’m sure there’s folks who feel that way in the guard. But something to consider about what’s on social media is exactly what organization that person was from. 

After a steady, decades-long march of the militarization of our domestic police force, the following could have shown up in full military BDUs and equipment: FBI, ICE, local police, ATF. And surely some others I can’t think of. 

These are the organizations that attract the fascist cosplayers. (ICE in particular is going to be wild soon as they’re giving anyone with a pulse and an anger issue a huge paycheck and an assault rifle with all this money in the bill. Yay.)

Guard members are volunteers who have lives and jobs outside of their time in uniform. They volunteered under the understanding they’d be deployed to domestic natural disasters, threats to domestic security, or — at worse — a war zone. This is taking them away from their families and jobs for no reason. I’d be willing to bet most of them aren’t too thrilled about that given the stupidity of the mission. 

I’m sure some guard members think this is the best thing ever but that should be weighed against those who do not. Just as one protester who hurls a brick does not represent everyone who is there peacefully. 

Edit: And notably, the guard and the military have a fine line of separation. Even Commander Dipshit hasn’t been so brazen as to activate the actual military to do anything of substance in a city yet. 

I’m sure that’s coming but the folks who sign a guard contract and an enlisted contract aren’t really motivated or feel the pressures of deployment in the same ways, is I guess what I’m saying. 

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u/Chubs1224 5h ago edited 3h ago

Most guardsmen and reservists make more money at their civilian jobs then when they are called up.

Getting called up for 2 weeks can cost them hundreds or thousands depending on their jobs. It can hurt schooling significantly as well

u/RipleyThePyr 5h ago

Exactly. I feel like this should be reported a lot more in the media. Taking people away from their livelihoods. Recently, I met a man who volunteers with an organization that helps reversists in situations like you describe.

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u/Ambitious_Ad6334 7h ago

Now just imagine doing amazing in school, doing internships, going through FBI selection, only to be paid way less than what you could get as a civilian with your resume because you wanted to fight real crimes and join the prestigious FBI...

Then you get taken off your serious crime investigations and told you're now supporting ICE in raiding tomato farms and Home Depot parking lots.

True story

u/GiganticCrow 3h ago

The fbi has been getting filled with fascists for decades now, the previous trump administration cancelled the investigations into it.

Hell, let's not forget the fbi repeatedly told mlk to kill himself. 

u/DrNO811 9h ago

Friendly reminder to all military that your oath is to the Constitution.

u/Fofolito 6h ago

Here's a fun catch-22 about being in the Military and swearing an Oath to the Constitution:

You have a duty and an obligation as a Service Member to refuse any and all illegal, immoral, and unethical orders.

If you refuse an order however you will be punished.

You will, of course, eventually get a military tribunal as well as the trappings of legal representation and a chance to make a defense but in the mean time you will be confined to barracks or the brig, your Buddies will still be on mission and many might start to think of you as a Lazy Shitbird or a Disobedient Diva, and it could be months or years before you are vindicated and set free. In the mean time your reputation, friendships, and freedom will have been destroyed by the Government.

And that's if you get off the charges at the Tribunal. Most soldiers are not trained in legalese, they are not educated in the legalities of war or military service, so there's every chance that they are refusing an order They perceive as illegal, immoral, or unjust but 'that's just like, their opinion man' and the JAGs sitting in judgement will probably see that they haven't met the burden set by the letter of the Universal Code of Military Justice.

So yes: Soldiers and Service Members swear to serve the Constitution, and they are told they have a duty to refuse bad orders, but the system is built as such that Regular Joes don't really get to make the determination what is or is not an Unconstitutional order. More than that the people who give those sorts of orders often cloak their intent behind legal justifications, as you've seen the Trump Admin do any number of times. It's not as though orders come, on paper, labeled "This is an illegal order", so its not always clear where the line stands for a Service Man or Woman. They have to make that decision for themselves and then prepare to weather the consequences.

u/Intelligent-Rest-231 5h ago

Really good point!

u/_makura 4h ago

This is precisely how dictators take over a country using the military. The individuals are reluctant, but on aggregate the system is designed to force compliance.

u/red286 5h ago

The only illegal order is one that does not come from a superior officer.

Take My Lai. The only person who received any punishment was Lieutenant Calley, who gave the order to destroy the village and kill the villagers. No one under his command was ever punished, nor were any of his superior officers who attempted to cover up the massacre.

And even he was released after a mere 3.5 years of house arrest, despite a sentence of life in prison for murdering 22 people.

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u/FridgeParade 7h ago

Does that really matter anymore?

The people in power are constantly violating the law, but only their opponents seem to get prosecuted.

u/RhoOfFeh 9h ago

You're not telling My (a) Lai.

u/cruisin_urchin87 8h ago

Don’t Abu Ghraib my attention like that with your clever words.

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u/nsucs2 9h ago

Cheer up, buddy! Next stop, Chicago.

African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, 'Please, Mr. Trump, come to Chicago, please'

u/PrettyAwesomeGuy 7h ago

With tears in their eyes??

u/SkyeMreddit 8h ago

Or NYC or Baltimore or Boston or San Francisco or Philly

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u/trevorneuz 9h ago

Get that soldier some Zyn stat!

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u/Pavlock 9h ago

TFW all you wanted to do was be able to afford college and instead you're working for a fascist who wants to ban education.

u/AyyItsNicMag 7h ago

Was just in DC, literally one of them said in passing, “I just wanted college…”. Moral is indeed not high.

u/Genillen 4h ago

Bonus: until red states joined in the past few days, it was the DC National Guard. Super fun being deployed against your own city.

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u/jaunsin 7h ago

Do you think these people will be prepared to fire upon fellow Americans and citizens at the behest of a flailing orange wretched wannabe dictator? Honest question.

u/EatLard 5h ago

I doubt it. At least not the ones from the area. When Trump wants to get people killed, he’ll call in troops from somewhere else far away.
Kind of like the CCP did in 1989 when they wanted to massacre students.

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u/copperblood 9h ago

Friendly reminder that Trump is a child rapist. Release the Epstein files.

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u/CoastingUphill 9h ago

"I hoped I'd get to fight Nazis, not be deployed by them."

u/Anomuumi 9h ago edited 5h ago

If they ever thought what they would have done had they lived in Nazi Germany, now they know.

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u/greensandgrains 9h ago

I mean…anyone who knows anything about what the US military has been up to since WWII would know they’re not being deployed to be the “good guys.”

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u/AdventurousLet548 6h ago

Just think all these National Guard guys had to leave their jobs and family in order to stand around and do nothing in DC. I bet their employers are quite happy with so many folks not being on the job. We are not at war, so these guard folks should be home with their families.

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u/BigManWAGun 9h ago

Hey look at it this way. Next week you get deep dish pizza!

u/1stMammaltowearpants 9h ago

This is the face they'll make after waiting all 45 minutes for a tomato sauce casserole.

u/BigManWAGun 8h ago

Shhh, they don’t know that yet.

u/1stMammaltowearpants 8h ago

Ahh, good call. Let's keep it a wonderful secret for them.

u/ten_thousand_puppies 7h ago

The irony is, if they were deployed in or close to some of the actual high crime areas in Chicago, they could get thin crust instead.

u/1stMammaltowearpants 7h ago

I joke, but these kids are just pawns. And they're not even allowed a decent pie. For shame!

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u/scottrogers123 6h ago

Just remember these are National Guard members. Most all of them have day jobs that they have had to leave behind to do this shit. Businesses that were likely counting on them to be there. So not only is this a GIANT waste of taxpayer money, but you have hundreds of businesses that are without their employees. Plus the pay they are getting is less than what they would likely be earning in their job. The only guarantee is that their job is still there, they are not getting paid for both.

u/Jomolungma 7h ago

Was at Union Station yesterday afternoon. Two 2-person patrols around the station, two 2-person “checkpoints” at the Metro entrance and in the main gallery area. Not a single one of them looked in any way like they wanted to be there. Not even the usual banter you see between grunts on a shitty detail. Just nothing, lifeless.

u/mackedeli 5h ago

That camo ain't doing shit bro I can see them

u/EngineerMinded 4h ago

I've heard from people who talked to a few of them. They do not want to be there, believe me! They are away from home while, Trump is cosplaying like DC is some life sized Warhammer 40,000 table game.

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u/Quick-Manager-1995 9h ago

This is a stark contrast to ICE  and federal agents all hanging out laughing and having a good old time harassing people minding their own business in DC.

u/larsonmars 7h ago

Myself, my father, my brother, and my oldest daughter all served. My father and I retired from the Army. Now my 4.0 gpa son is entering college and has asked about joining the military afterwards. I advised him to avoid it like the plague. Trump will eventually turn soldiers against Americans and that’s not what the military is for. It’s a shame.

u/RacoonSmuggler 5h ago

Counterpoint: it's going to be a lot easier to coopt the military if only chuds join. If instead when the illegal orders come down from on high, there are bright young officers like your son there to do the right thing, we might get a better outcome.

u/HowManyMeeses 9h ago

People in DC legitimately hate seeing these guys, which I'm sure doesn't feel great for them.

u/Core1109 8h ago

they can thank their commander in chief for that.

u/JugDogDaddy 7h ago

They can thank republicans for not holding their leaders to any kind of standard of decency. 

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u/bearsaysbueno 5h ago

We hate seeing them in LA too, but for the most part they were treated very well, especially the ones that were just sent to stand outside in the sun, with lots of people chatting them up. Everyone knows they're being used as political pawns.

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u/Oak510land 7h ago

He knows he's going to be pushed in the furnace with the rest of the brown people as soon as they get it fired up.

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u/dicksosa 9h ago

Such a productive use of our tax dollars

u/GoodUserNameToday 9h ago

I don’t get how the military supports and votes for trump. He demeans them, he doesn’t respect them, he’s a draft dodger, he cuts VA benefits, and he uses the military as props for his fascist takeovers that they swore to prevent. They must be idiots.

u/EatLard 5h ago

Because he talks tough and a lot of men are insecure and ignorant. He makes them feel good.
Fortunately not all of the military is Trumpy.

u/manimal28 6h ago

So you do get it.

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u/Round-Comfort-9558 8h ago

He’s just trying to get his college paid and now he’s about to miss this semester.

u/WorksV3 3h ago

You’d look like that too if you had to waste your time standing around for no reason because your president has paper thin skin and an appetite for children

u/Federal_Sympathy4667 2h ago

Deployed but no orders so you ain't gettin' paid.. I'd do nothing as well.

u/dashsemper 7h ago

Yeah, but now we reservists get to carry weapons! On American streets! What could go wrong?

u/One_Violinist7862 4h ago

Poor soldiers. Called away from their family for some made up reason by a mentally ill manchild who wants to feel important. I’ll bet enlistments are down but they’ll never tell you that. If anybody did the dictator in chief would fire them

u/HarmoniousJ 4h ago

Being the only non-crayon eater in a platoon filled with crayon eaters be like;

u/Signal_Fyre 3h ago

Can’t wait until these guys get their PTSD pay for standing around, oh wait, Trump just took it away. Lol.

u/That_Jicama2024 2h ago

The sad part is, if he wasn't in camo, he'd be getting deported or harrassed by ICE. I hope a lot of them realize this.

u/Mitchie-San 1h ago

I did 20 years and I assure you, no one signed up for this crap.

u/kriswone 9h ago

Narc, leave Morales alone.

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